The African Union (AU) on Wednesday said it is going to launch an inquiry into allegations of abuses in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, reported the BBC.
The commission of inquiry on Ethiopia’s Tigray will begin its work on Thursday and will investigate for three months subject to renewal.
“The Commission of Inquiry has a mandate [to] investigate allegations… and to gather all relevant information so as to determine whether the allegations constitute serious and massive violations of human rights,” the AU said in a statement.
The commission will investigate allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and gather all relevant information to determine whether the allegations constitute serious and massive violations of human rights.
The AU Commission has also called out the stakeholders for cooperation during its probe. There have been widespread allegations of human rights violation in Tigray.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military operation in November last year to oust the former regional governing party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Eritrean troops supporting the Ethiopian troops have been accused of violations and there has been pressure for them to leave the region.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Ethiopia’s United Nations ambassador said Eritrean troops in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are expected to “definitely leave soon.”
The UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the 15-member council in a private briefing that “no one should be surprised to see a rerun” of a devastating 1984 famine if violence in Tigray does not stop and Eritrean troops do not withdraw.
Lowcock accused the Eritrea’s soldiers of using starvation as “a weapon of war”.
The Security Council briefing was made just days after an analysis by UN agencies and aid groups found more than 350,000 people in Tigray are suffering famine conditions – the worst catastrophic food crisis in a decade.
