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Tigray: Human Rights

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

UIN HL12270, tabled on 18 January 2021

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of human rights abuses in Tigray; and what support they are providing (1) to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, (2) to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and (3) to the African Union, to (a) investigate, and (b) document, such abuses.

Answered on

1 February 2021

We are shocked and saddened by further reports from Tigray of massacres of civilians, sexual violence, and attacks on humanitarian facilities and places of worship. An ongoing lack of access to the Tigray region for human rights organisations, means that it remains difficult to confirm these reports. We will continue to work with partners to seek further information. The UK has, alongside the UN and international partners, called on all sides to ensure the protection of civilians and adhere to international law and international human rights law. We support the call by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission for the independent investigation of human rights violations and unfettered access to Tigray - points the Foreign Secretary discussed with PM Abiy in Addis Ababa on 22 January. We also continue to call for the perpetrators of those incidents that are proven to be held to account, whoever they may be. We will continue to make this point in upcoming conversations with the Government of Ethiopia. The UK has welcomed the efforts to date of the three distinguished Special Envoys from the African Union (AU). Prime Minister Abiy met with the three AU Envoys on 27 November 2020 and we continue to encourage the Ethiopian Government to maintain engagement with the AU and the Special Envoys, and continue to call for a cessation of violence.