UN Rights Council Seeks Probe of Possible Ethiopia War Crimes

(Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed to create a team to investigate possible war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out by all parties fighting a civil war in northern Ethiopia.

The council adopted a resolution on the panel Friday at the end of a special session convened at the request of more than 50 states. It will investigate all violations and abuses and seek to identify those responsible.

“Our office continues to receive credible reports of severe human rights violations and abuses by all parties,” Nada Al-Nashif, UN deputy high commissioner for human rights, said during the session in Geneva. “The humanitarian impact of the conflict is increasingly dramatic.”

Twenty-one members voted in favor of the resolution, while 15 including Russia, China and several African nations such as Cameroon, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Senegal voted against it. 

Ethiopia said it wouldn’t cooperate. “This action by some in the Council is an attempt to find an alternative way of meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign state and serves no purpose except exacerbating the situation on the ground,” the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. 

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