Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the findings of the UN Human Rights Council on the denial of (a) food and (b) services in Tigray.

In September, the UN International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia presented its findings on the conflict in Tigray to the Human Rights Council. The Commission's findings are clear and are deeply troubling. They highlight looting of and destruction of goods indispensable to civilian well-being by all parties to the conflict. The Commission also notes that it has "reasonable grounds to believe that the Federal Government is committing the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare". Findings about the conduct of hostilities indicate summary execution of civilians and rape and sexual violence "on a staggering scale" by all sides.

We welcome the peace agreement between the Federal Government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front. This must pave the way for accountability for the survivors and victims of such abuses.