There was a time when a report by Ethiopia’s human rights commission was a staid affair, its findings offering window-dressing for hand-wringing donors and legal cover to the government. Between 2013 and 2017 the commission systematically “whitewashed human rights violations through compromised methodologies, dismissing credible allegations”, according to a 2019 Amnesty International study that accused it of “brazen bias against victims”. “The commission is increasingly being perceived as a genuinely independent national human rights institution,” said Daniel, in an interview with the Guardian. “But on the other hand we have started a process of trying to build independent institutions and I believe the Ethiopian human rights commission is one of them. “It is right that an Ethiopian human rights violation should be addressed by an Ethiopian human rights institution, in partnership with our friends and partners.”

Source: The Guardian June 02, 2021 06:22 UTC