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	Climate inaction is undermining anti-slavery efforts by Anti-Slavery International, agencies   Dec. 2021   Slavery in all its forms needs to end for everyone. (OHCHR)   The effects of current global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, climate change and armed conflict are pushing an increased number of people into contemporary forms of slavery. The situation of women and children is of particular concern, UN human rights experts say in this statement issued on the occasion of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery:   “According to figures released by UNICEF and ILO in June, almost 80 million children aged 5 to 17 years are subjected to hazardous work which is a contemporary form of slavery. And as a result of the economic recession and school closures caused by COVID-19, children may be working longer hours or under worsening conditions, while many others may have been forced into the worst forms of child labour due to job and income losses among their families. Forced recruitment of children into armed and criminal groups continues both in emergency and non-emergency settings.   Women and children bear the brunt of crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and humanitarian emergencies. As a result, they face a particularly high risk of being pushed into slavery. As many become displaced or migrate in the fight for survival, the risk of becoming trapped into forced labour or sexual exploitation increases exponentially.   They face retaliation in the form of brutal punishment and even death if they try to escape and/or denounce their situation.   According to unofficial estimates, one in every 130 women and girls is subjected to contemporary forms of slavery such as child and forced marriage, domestic servitude, forced labour and debt bondage which entail highly gendered experiences. High levels of exploitation also prevail in global supply chains which – based on existing business models - often rely on and reinforce labour exploitation and deepen gender inequality.   While gender inequalities lie at the heart of contemporary forms of slavery, these practices are also fuelled by intersecting forms of discrimination, oppression and inequalities based on race, ethnic origin, caste, social and economic status, age, disability, sexual orientation and migration status. Indigenous peoples are disproportionally affected by forced and bonded labour.   To prevent exploitation which may amount to contemporary forms of slavery, we urge States to establish safe migration pathways, to facilitate access to decent work in cooperation with the business sector, civil society organisations as well as trade unions, to strengthen efforts to tackle inequality and discrimination on various grounds and to ensure the protection of the most vulnerable, including children.   Additionally, human rights defenders and civil society organizations working to end contemporary forms of slavery should be able to carry out their work in a safe and enabling environment.   Also, accountability of perpetrators of contemporary forms of slavery must be strengthened as a matter of priority, as currently impunity prevails in far too many instances.   Tangible action in these areas should be part of building back better at the national and global level as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Slavery in all its forms needs to end for everyone, including women and children in contexts of armed conflict. Slavery is a disgrace to humanity which in the 21st century cannot be tolerated.   This year marks the 30th anniversary of the UN Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. This year alone, 18,000 victims received vital assistance from organizations financially supported by the Fund. On the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, we appeal to all Member States to increase their contribution to the Fund, or to make one for the first time.”   Oct. 2021   Climate inaction is undermining anti-slavery efforts - Anti-Slavery International, agencies   The world has been united in horror following the “code red for humanity” declared in the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This declaration follows months of news about wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, Turkey and Greece; stories of the harrowing reality of deadly floods in China, Belgium, Germany, Nigeria and Costa Rica, as well as record-breaking temperatures in Canada and Italy.   Climate change is already impacting people around the world and the IPCC has undeniable evidence what is driving it: rising emissions and inaction from international governments. As is true of most crises, the hardest hit are often the poorest regions of the world.   The conclusion is clear and damning –not only are we failing to protect each other from modern slavery but humanity also gets a failing grade when it comes to protecting the one home we have.   What’s the connection to modern slavery?   Climate change and modern slavery are interlinked through a horrifying cycle in which one feeds into the other, as laid out in Anti-Slavery International’s report From a Vicious to a Virtuous Circle.   