Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the mandate of the UN’s International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia.

The UK is a strong supporter of the work of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE), which plays a vital role in ensuring accountability for victims and survivors of the conflict. We co-sponsored the resolution mandating its creation at the Special Session of the Human Rights Council in December 2021. We will be strongly supporting the renewal of the Commission's mandate at the forthcoming 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council, as made clear in the statement delivered by the UK's Ambassador for Human Rights on 22 September. We are urging all parties to facilitate its investigations, for the Ethiopian Government to cooperate with the Commission, and to support the extension of its mandate at this session.