The President of the United Nations Human Rights Council Ambassador Federico Villegas announced the appointment of three people to probe and report on the conflict in Tigray, Ethiopia.
On Wednesday, March 2, the UN body picked Siaya Senator James Orengo's wife, lawyer Betty Kaari Murungi, law professor Steven Ratner and former ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to probe violations in the Tigray conflict.
According to a briefing from the President of the Human Rights Council, Bensouda will serve as Chair of the three-person Commission for a period of one year.
The UN council also asked the commissioners to present an oral briefing to the Rights Council in June or July 2022 as well as a written report in September or October this year.
The three were tasked with establishing the facts and events which surrounded the conflict in Ethiopia.
“They will establish the facts and circumstances encircling the alleged violations, collect and preserve evidence, identify those responsible for the conflict and make the information accessible and usable,” a statement read.
UN rights council also directed the Commission to build on a report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.
The Commission was also mandated with making recommendations on technical assistance to the Government of Ethiopia in support of accountability, reconciliation and healing.
The Commission was set up amid pushback by the Ethiopian government after the UN Rights Council resolved to send international investigators to probe the matter.
On Wednesday evening November 3, President Uhuru Kenyatta weighed in on the conflict as he castigated Ethiopian leaders and asked them to move beyond the original cause of the conflict to find a lasting solution.
He was speaking in his capacity as the Chairman of the East African Community and as the President in the Office of the Organisation of African, Pacific, and Caribbean States (OACPS).
Uhuru insisted that the fighting must stop and noted that he has engaged other world leaders who are working together with top help Ethiopia stop the fighting.