Like modern slavery, the consequences of climate change come with a human cost, driving inequality and, in some cases, leading to new vulnerabilities to exploitation as a result caused by forced climate migration and the loss of livelihoods.   An example of this nexus between climate change and modern slavery was evident when Super Typhoon Haiyan made landfall on 8 November 2013. The typhoon brought catastrophic loss of life and livelihoods in Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It affected 16,078,181 individuals, resulted in 6,300 deaths, and displaced 4.4 million people.   The International Labour Organisation (ILO) reported that traffickers preyed on displaced men, women and children, many of whom were struggling to cope with the death of family members and the destruction of their houses and livelihoods.   Indigenous communities have played a key role in resisting environmental destruction occurring on their doorstep and protecting vital local ecosystems. In doing so, indigenous communities have risked their lives, with 331 indigenous activists murdered in 2020 alone.   We recently documented how indigenous peoples are already at higher risk to trafficking due to a myriad of factors perpetuated by the legacy of colonization and neo-colonial practices, including extractivism in their territories whereby natural resources are dangerously depleted by transnational companies.   Climate change and environmental degradation is making it increasingly difficult for indigenous communities to live off traditional lands, placing them at greater risk of accepting exploitative work as their livelihoods are affected.   Poverty, barriers to employment and education, political marginalization, and forced dispersal from traditional territories has further contributed to the systemic marginalization of indigenous communities, empowering traffickers to exploit these communities who have been pushed to the fringes of society.   Along with the current global pandemic, climate change is undermining efforts to effectively build resilience to trafficking and exploitation. We need holistic action for sustainable change.   Products of exploitation   The connection between modern slavery and environmental destruction is not new. Industries connected to deforestation and pollution, such as deforestation from illegal mining in Peru, emissions from brick kilns in Cambodia and pollution from cobalt mines in southern Congo, are too often linked to forced labor.   Palm oil is one industry that’s been placed under scrutiny from anti-slavery organizations and environmental groups alike. A natural oil from a variety of palm trees, it’s low cost with high profit margins and ends up on our shelves as a key ingredient in popular foods, such as chocolate, and cosmetics. Palm oil is also a key driver of devastating levels of deforestation which in turn contributes to the release of millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.   The human cost? Rampant forced labor, including most disturbingly, forced child labor in the harvesting process. This alarming reality is why, in 2019, we partnered with Rainforest Action Network and Sum of Us to successfully get the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to place a ban on U.S. imports of palm oil from Malaysia where some of the largest palm oil plantations are situated with suppliers implicated in forced labor.   The alliance between environmental organizations and anti-slavery organizations proved fruitful and mobilized a global audience to demand change that could not be ignored.   Like in the case with palm oil, many of the products we buy have a hidden cost. From mobile phones to the clothes we wear, our everyday products are having detrimental impacts on people and the planet.   Environmental damage often leaves rural and native populations without natural resources and habitats they are dependent on by polluting rivers, deforestation, and mining.   “The edge of extinction”   In many parts of the world, forced climate migration and displacement are already a reality. Climate change is threatening livelihoods in countries across the world and has led to climate refugees and cross-country climate migration. Some examples of this include:   Guatemalans forced to migrate in early 2019 due to drought, flood, bankruptcy and starvation, a direct result of climate change.   Bangladeshi families, previously reliant on the land for their livelihoods, facing dire poverty and the impossible choice between feeding their families and marrying off their daughters due to severe flooding.   Droughts across India driving communities from rural areas into nearby cities in search of income who are then taken advantage of by traffickers, trapping persons into working in brick kilns and forced sex work.   Cross-country climate migration in Cambodia due to exacerbated drought, contributing to workers being coerced into exploitative work and forced labor on fishing vessels in Thailand.   But IPCC’s report tells us that we haven’t seen the worst yet. A recent IOM report argues that as a result of extreme environment changes, there could be as many as 200 million of climate refugees by 2050.   With global sea levels projected to rise by six to 12 inches(15 to 30 centimeters) by 2050, low-lying countries are in extreme danger. Responding to the IPCC report, former Maldives president, Mohamed Nasheed despairs, “It confirms we are on the edge of extinction. Climate emergency is intensifying, we are on the front lines.”   