Addis Ababa, December 21, 2021 (FBC) – Press Secretariat of the Office of the Prime Minister, Billene Seyoum, in today’s press briefing, recalled that United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva had endorsed a resolution entitled human rights situation in Ethiopia, which was drafted and tabled mainly by the member states from the European Union.
The resolution decided to establish an international commission of human rights experts with a mandate to conduct investigation into allegations of human rights violations, she explained.
Ethiopia has rejected the resolution from its inception not only when it was adopted, but the entire process that was taken is something that Ethiopia has categorically rejected.
Friendly African countries as well as other friendly countries have also joined by giving a no vote to this resolution by the UNHRC, she noted.
“The rejection on the part of the government of Ethiopia should not be misconstrued as a rejection of probes or efforts to address human rights violations within the country,” Billene stated.
According to the Press Secretariat, the resolution is a politically motivated instrument that is set to discredit efforts undertaken prior to recommendations that had been put forth already by the joint UN Human Rights Office and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.
The joint investigation was facilitated by the government because it was fully endorsed for the needs to happen, she said.
“Once the report was finalized, and it came out in early November. This report was also accepted by the Government with the reservations of course, because of the scope and the limitations with regards to the scope of coverage of this report,” she said.
The government had endorsed some of the findings and made sure that the remedial process was launched. This remedial process entailed an inter-ministerial Task Force to be formed that is currently looking into the implementation aspect of it, Billene said.
The utilization of famine or starvation as a weapon of war was something that was found inconclusive in the previous report. The council should have first recognized the efforts underway by the government to address the alleged human rights violations.
It should have accepted the joint investigation report and appreciate the efforts of the government to address issues based on the recommendations.
The council should stop its double standard position on human rights violations in Tigray visa a vis Amhara and Afar regional states where we have seen vast amounts of human rights abuses and atrocities committed by the TPLF.
Billene recalled that the Council of Ministers had endorsed a draft proclamation for the formation of a national dialogue commission.
“Following the outcome of the sixth national elections, in the formation of a new government, one of the commitments made has been to create a homegrown, inclusive space to address various contestations that have not only risen over the past three years, but have existed within the political history, or the modern political history of the country,”
The Council of Ministers’ decision to form a national dialogue commission is a testament to this commitment that had been made upon the formation of the new government, Billene underlined.
The National Dialogue commission is envisaged to be an independent democratic institution with reporting lines to the house of people’s representatives, and acting with an independent mandate to bridge differences and charted inclusive way forward for national understanding and alignment on contested issues, she added.