Fears of ending mandate of International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia

More than 60 international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have called on the UN Human Rights Council to reject any resolution by the government of Ethiopia to end the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE).

This came after the news of Ethiopia distributing a draft resolution calling for the termination of the work of human rights experts in the country.

“We write to urge your delegations to reject any resolution to prematurely terminate the mandate of ICHREE, and to express your support for the mandate and work of the Commission,” the group said in its appeal, of which Jusoor Post obtained a copy.

“The independent mandate and work of ICHREE is crucial to preserve the opportunity for victims of grave international crimes to have access to justice, particularly because of the eroding environment for independent media and human rights monitoring of conflict-affected areas of Ethiopia,” it added.

On February 15, Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen Hassen announced to the Executive Council of the African Union that his government is planning to present a resolution at the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council to terminate the mandate of ICHREE, as it is undermining the AU-led peace process and the implementation of the peace agreement.

According to Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Hassen’s statement suggests “a false dichotomy that peace cannot co-exist with justice and accountability.”

Background

ICHREE was established in December 2021 to investigate allegations of human rights violations in Ethiopia after the outbreak of civil war in the north of the country in November 2020. The mandate of the commission was renewed in 2022 until September 2023.

On November 2, 2022, the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed the Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities in South Africa.

ICHREE said in September 2022 that there are reasonable grounds that all parties to the civil war have violated and abused international human rights and humanitarian law, many of which may amount to war crimes, in the Northern Region of Ethiopia between November 2020 and January 2022.

Failed attempts

Suleiman Al-Bahar, an expert on the affairs of the Horn of Africa, told Jusoor Post that Ethiopia is trying to use external and internal security files in negotiating to end the ICHREE’s mandate.

“[Prime Minister] Abiy Ahmed's government plays on the region's political and security complexities, a policy it has been practicing for a long time. However, the continuation of the mandate of such international committees is often subject to pressures from civil society organizations inside and outside the country,” he said.

Bahar stressed that the Ethiopian government will fail, just as it failed in the past to end the ICHREE’s mandate.

However, attempts by the government of Ethiopia to obstruct the ICHREE's work since its inception have not ceased, he noted, alleging that the Council has political purposes and accusing it of attempting to “weaponize human rights for political pressure.”

In December of last year, the attempts of the Abiy Ahmed government failed when its draft resolution calling for the Fifth Committee of the UN General Assembly to not approve any resources was rejected by a vote of 71 against 32 in favor, whereas 50 member states abstained from the vote.

In April last year, after its opposition to the formation of ICHREE, the Ethiopian government unsuccessfully voted to block the UN funding for it.