What we know is that migrant workers and refugees are already being denied protection and support they require to avoid being trapped in exploitative conditions. If we continue down this path, there will be whole populations displaced and that vulnerability means they’re likely to take bigger risks and forced to accept exploitative conditions they would have previously been able to reject.   To reduce modern slavery driven by climate change, we must work towards preventing forced climate migration by pushing for adequate climate action.   Where that is already too late, global governments should offer adequate protection that migrants and refugees require to avoid being forced to accept exploitative conditions such as debt bondage, human trafficking, forced marriage and forced labor.   How climate inaction affects modern slavery   The cost of inaction on climate change is hugely concerning but what the IPCC does not examine is how climate change is also increasing modern slavery risks.   The IPCC report makes clear that human induced climate change exacerbates drought, sea levels, wildfires and flooding. These are key factors driving poverty and displacement which put poorer people without effective safety nets at risk of falling into precarious work, debt bondage and human trafficking as they look for ways to survive and traffickers see an opportunity to benefit.   If climate change is not addressed, whilst protection measures and prevention of modern slavery remain weak, we will see increasing vulnerability to forced labor and human trafficking.   The IPCC evidence is clear that we are on the path to increasing extreme weather events, and, as a consequence, anti-slavery efforts are being undermined by lack of action to address the climate crisis.   What are the solutions?   With the IPCC report indicating a “code red” and over 40 million people in modern slavery, it’s difficult not to feel like all hope is lost. But there are solutions that anti-slavery organizations and environmental groups can achieve if we work together.   One of Freedom United’s advisors, Kevin Bales, a long-time advocate against modern slavery, underscores the need to collaborate across sectors when he says:   "Up until now, the study of human rights (and slavery in particular), and the study of its anthropogenic impacts on the climate have been falsely seen as distinct and separate issues and areas of inquiry.   Human rights, however, do not exist in isolation from the natural environment; and the detrimental impact of anthropogenic change on the natural environment can be exacerbated by the diminution of human rights.   This separation of the cultural, social, and legal from the natural and environmental is a false and potentially fatal dichotomy, one that only entrenches “climate precarity”.   The nascent idea of their interrelatedness may be clear within some policy frameworks, but where it has failed to gain traction is at the sharp end of both human rights violations and environmental destruction".   His argument should be a rallying cry for environmentalists and anti-slavery advocates to work together where possible. Success cannot be found in silos. As with all modern slavery cases, we must build an informed understanding by listening to and supporting communities on the front lines of the crossover between climate change and modern slavery.   Indigenous communities are taking the lead in exposing the consequences of environmental injustice. They are tackling climate change, protecting native lands and ecosystems despite lacking adequate support which creates vulnerability to exploitative work and modern slavery. Indigenous communities should be supported by both the environmental and anti-slavery movements and include their voices.   Tackling climate change must be a collective effort. And for that we need a strong legal framework that mandates corporate human rights and environmental due diligence so that corporations are held to account for human and environmental consequences in supply chains to disincentivize environmental destruction and modern slavery in supply chains.   The IPCC report makes evident that on our current path there will be increased environmental instability. We know that this increases the risk forced labor and human trafficking. Given that current levels of climate change and modern slavery are already at alarming rates, we cannot afford to continue as we are.   We must stand together to put people and the planet first so that profit is no longer made from forced labor, human trafficking and environmental devastation. If we do this, then we can be hopeful that we can move from a “code red” to a “code green”.   http://www.antislavery.org/climate-change-modern-slavery/ http://www.antislavery.org/world-childrens-day-calling-for-action-to-end-child-slavery/ http://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/ http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ http://www.freedomunited.org/speak-free/climate-inaction-is-undermining-anti-slavery-efforts/ http://environmentalmigration.iom.int/#home Visit the related web page
