Kenyan lawyer Betty Murungi among 3 appointed to investigate human rights violations in Ethiopia

Kenyan lawyer Kaari Betty Murungi has been named among a three-person commission which has been tasked with investigating alleged human rights infractions in Ethiopia spurred by the ongoing conflict between Addis Ababa and the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF).

Murungi will be joined by American asset investment manager Steven Ratner and former Gambian International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who will chair the committee sanctioned by the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

This comes after a special session of the 47-member Council in December 2021 agreed to establish the committee whose members were to be appointed by President of the Human Rights Council Federico Villegas.

The commission has likewise been directed to "establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged violations and abuses, collect and preserve evidence, to identify those responsible, where possible, and to make such information accessible and usable in support of ongoing and future accountability efforts."

The three-person commission has been instructed to add onto a report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission on the matter and to make recommendations that will assist Ethiopia in addressing the conflict with TPLF.

Murungi, Ratner and Bensouda are expected to orally present their findings to the UN Council at its 50th session slated for between June and July 2022 and to formally submit a written presentation on the same at the Council’s 51st sitting scheduled for September and October this year.