Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had (a) with his counterparts in the (i) European Commission and (ii) European Union member states, (b) with other international counterparts, (c) with the (A) African Union and (B) Intergovernmental Authority on Development and (d) with the UN Secretariat on accountability for potential war crimes committed in Ethiopia in relation to (1) the renewal of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia’s mandate at the UN Human Rights Council, (2) monitoring of all Articles of the Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and (3) in relation to monitoring and public reporting of the human rights situation by UNOHCHR officials at the level of the Human Rights Council.

We regularly raise human rights issues, including sexual and gender-based violence and media freedom, in our interactions with Ethiopian interlocutors and international partners. The UK has repeatedly called for those responsible for atrocities in Ethiopia to be held to account. The UK was strongly supportive of the establishment of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE), and the renewal of its mandate at the Human Rights Council's 51st Session. ICHREE's mandate will end at the end of the present session of the Human Rights Council as the European Union, as the penholder, did not to present a resolution to renew the mandate. The UK will continue to support efforts to promote cooperation between the Government of Ethiopia and the international community on human rights, and particularly over the robust implementation of its Transitional Justice Policy, to ensure accountability for atrocities and human rights violations and to ensure the effective and full implementation of the Tigray peace agreement.