
Ethiopia: Office of the Prime Minister – Joint Statement on Ethiopia – Egypt Relations (13.07.2023)



“The speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among has summoned the minister of works and transport, the Uganda Police, the leader of opposition in parliament and other stakeholders for an emergency meeting over worsening road crashes” (Daily Monitor, 13.07.2023).
Today there was a populist move by the Speaker of the 11th Parliament, Anita Among. She summoned in several leaders for a meeting, because of the recent car accidents. Instead of calling into a debate in a plenary or adopt motions in the House. She called a meeting… and I don’t see how she could or have the ability to do so…
“7. General Authority of the Speaker
(1) The Speaker shall preside at any sitting of the House.
(2) The Speaker shall preserve order and decorum in the House and shall decide questions of order and practice.
(3) In deciding a point of order or practice, the Speaker shall state reasons for the decision and shall cite any rule of procedure or other applicable authority.
(4) The Speaker may invite submissions from Members but no debate shall ensue.
(5) The Speaker may decline debate on any contribution” (RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE 11TH PARLIAMENT).
The ideals of the meeting and summons are fine in itself, but the Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja should feel betrayed. Other High-Ranking Officials should feel the pinch too. All of these appointed leaders have been downgraded and flower-girls in comparison to the Speaker.
The Speaker is going outside her mandate and her role as the Speaker. She doesn’t have the authority or mandate to do this. Among might think she’s that influential or has the power to do so. However, that isn’t her role, and she should beg for motions to move in a plenary session. She shouldn’t participate or take part in government business. Because that is what she did by calling or summoning the people for this meeting.
Even if this is the result of the meeting: “As a mid-term intervention to curb road accidents, the stakeholders have agreed to reintroduce mandatory motor vehicle inspection” (Parliament of Uganda, 13.07.2023).
The Speaker shouldn’t have done this and there should have been others who has the initial mandate or role to do so. She has overstretched her place and abilities. The Speaker should consider herself lucky because other places this could have consequences. That had been normal to call her out and question her reasons to do so.
The Speaker is the Speaker and not the Officer of the Government. Neither is she the most powerful government official. The President has delegated his powers and appointed a cabinet. There Vice-Presidents and a Prime Minister. Even Deputy Prime Ministers who could fit the bill. Alas, that is apparently not the case.
There are plenty leaders and high ranking officials should feel troubled by this action. If this set the precedence than they are obsolete and busy-bodies. As the Speaker is taking their place and orders people around without the mandate or authority to do so. That’s why it’s impressive that she gets away with it… Peace.

The Ethiopian Refugee and Returnee Service (RSS) stated that those deported were not refugees or asylum seekers.
GENEVA, Switzerland, July 13, 2023 – UN experts today* condemned Ethiopia’s summary expulsion of hundreds of Eritreans at the end of June. They called on the authorities to immediately halt any further deportations and put an end to the continuing reports of arbitrary detention of Eritrean refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants.
“Collective expulsions are prohibited under international law,” the experts said. “Deporting migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers without conducting an individual and objective risk assessment of their exposure to human rights violations, including torture and enforced disappearance, upon return is refoulement.”
The non-refoulement principle, enshrined in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other international human rights treaties and legal instruments, applies to all forms of expulsion, regardless of nationality or migration status, they said.
“Several cases of family separation have been reported following the mass deportations, with parents forced back to Eritrea and children left behind in Ethiopia,” the experts said.
Patterns of human rights violations against forcibly returned Eritreans, including torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, trafficking and arbitrary detention, have been well documented in previous reports by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea. “There is no information on the fate or whereabouts of those deported since their return to Eritrea,” the experts said. “We urge the Eritrean authorities to provide information on their fate and whereabouts and to ensure that they can have access to their relatives, lawyers or anyone of their choice.”
The Ethiopian Refugee and Returnee Service (RSS) stated that those deported were not refugees or asylum seekers. However, according to several credible sources, the group included both registered and unregistered refugees and asylum-seekers. The RSS stopped registering newly arrived asylum-seekers in March 2020, preventing them from accessing the asylum process and from applying for protection under international human rights and refugee law.
“The lack of registration and accompanying documentation places refugees and asylum-seekers in a situation of heightened vulnerability and hinders their access to their human rights in Ethiopia,” the experts said. “We urge organisations with refugee protection mandates, including UNHCR, to mobilise and engage proactively with the Ethiopian authorities to address the lack of access to the asylum system and relevant documentation for asylum-seekers and refugees.”
The UN experts expressed grave concern about the ongoing situation of Eritreans in Ethiopia, noting the reports of continued arrests and prolonged arbitrary detention of Eritreans for alleged violations of immigration law, without charge, without access to a lawyer and without judicial process.
“Immigration detention should be an exceptional measure of last resort, used only for adults, for the shortest period of time and for a legitimate purpose,” the experts said. “It also appears that the authorities are specifically targeting Eritreans, a practice that constitutes discrimination.”

GENEVA (13 July 2023) – The bodies of at least 87 ethnic Masalit and others allegedly killed last month by Rapid Support Forces and their allied militia in West Darfur have been buried in a mass grave outside the region’s capital El-Geneina on the orders of the Rapid Support Forces, according to credible information obtained by the UN Human Rights Office.
Local people were forced to dispose of the bodies in a mass grave, denying those killed a decent burial in one of the city’s cemeteries. At least 37 bodies were buried on 20 June in the approximately one-metre-deep mass grave in an open area called Al-Turab Al Ahmar (Red Soil), in the Ranga area, about two to four kilometres northwest of the headquarters of the Central Reserve Police in western El-Geneina, sources said. Another 50 bodies were buried at the same site on 21 June. The bodies of seven women and seven children were among those buried.
According to credible information gathered by the Office, those buried in the mass grave were killed by RSF and their allied militia around 13-21 June in El-Geneina’s Al-Madaress and Al-Jamarek districts and include many victims of the violence that followed the killing of Khamis Abbaker, the Governor of West Darfur, on 14 June, shortly after he was taken into custody by the RSF. They also include individuals who died from untreated injuries.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today called on the RSF and other parties to the conflict to allow and facilitate prompt searches for the dead, their collection and evacuation without distinction, including based on ethnic background – as they are obliged to do under international law.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians and hors de combat individuals, and I am further appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated,” Türk said. “There must be a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into the killings, and those responsible must be held to account.”
Witnesses said that local mediation efforts for access to and burial of the dead have generally taken long, leaving many bodies lying in the streets for days on end. One family said it had to wait 13 days before being allowed to collect the body of a family member, a Masalit dignitary killed on or around 9 June by the RSF and their allied militia.
Witnesses told the UN Human Rights Office that in the instances where the RSF have allowed the collection of the dead – following mediation with Arab and other community leaders – they have refused to allow the removal of the injured to hospitals for medical treatment.
“The RSF’s leadership and their allied militia as well as all parties to an armed conflict are required to ensure that the dead are properly handled, and their dignity protected,” Türk said.
The RSF must record, or allow relief workers to record, all available information related to the dead, including taking proper photos of the bodies and marking the location of the graves, with a view to identification to facilitate the return of the remains of the deceased to the families upon their request.
Under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, all parties to the conflict must ensure the injured receive medical care.
The High Commissioner called on the RSF leadership immediately and unequivocally to condemn and stop the killing of people, and to end violence and hate speech against people on the basis of their ethnicity.









The attack by unknown assailants on the patrol from the MINUSCA mission occurred just a few kilometres from the town of Sam Ouandia.
NEW YORK, United States of America, July 12, 2023 – The UN Secretary-General has strongly condemned an attack on a UN peacekeeping patrol in the northeast Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday which left one Rwandan ‘blue helmet’ dead.
The attack by unknown assailants on the patrol from the MINUSCA mission occurred just a few kilometres from the town of Sam Ouandia.
The mission has immediately opened an investigation into the exact circumstances, said a statement issued by the UN Spokesperson for António Guterres on Tuesday.
“The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the family of the fallen peacekeeper and to the people and government of the Republic of Rwanda”, it continued.
Possible war crime
The UN chief recalled that attacks targeting peacekeepers “may constitute war crimes under international law. He calls on the Central African Republic authorities to spare no effort in identifying the perpetrators of this attack and bring them to justice swiftly.”
MINUSCA was deployed in 2014 to help end intercommunal violence that erupted a year earlier when mainly Muslim militants ousted the then president, prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militias.
The Secretary-General reaffirmed the solidarity of the UN with the people and Government of CAR.
Security Council pays tribute
The members of the Security Council joined Mr. Guterres in condemning the attack and paid tribute “to all peacekeepers who risk their lives.”
They urged the Government to investigate the killing with the support of MINUSCA, “promote accountability for such acts by bringing perpetrators to justice and keep the relevant troop-contributing country informed of the progress consistent with Security Council resolutions 2518 (2020) and 2589 (2021).”
Ambassadors underlined that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. They stressed that being involved in planning, directing, sponsoring or conducting attacks against peacekeepers constitutes a basis for sanctions.
They stressed the importance of MINUSCA being able to fulfil its mandate and fully equip peacekeepers to carry out their duties in safety and security.
Council members reiterated their “strong support” for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and MINUISCA head, Valentine Rugwabiza, and for the mission to assist CAR authorities and all citizens there in their efforts to bring lasting peace and stability, as mandated by the Security Council.

