On Friday, according to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the council will hold a special session to address “the grave human rights situation in Ethiopia” after a request by the European Union and following a warning last week from the US.
Lotte Knudsen, the head of the EU delegation to the UN in Geneva, said in a statement on Monday that, “In light of the aggravating situation, we believe the international community has a moral obligation to try to prevent further atrocities and ensure accountability and justice for victims and survivors.”
Ethiopia is increasingly facing the prospect of an implosion that would be “disastrous” for its neighbors, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned last Friday, adding that Ethiopia’s warring parties have the option to turn to negotiations and prevent all-out collapse but warned that if civil war envelops the country, the consequences for the region would be dire.
At a State Department meeting, Blinken expressed, “I am very concerned about the potential for Ethiopia to implode given what we’re seeing, both in Tigray, but also as we have different forces and different ethnic groups that are increasingly at odds.”
The request on Monday was supported by 17 nations, including Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, the Marshall Islands, South Korea, Ukraine, and the UK, the UNHRC said.
The request for the special session was also supported by 36 observer states, including Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the US.
