Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assist the International Court of Justice to apply, where necessary, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; in particular, in Ethiopia and the Tigray region of that country.

We remain deeply concerned about reports of human rights abuses and violations in Ethiopia. The Minister for Africa has raised our concerns about ethnically targeted arrests with Minister Redwan in Addis Ababa on 20 January. The protection of all civilians needs to be prioritised, human rights respected and those responsible for human rights abuses and violations held to account. At a special session of the Human Rights Council on 17 December 2021, we backed a resolution that created an International Commission of Experts to investigate allegations of violations in Ethiopia. We urge all parties to engage with this Commission and allow full access to witnesses and sites of concern.