from ADANE BIKILA in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ethiopia Bureau
ADDIS ABABA, (CAJ News) – A PROMINENT human rights group has denounced the election of Ethiopia into the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations (UN).
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P) also queried the composition of the council, arguing it comprises some states that are autocratic.
“The election of Ethiopia undermines the credibility of the HRC,” it stated.
The organisation argued that states elected to the HRC were supposed to demonstrate their commitment to the highest standards of human rights, including their full cooperation with all UN mechanisms.
These are conditions set forth in UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251.
“The fact that potential mass atrocity crimes are being perpetrated by a number of current HRC member states at home or abroad – including Cameroon, China, Eritrea, United Arab Emirates and Sudan – is also deeply disturbing,” GCR2P added.
On Wednesday this week, the UN General Assembly elected Benin, Bolivia, Colombia, Cyprus, Czechia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Gambia, Iceland, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Mexico, North Macedonia, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand to the HRC for the 2025-2027 term.
The HRC as well as its mechanisms and procedures play an essential role in providing early warning of the risk factors that can lead to crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and genocide.
They provide recommendations to prevent their recurrence.
– CAJ News