Ethiopia fails at U.N. to block funding for independent abuse inquiry

 

Ethiopia's request to restrict funds for an independent probe of atrocities in the country's war failed at the United Nations on Thursday, with only 27 nations voting yes, 66 voting no, and 39 abstaining.

 

The voting took place in the budget committee of the United Nations General Assembly, which has 193 members.

 

The budget committee then decided to accept financing for the investigation launched by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in December to gather evidence and identify people guilty for human rights violations with the hope of prosecuting them in the future.

 

Ethiopia has said that it will not comply. "Ethiopia does not recognize this mechanism," Ethiopian diplomat Lemlem Fiseha Minale told the budget committee before of Thursday's vote: "It will have no access to Ethiopia."

 

"It has neither the goal nor the motivation to advance human rights. It's unmistakably and unequivocally political "She expressed her thoughts on the investigation.

 

According to officials, the cash allocated for the probe was a compromise and less than what the United Nations had demanded.

 

"The United States affirms the importance of respecting and ensuring the implementation of decisions by the Human Rights Council as an intergovernmental body of the United Nations," said U.S. Ambassador for U.N. Management and Reform Chris Lu.

 

"Such mandates should not be undermined through budgetary decisions," he told the committee before the vote.

 

 In November, a joint investigation by the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the U.N. rights office found that all sides in Tigray's conflict had committed violations that may amount to war crimes.

 

Human Rights Watch U.N. director Louis Charbonneau said the United Nations should "get the investigation up and running."

 

"U.N. member countries sent a strong message to Ethiopia today that its brazen attempt to escape accountability for war crimes and other abuses by defunding the U.N.'s human rights investigation is unacceptable," Charbonneau said.

 

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said earlier on Thursday that the inquiry should be funded, adding that "whether it's in Ethiopia or anywhere else in the world, human rights violations need to be investigated."

 

 Source: Reuters