The UN Commission of Inquiry into atrocities in Ethiopia will not have its mandate renewed, due to a lack of support from the international community.
These investigators had warned on Wednesday October 4 that there is an “enormous risk” that “human rights atrocities will continue” in Ethiopia, since the peace agreement between the Tigrayan rebels and the Federal government was signed at the end of 2022. Ethiopian government spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Commission was first mandated by the UN Human Rights Council at a special session in December 2021, at the request of the European Union. Its mandate was then renewed last year until mid-October. For several weeks now, NGOs have been calling on the international community to renew it once again, as atrocities continue despite the peace agreement signed last November, which put an end to two years of war.
In Geneva, all eyes were on the EU to see whether it would ask for the mandate to be renewed, which it did not. But on Tuesday October 2 in Addis Ababa, the EU and Ethiopia signed a framework cooperation document, the “first step” towards “normalizing” their relations, following two years of conflict in the north of the country, which had damaged them.
“It’s time to gradually normalize (our) relations and rebuild a mutually beneficial partnership”, declared European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen as she signed a Multiannual Indicative Program (MIP) for cooperation with Ethiopian Finance Minister Ahmed Shide. This MIP, an envelope of 650 million euros for the period 2024-2027, was due to be signed in 2021, but its signature had been suspended, due to the conflict in the northern region of Tigray.