Ambassador Zembe Kebede accused the UN Human Rights Council of being ‘hijacked’ and used as a ‘tool of political repression’.
The United Nations Human Rights Council is expected to consider a draft resolution that, if adopted, will establish an international commission of human rights experts investigating war-torn Ethiopia.
Speaking at a one-day conference on Friday, Nada al-Nashif, deputy human rights chief, said the UN was continuing to receive “credible reports” that all parties to the 13-month conflict were gross human rights abuses. in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.
Al-Nashif warned that Ethiopia’s danger of “increasing hatred, violence and racism” was high, which could lead to “widespread violence, (which) has a profound effect, not only on the millions of people in Ethiopia, but on the region as a whole.”
The European Union, which requested the session, is urging other members to submit an international inquiry into the ongoing hostilities between the warring factions between the coalition government forces and the northern region of Tigray in November 2020.
A team of three experts should seek to “establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged violations and abuses, to collect and maintain evidence, and to identify the perpetrators”, according to the draft resolution.
The Ethiopian government has condemned the decision to hold a special session and urged countries to vote against the draft text.
“We urge all members of the council to … stand up for the shortcomings of the people and reject the political fabrication of human rights by rejecting this decision,” said Ambassador Zembe Kebede, who accused the Geneva-based body of being “hijacked” and used as a “political repression”.
“My government will not cooperate in any way it can be put in place because this … is a deliberate attempt to destabilize stability.”
The fierce conflict left tens of thousands of people dead, leaving more than two million people and pressuring hundreds of thousands on the brink of starvation, according to UN figures.
Tigray Tribes across the country have reported that they have been unjustly detained, while Tigray residents have described gang rapes, mass starvation and mass evictions.
Al-Nashif said between 5,000 and 7,000 people swept away under the new emergency were still in custody, most of them Tigrayan. “Many are being held in solitary confinement or in unknown locations. This is like a forced disappearance, and it is a very dangerous story. ”
Tigrayan troops also face a growing number of allegations of torture, including murder and rape, after taking the war to neighboring Ethiopia and Afar months ago.
An investigation conducted by the UN human rights office and the Ethiopian human rights commission warned last month that possible war crimes and crimes against humanity could be committed by all parties during the Tigray conflict.
The state-run Ethiopian Human Rights Commission acknowledged in a statement this week that there was “value-added” in encouraging joint investigations to continue, but said the formation of a new body “was repetitive, not conducive to ongoing implementation, and continuous, delays in repairing victims and survivors”.