	Tigray One Year On: An Anniversary of Famine and Conflict by Felicity Mulford and Catriona Murdoch Global Rights Compliance, agencies Ethiopia   30 June 2022   Ethiopia still in grip of spreading violence, hate speech and aid crisis. (UN News)   UN Human Rights Council-appointed rights investigators announced on Thursday that they’ve launched a probe into an alleged massacre of at least 200 people in Ethiopia’s Oromia region.   Kaari Betty Murungi, chair of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, was briefing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, in what was the Commission's first appearance since its creation in December last year.   The Commission had received reports last week of the killings in Western Oromia, as it continued its work investigating rights abuses linked to conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, that flared in November 2020.   Despite many other conflicts around the world, Ms. Murungi said that the world must not ignore what was happening in Ethiopia:   “The ongoing spread of violence, fuelled by hate speech and incitement to ethnic-based and gender-based violence, are early-warning indicators of further atrocity crimes against innocent civilians, especially women and children who are more vulnerable. The expanding conflict makes worse the existing humanitarian crisis that is being experienced in Ethiopia and the region.”   The Commission, established in December 2021, is mandated to conduct investigations to establish the facts and the circumstances surrounding alleged violations and abuses of International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law and International Refugee Law committed by all parties to the conflict in Ethiopia since November 2020.   “The dire humanitarian crisis made worse by lack of access in some areas by the civilian population to humanitarian assistance including medical and food aid, obstruction of aid workers and persistent drought, exacerbates the suffering of millions of people in Ethiopia and in the region”, said Ms. Murungi.   She added that “the Commission emphasizes the responsibility of the Government of Ethiopia to bring to an end such violations on its territory and, bring those responsible to justice”.   Since the outbreak of armed conflict in November 2020 in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, Ethiopian national forces, Eritrean troops, Amhara forces and other militias on one side, and forces loyal to the Tigray people’s Liberation Front (TPLF), have forced hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans to leave their homes through threats and intimidation in a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign.   The violence escalated and began to affect neighboring regions Afar and Amhara, with Afar providing the only channel of access for aid into Tigray.   Warring parties are accused of carrying out widespread human rights violations, including massacres, gender-based violence, extra judicial killings, forced displacements, violence against refugee camps and internally displaced persons. http://bit.ly/3IbLq33   http://www.wfp.org/news/conflict-climate-and-soaring-food-prices-push-ethiopia-further-hunger-while-wfp-funding-runs   Nov. 2021   Tigray One Year On: An Anniversary of Famine and Conflict, by Felicity Mulford and Catriona Murdoch for Global Rights Compliance.   Since the beginning of Abiy Ahmeds’ ‘law enforcement operation’ in Tigray last November, the international community warned of the risk of famine. One year on, the predictions are a startling reality. Tigray is experiencing a human-made famine.   When information has trickled out from behind the communication blackout, it has rarely been good news. Towns have been pillaged, civilians massacred, and busy markets bombed. Shops and businesses have been looted and destroyed. Crops have been burned, seeds stolen, farmers threatened, and livestock slaughtered. Women and girls have been subjected to pervasive sexual and gender-based violence.   Derogatory and dehumanizing language has also been a concerning hallmark of this conflict, with genocidal language allegedly used by senior public figures against the Tigrayan people. This non-exhaustive list of atrocities has devastated a previously food secure region.   Starvation crimes have continued unabated since our last update. Humanitarian access has been restricted, access routes destroyed, and aid obstructed. Humanitarian workers have been harassed and assaulted, with at least 24 murdered. The report of the joint investigation between the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) released on the 3rd of November 2021 made findings relating to starvation, supporting the analysis of GRC.   These findings include:   The Eritrean Defence Force (EDF) looted public and private property, including objects indispensable for the survival of the civilian population in Southern Tigray, including Keih Emba, Samre, Adi Gibai, Adi Awsa, Bora, and Wukro in Eastern Tigray.   The systematic looting by the EDF was accompanied by large scale appropriation of crops and livestock.   Between 6-9 November 2020, Tigray forces attacked farms belonging to non-Tigrayans in nearby areas to Maikadra. The attackers burnt the harvest of 5,000 quintals of sesame.   