Kenyan lawyer Betty Murungi among three appointed to probe human rights violation in Ethiopia
Kenyan lawyer Kaari Betty Murungi is among three international experts appointed to investigate a wide range of alleged violations committed by all sides in Ethiopia’s conflict, the United Nation Human Rights Council, said yesterday.
Murungi will be joined by American asset investment manager Steven Ratner and former Gambian International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who will chair the committee sanctioned by the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
The commission was handed a one-year renewable mandate to impartially investigate allegations of violations and abuses committed by all sides in the Tigray conflict that erupted in Ethiopia in November 2020.
The investigators have also been tasked with establishing “the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged violations and abuses, collect and preserve evidence, to identify those responsible, where possible, and to make such information accessible and usable in support of ongoing and future accountability efforts”.
They are also expected to orally present their findings to the UN Council at its 50th session slated for between June and July 2022 and to formally submit a written presentation on the same at the Council’s 51st sitting scheduled for September and October, this year.
This comes after a special session of the 47-member Council in December 2021 agreed to establish the committee whose members were to be appointed by President of the Human Rights Council Federico Villegas.
