UN, Ethiopian Human Rights Body to Probe Tigray Rights Abuses

Alleged serious abuses and rights violations in Ethiopia's Tigray region are to be investigated by the United Nations, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says. The probe will be carried out jointly by the High Commissioner's Office and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Local publication Addis Standard says the announcement comes amid mounting evidence of atrocities committed in Tigray against civilians, including reports of extrajudicial executions by Ethiopian and Eritrean armed forces. The conflict began when Ethiopian forces embarked on an offensive in Tigray at the start of November 2020, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed describing it as a law and order operation to capture the leadership of the Tigray People's Liberation Front. 

Goitom Gebreluel and Mulu Beyene write in African Arguments that most Tigrayan political parties and Tigrayan President  Debretsion Gebremichael have made it clear that they think a probe into the war led by the EHRC would be illegimate. The writers say that the commission is nominally an independent state organ, but many Ethiopians see it as biased in favour of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration.