“New reports and footage emerging from Tigray about foreign nationals, civilian killings, sexual and gender-based violence and forced displacement are deeply disturbing,” Delaware Democrat Coons tweeted Saturday.
Coons said it was “critical” that the Ethiopian Commission on Human Rights (EHRC) and the United Nations Office on Human Rights “have the necessary access and support to conduct a thorough, independent and transparent investigation into war crimes and abuses by all actors. . . ”
A State Department spokesman told CNN on Friday that officials were “seriously concerned about reported human rights abuses, abuses and atrocities” in the region and noted increasing urgency “to conduct independent, international investigations.”
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission is an Ethiopian state-appointed body, which is part of a joint US-backed mechanism investigating alleged atrocities in Tigray.
The head of the U.S. House of Representatives’ committee on foreign affairs, Congressman Gregory Meeks, has asked the international community to take the lead in any proposed inquiry. Commenting on CNN’s findings, Meeks called for investigations to be ‘conducted internationally’.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said in a statement to CNN: “The Ethiopian government has indicated its open will for independent investigations in the Tigray region.”