Ethiopia’s request for an inquiry into the humanitarian consequences of the conflict in the country’s northern Tigray region was approved by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Michelle Bachelet, according to a UN spokeswoman on Wednesday.
Tigray residents have told human rights groups and journalists about massacres, widespread sexual violence and indiscriminate killings of civilians by security forces in the region.
Aid workers say, however, that Tigray’s health system has largely collapsed and warns of possible large-scale starvation.
“The High Commissioner responded positively to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC)’s request for joint investigations on Monday,” Jonathan Fowler, spokesman for the OHCHR, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The UN Office is now preparing a plan to start the mission as soon as possible.
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