Former Tanzanian Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman has been appointed to chair the Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia which operates under the UN Human Rights Council.

He takes over from Kaari Betty Murungi following her resignation as chairperson and member of the commission. Apart from a seven-year stint as Tanzania's top judge (2010-2017), Mr Othman also served as chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1998- 2000) and the Council’s independent expert on the human rights situation in the Sudan (2009-2010) among his previous postings.

The three-person Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, created in December 2021, is mandated to investigate alleged human rights violations and abuses in Ethiopia committed since November 2020.

The commission is scheduled to deliver its next update on the Ethiopian situation to the UN Human Rights Council between February and March 2023.