Maat: The African Commission Responds to the Recommendations to Etablish a Commission of Inquiry into the Situation in Tigray

"Okeil": The establishment of a Commission of Inquiry is a step on the right path to end the suffering of civilians in Tigray

Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights, an observer member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, followed the press conference held by the commission today, in which it decided to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the situation in the Tigray Region.

During its participation in the work of the 68th ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in April 2021, Maat recommended the African Commission to establish a fact-finding committee on the violations committed in the Tigray region. In response to the recommendations made by various civil society organizations, the African Commission decided to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the situation in the Tigray Region. The fact-finding mission will start its work from its seat in Banjul. It will travel to Ethiopia or neighboring countries to conduct field investigation when conditions are met, and the investigation will continue for a renewable period of three (3) months.

For his part, Ayman Okeil, President of Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights, commended the African Commission’s establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the situation in the Tigray Region, as it will end the suffering of the Tigray people. After 75% of the region’s infrastructure was destroyed, health facilities were used as military bases, which is contrary to international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

Okeil added that the Ethiopian and Eritrean brutal practices in Tigray may amount to "war crimes". The human rights expert urged the Commission of Inquiry to finish its work as soon as possible to reveal the extent of violations committed in the region by the joint Ethiopian-Eritrean forces.

It is worth noting that this press conference comes within the framework of the special session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which was designated by the Commission to discuss the crisis of the Ethiopian region of Tigray, which claimed the lives of thousands of civilian, subjected thousands of civilian women to sexual violence, and destroyed many cultural and religious sites in Tigray.