Pan-Africanism or impunity? The divisive Tigray crimes issue
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the UN Zenebe Kebede (on screen) during an extraordinary meeting on Ethiopia at the UN Human Rights Council on December 17. PHOTO | AFP
When Fijian diplomat Nazhat Shameem, the current President of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), decides to name the panel of experts to investigate alleged atrocities in Ethiopia, two things may happen: Blanket rejection of the team, denying it cooperation it needs to check violations in the country; or Ethiopia and Africa in general could be isolated on the sensitive issue of who has committed more atrocities in the Tigray war.
The signs were on the wall last week after the Council endorsed a European Union-led proposal to investigate human rights violations in Ethiopia, much to the anger, rejection, and criticism of Addis Ababa and backing from Africa’s members of the HRC.
