The Philippines wants no part in a new resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to launch an international investigation into alleged abuses in Ethiopia as this will not help improve the situation.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. made the statement as the UNHRC moved to establish "an international commission of human rights experts on Ethiopia" to probe a wide range of alleged violations and abuses by all sides fighting in the war that started in the country's northern region of Tigray 13 months ago.
The 47-member council voted with 21 in favor, 15 opposed including the Philippines, and 11 abstentions to order the establishment of the said body.
During the 33rd Special Session of the UNHRC, Locsin, whose statement was delivered by Philippine Deputy Permanent Representative Maria Teresa Almojuela, said the Philippines voted no to Draft Resolution S-33/L.1: Situation of human rights in Ethiopia.
"The Philippines votes NO to this resolution. It doesn’t help the situation in any way; all it does is make the self-righteous feel justified in their mistaken self-importance," Locsin's statement read.
He said the Philippines is gravely concerned by the findings of the Joint Investigation Report, including accounts of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and children, but claimed these "horrors" will continue if other countries will intervene with Ethiopia's affairs.
"This cannot continue. But it will if we resort to the cheap tactics of sovereign usurpation by the last countries in the world entitled to substitute their judgment for that of the specific country concerned," he said.
The "list of horrors" allegedly committed by parties to the conflict in Ethiopia include:
- Physical violence and assault
- Attempted rape
- Rape including gang, oral, and anal rape
- Insertion of foreign objects into the vagina
- Intentional transmission of HIV
Locsin said it was heartbreaking to hear that children are not spared and were subjected to SGBV, physical injuries, and, in some cases, killings as a direct result of the conflict.
"Children were exposed to traumatic experiences such as witnessing the killing or rape of close family members by soldiers of the parties to the conflict... The displacement and killing of their caregivers left children orphaned and vulnerable to further abuses and violations," he said.
"Thousands of children were separated from their families as a result of the conflict. Children in Tigray and children displaced from Tigray to the Amhara region do not have adequate food, water, shelter, protection, and other life-saving assistance," he added.
Statement of Foreign Affairs Secretary @teddyboylocsin on the Draft Resolution S-33/L.1: Situation of human rights in Ethiopia to be delivered by Philippine Deputy Permanent Representative Maria Teresa T. Almojuela at the 33rd Special Session of the Human Rights Council
— DFA Philippines (@DFAPHL) December 17, 2021
Despite this, Locsin said that the Ethiopian government has accepted the earlier Joint report on the abuses in the country and had even set up an Inter-Ministerial Taskforce to oversee redress and accountability measures in response to these human rights violations.
"It has begun to implement the recommendations in the Report, which we note was issued only a month ago. The Philippines welcomes these actions," he said.
According to Locsin, the proponents of the new resolution wanted to intervene again and right away. He wondered what may be the reason behind this.
"They are simultaneously seeking to create an International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, to investigate the same allegations of violations and abuses to take over sovereign prerogatives. Why? And who are they to do so?" he said.
He likewise noted that even the independent Ethiopian Human Rights Commission itself is concerned that the international investigative mechanism proposed by the resolution duplicates the work of the JIT report, and is therefore repetitive and counterproductive to ongoing implementation processes, and an unnecessary indeed self-defeating measure to end the specific horror of that civil conflict.
"That only further delays redress for victims and survivors; and an end to the horror," he said.
According to Locsin, the proponents must learn to respect and not preempt a sovereign state’s prerogative to set up its own national accountability efforts and mechanisms to address human rights and humanitarian law violations.
"They must cease using the Human Rights Council for unilateral undeservedly self-important actions that hinder cooperative and constructive efforts to change the human rights situation on the ground," he said.
"In continuing to resort to these tactics, the proponents are weakening the Human Rights Council by turning it into an arena of condemnation and a judicial hall without due process, instead of a body for engagement, respect for sovereignty, and dialogue," he added.
Locsin ended his statement by quoting the Queen in the classic tale "Alice in Wonderland".
"'First the judgment of conviction; and then the trial.' The nerve coming from whom it does," he said.
"The Philippines will not allow this. We vote NO. Thank you," he added.