Ethiopian organizations in the world organized as a Consortium have reiterated their call to disestablish the International Commission of Human Rights Expert on Ethiopia (ICHREE).
The organizations have also called on all member states and relevant stakeholders to reject the “unprofessional, incomplete, biased and politically-motivated” report of the commission.
The organizations across the world organized as a Consortium, with members including Ethiopians and citizens of European countries, the United States and Canada, address a letter to the High Commissioner, Member States of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to provide explanatory note on the report of the ICHREE released on the 22nd of September 2022.
The letter emphasized the disestablishment of the International Commission of Human Rights Expert on Ethiopia.
“We reiterate our call in our letter dated the 8th of June 2022 to disestablish the Commission and instead collaborate harmoniously with the Ethiopian Government in strengthening Ethiopia’s judicial institutional capacity to comprehensively and independently investigate the atrocities committed in the Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions.”
The organizations also urged for the respect of Ethiopia’s judicial sovereignty as a long-standing member state of the UN Human Rights Council.
They said in the letter that the report of the ICHREE is clearly politically motivated and not of a quality that is expected given the gravity of the situation and the consequential nature of the report. It does not meet the minimum standard of proof for such an investigation.
“A report with such a partisan posture, attempting to paint the democratically elected Government of Ethiopia as the only culprit, undermines the authority and credibility of the Human Rights Council itself,” the letter stated.
The report raises legitimate questions about the impartiality and professionalism of the Commission members mandated by the Council, the organizations said.
They called on UNHRC member states to disestablish the Commission and use such public funds to strengthen Ethiopia’s judicial institutional capacity to continue its work on investigating the atrocities committed in the affected areas including Afar and Amhara regions.
“As such, we believe that member states should distance themselves from ill-advised influences and try to gain a thorough understanding of the situation in Ethiopia rather than signing off incomplete and partial messages that do not serve justice to the victims nor strengthen the protection and promotion of Human Rights in Ethiopia.’’
There are reasonable grounds to question the impartiality of members of the ICHREE, the letter said, adding “we have serious reservations on the ability and impartiality of the commissioners to deliver on the mandate entrusted to them by the Council with the objectivity, accuracy and completeness it deserves.”
Furthermore, “we would like to recall that the Inter-Ministerial Task Force is conducting an independent criminal investigation to comprehensively deliver on accountability and redress measures. The duty and responsibility of the task force have been explained in the Note Verbal addressed to the President of the Human Rights Council, demonstrating the Government of Ethiopia’s commitment to advancing respect and protection of Human Rights and accountability in the country.”
Expressing their deep concern by the Human Rights violations in the country, the organizations have called on all member states and relevant stakeholders to reject the unprofessional, incomplete, biased and politically-motivated report of the ICHREE.