The Ethiopian government has dismissed as “irresponsible and reckless” a statement by the UN’s special adviser on the prevention of genocide.
Alice Wairimu Nderitu had warned in a statement on Tuesday about a “heightened risk of genocide” in Ethiopia.
“The government of Ethiopia regrets that the UN [adviser] released an irresponsible and reckless statement on the situation in Ethiopia,” Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has posted on Facebook in response.
“The special adviser relied on the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia [ICHREE] to make inflammatory statement against Ethiopia,” it added.
ICHREE was set up by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate allegations of violations committed in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. Its report in September documented crimes committed by all sides during the two-year conflict, which ended last November.
A subsequent report warned that “serious violations” continued in Tigray and in other Ethiopian regions.
Global human rights organisations had wanted ICHREE to continue and broaden its investigations, but the deadline to extend its mandate expired last week.