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Africa
UN Rights Chief Agrees to Ethiopia Request for Joint Tigray Inquiry

By Reuters

https://www.voanews.com/africa/un-right ... ay-inquiry

March 17, 2021


FILE - United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet adjusts her glasses during the opening of 45th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European UN headquarters in Geneva, Sept. 14, 2020.

NEW YORK - United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has agreed to an Ethiopian request for a joint investigation in the country's northern Tigray region, where Bachelet says possible war crimes may have been committed.

Fighting between government troops and the region's former ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes in the mountainous region of about 5 million.

The United Nations has raised concerns about atrocities being committed in Tigray, while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has described acts carried out in the region as ethnic cleansing. Ethiopia has rejected Blinken's allegation.


FILE - Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington.

Bachelet "responded positively" to a request from the state-run Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for joint investigations in Tigray, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman Jonathan Fowler said on Wednesday.

The U.N. Human Rights Office and the EHRC are now developing an investigation plan, which includes resources needed and practical modalities, in order to launch the missions as soon as possible,

Fowler said.

Ethiopia's foreign ministry said on Saturday it was ready to work with international human rights experts to conduct investigations on allegations of abuses.

Amnesty International last month accused Eritrean forces of killing hundreds of civilians over 24 hours in Axum city last year. Eritrea denied that, but the EHRC also described such killings in a rare acknowledgment from the Ethiopian side that Eritrean troops have participated in the conflict.

The United Nations and the United States have demanded that Eritrean troops leave Tigray.

Both the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments have denied Eritrean troops are in Tigray, despite dozens of eyewitness accounts and admissions that Eritreans are there from Tigray's federally appointed regional administration.

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Joint Statement Delivered by Ambassador Chen Xu on Behalf of a Group of Countries at Item 4 General Debateon 46th Session of the Human Rights Council

2021/03/12

http://www.china-un.ch/eng/dbtxwx/t1860566.htm


Chen Xu (@Amb_ChenXu)

Madam President,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of a group of like-minded countries.

We always advocate constructive dialogue and cooperation in the field of human rights, oppose politicization of human rights issues and double standards. We are deeply concerned that certain countries, out of their political purposes, make baseless accusations against developing countries and interfere in other countries' internal affairs, severely violating the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

These countries choose to ignore their own serious human rights problems, while eager to point fingers at others, which fully demonstrates that human rights is but their tool for political manipulation. If they truly intend to promote and protect human rights, they should address deep-rooted human rights issues including racial discrimination, social inequalities and police brutality, and protect the rights of refugees and migrants. They should take effective measures to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent heavy loss of lives of their people, and ensure fair and equitable distribution of vaccines globally. They should help developing countries in their efforts to realize sustainable development and contribute to elimination of poverty, hunger and diseases around the world. They should stop interfering in others' internal affairs and lift unilateral measures against developing countries. They should stop killing innocent civilians in overseas military operations and bring those perpetrators to justice. They should reflect deeply on their history of invasion and colonization, which brought untold misery and suffering to the people of relevant countries.

We urge these countries to match their words with deeds, take seriously their own human rights problems, and make efforts truly for international human rights cooperation.

Thank you, Madam President.