Why EHRC should not Investigate Abuses of Human Rights in Tigray

Social media is awash with news of the atrocities committed in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Even with limited access to the region, some international media outlets such as Sky News, CNN, BBC, and Channel4 have managed to report heinous war crimes and abuses of human rights. Organizations such as Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have also corroborated the facts on the ground in their reports of harrowing accounts of massacres, rape, starvation, looting, and non-sensical destruction of healthcare facilities, schools, and other non-military targets, many of which have been either rejected or misattributed by the Ethiopian government. 

So, who should investigate the war crimes and human rights abuses?

The UN has been raising concerns about the atrocities that have been committed, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has explicitly described what has been happening in western Tigray as “ethnic cleansing”. While calling the situation unacceptable, he stated “we are seeing very credible reports of human rights abuses and atrocities that are ongoing”. Even with all the facts on the ground, Ethiopian government officials are in a state of denial. Following UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet’s call for an independent investigation, Amnesty’s Sarah Jackson said:

“The UN High Commissioner’s statement today underscores the gravity of the alleged crimes being committed by all sides in the Tigray conflict, and the urgency of the UN acting now” […] “Given the complexity and gravity of the situation, a UN-led investigation, rather than a joint investigation with Ethiopian institutions, is urgently needed to establish the truth and lay the foundations for accountability. There is no time to lose — work on this must begin now, before evidence could be destroyed and memories begin to fade.”

AU’s involvement in investigating alleged war crimes and human rights abuses has been categorically rejected by the Tigrayan community. In fact, the three opposition parties in Tigray have urged the AU to distance itself from investigating crimes in Tigray. The news that the UN human rights council has accepted the Ethiopian Government’s involvement to co-investigate the atrocities has angered those who oppose the war and those who are expecting independent and objective investigations of the atrocities. The following tweets reflect some of the anger:

• The war crimes in Tigray were waged by @AbiyAhmedAli whose government runs the
• @EthioHRC.@EthioHRC didn’t raise a voice when @AbiyAhmedAli made claims that all refugees in Sudan are men with political affiliation with TPLF and that there were no civilian casualties in #Tigray.
• The war crimes in Tigray were waged by @AbiyAhmedAli whose government runs the @EthioHRC.
• That is bias, selective outrage, & untrustworthiness.
• It has already engaged in false reporting & efforts to whitewash #TigrayGenocide!
• War crimes need an independent investigation, excluding @EthioHRC led by Abiy appointed official, @DanielBekele. 
• Victims of the #TigrayGenocide deserve a truly independent investigation!
• UN asking @EthioHRC’s @DanielBekele to help investigate war crimes committed in Tigray is to allow @AbiyAhmedAli & Isaias Afwerki to “get away with murder”.
• Victims of the #TigrayGenocide deserve a truly independent investigation!
• Their involvement compromises the integrity of the investigation, dissuades victim participation & obstructs justice!
• The list of human rights violations not investigated in the past 3 years is clear indications of the selective outrage & incompetence of @EthioHRC.
• Including the state-funded @EthioHRC means including the perpetrators of these crimes & strips the victims of a legitimate investigation!
• The Tigrayan community has no confidence in EHRC, thus its involvement is a nonstarter.
• List of massacres not investigated or misreported by @EthioHRC include, #DanglatMassacre #AxumMassacre #MaikadraMassacre. 
• EHRC’s involvement is fraudulent!
• @EthioHRC UNDER @DanielBekele is a corrupt institution working in alliance with @AbiyAhmedAli in multiple ethnic cleansing campaigns across the country.
• That is bias, selective outrage, & untrustworthiness.

Based on 16908 tweets mentioning ‘EthioHRC’ and sampled independently, a basic sentiment analysis shows opinions reacted negatively to the announcement of joint UN Human Rights Council and EHRC investigation of human rights violations in Tigray.

First, there is a reason that the UK, US, UN raised the need for an independent investigation. The warring bodies cannot be independent. Second, given that many reported atrocities have been allegedly committed by the Eritrean troops coupled with the fact that the Ethiopian government rejects reports of Eritrean presence in Ethiopia makes this comical. Here is a key question, how can EHRC investigate atrocities allegedly committed by those who the government claims are not even there in the first place?

Given how EHRC (headed by Daniel Bekele) treated the Mai Kadra massacre and the whole war on Tigray, it is hard to believe that the commission or the commissioner would be independent and non-partisan. There are several consequential issues with involving the EHRC in the planned investigation:

1. EHRC is not independent. Although it claims to be independent and non-partisan, it is a government-affiliated organization. It can be used as a tool to cover up past crimes and enable the next ones. The unnecessary complexity EHRC will bring to the ‘joint investigation’ will derail the process. Moreover, the very involvement of EHRC will taint the investigation’s report as victims will be afraid to speak up out of fear of repercussion. EHRC is part of the problem.

2) EHRC lacks agency. Given the high-stake nature of the case at hand, EHRC can be used to cover up crimes and sanitize the hands of criminals. EHRC is too attached to the government. In the case of the Mai Kadra massacre, the report, produced in a hurry and without considering key informants, was used by the government to justify its genocidal war on the rest of Tigray. 

3) EHRC’s commissioner is neither impartial nor trustworthy. Daniel Bekele, in one of his interviews, showed his support for the government when questioned about the arrest of journalists. Also after Abiy claimed ‘victory’ and reported that the war was over with zero civilian casualties, Daniel Bekele came out with a statement that: “it is comforting to learn that the operation didn’t result in as severe consequences as it was originally feared to be, there was a much-hyped about bloodbath, civilian casualties, breaking up of the country.” Thus a supporter of what turned out to be a genocidal war cannot conduct a fair investigation. This is akin to asking a rapist to investigate a rape allegation. Awol Allo, a critic, posted on his Twitter that “Daniel Bekele could not credibly claim to have the independence and impartiality required to conduct a credible investigation into mass atrocity crimes perpetrated in Tigray.”

So, if the goal of the investigation is to deliver a trustworthy and unbiased result, the joint investigation would be a major and irreversible mistake. For that reason, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet should reject Ethiopia’s request to join the Tigray inquiry.