Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: The International Commission of Human Rights Experts for Ethiopia on Monday called on parties to the conflict in Ethiopia to “immediately” cease fighting and return to dialogue.
“We call upon the parties to immediately cease their fighting and return to the process of dialogue that each has accepted,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) quoted the Commission as saying in a statement issued Monday.
The Commission was established by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in December last year.
“The International Commission of Human Rights Experts for Ethiopia is outraged about the renewal of hostilities between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front,”.
Noting that such fighting exacerbates the hardship on civilians in the region and carries with it the risk of escalation, the Commission further urged both sides to immediately take all steps needed to allow the UN and other agencies to carry out the distribution of humanitarian assistance in the conflict affected areas.
“The human rights, health, and welfare of civilians must be the utmost priority of all parties,” the Commission affirmed.
The Commission is an independent body mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to, among other things, conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and international refugee law in Ethiopia committed since conflict erupted back in November 2020.
It is to re recalled that the The International Commission of Human Rights Experts for Ethiopia had conducted its first-ever visit to the East African country late last month.
(File Photo shows members of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts for Ethiopia)