Serious access restrictions, including multiple checkpoints by the EDF and Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF), impeded or delayed delivery of humanitarian assistance to parts of Tigray and Amhara region impacting food security.   Since late June, Tigray has been back under the control of the Tigrayan Defense Forces (TDF, formerly TPLF). Celebrations were short-lived, as the Government of Ethiopia then imposed a ‘de-facto blockade’. Access by both land and air is controlled by the Ethiopian Government and tightly restricted. The constraints on access and information leaving Tigray have provided a smokescreen for the Government, concealing starvation crimes.   Mass starvation in Tigray   The UN has repeated the IPCs prediction that 400,000 people would be suffering from ‘catastrophic’ levels of hunger (IPC Level 5) by September if conditions didn’t improve. Violence has continued and since April, only 29% of the minimum calorific needs of the Tigrayan population has entered Tigray.   According to USAID, the reality is worse than the predictions. Almost 1 million people are facing famine conditions (IPC Level 5) and 5 million are suffering from ‘emergency’ levels of food security (IPC Level 4). USAID’s findings are corroborated by reports within the region, which paint a solemn picture of life in Tigray. A group from Mekelle University recently warned the UN Security Council that the situation was a “man-made form of famine that belittles the 1984 famine in its severity”.   Using available data a group of researchers from the University of Ghent estimated that between 425 and 1201 people could be dying per day from starvation, or starvation related deaths. Starvation deaths were also reported by the Associated Press on 17 September in 20 districts.   According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Severe Acute Malnutrition in children is above the emergency threshold, while two-thirds of pregnant and lactating women examined were malnourished. For those that survive, this raises long-term concerns with intergenerational effects. Malnutrition at this level could cause physical and mental stunting in children and increase risks for mothers during childbirth.   The upcoming harvest may do little to improve food security within Tigray. Only 25-50% of land in surveyed areas has been planted. To ensure they had something to harvest, farmers planted crops with short cycles, but lower yields. The discovery of desert locusts in at least 14 woredas within Tigray threatens the harvest further.   Humanitarian access issues   Food, fuel, medicines, non-food items and cash are desperately needed within the region. As OCHA indicate through their access maps, Tigray is encircled.   While both parties to the conflict blame each other for the delays, UN officials have identified Government of Ethiopia’s policies – including strict checkpoints and bureaucratic impediments – as holding up aid delivery. A claim continuously rejected by the federal government.   100 trucks of food, non-food items and fuel are needed per day to prevent monumental loss of life from hunger. However, between July and 18 October, only 15% of the humanitarian aid required within Tigray was allowed through. Since 18 October no humanitarian aid convoys have entered the region. The UN humanitarian flights have also faced significant delays, strict checks and have a limited capacity onboard.   Additionally, in October the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flights were prevented from landing due to Government airstrikes on Mekelle. Since 22nd October, no UNHAS flights have entered the region, despite agreements with the Ethiopian Government that they would be bi-weekly.   Many of the trucks transporting aid into Tigray have not returned. The Government of Ethiopia claims that the TDF have requisitioned the trucks and are using them to transport fighters; however, UN officials on the ground have cited lack of fuel and harassment of drivers as factors preventing their return. Truck drivers have been harassed, assaulted, and held hostage. Since late June, no fuel has entered the region.   By mid-October three of seven UN food partners had ceased all food distribution outside of Mekelle due to lack of fuel. The strict checks and shortage of trucks is limiting the amount of aid which can enter the region. The blockade on fuel is preventing the aid that has reached Tigray from being distributed.   Since the de-facto blockade began, Tigrayan forces have advanced into neighbouring Afar and Amhara regional states, in what they say is a bid “to break the siege”. This offensive has displaced over 840,000 people and left a further 1.8 million people food insecure. The needs on the ground are increasing each day.   Fears of genocidal intent   The war on the ground is coupled with a war over narratives. As well as designating the TDF a ‘terrorist’ group, a statement by Abiy Ahmed on 18th July has also sparked concerns that this conflict may include genocidal acts. Abiy called for all able-bodied men across Ethiopia to come together to fight the ‘cancer’, exorcise the ‘demon’ and uproot the ‘weeds’. His close aide Daniel Kibret used similarly dangerous rhetoric in a public address, outlining that the TDF “should be erased and disappeared from historical records”. He continued to say that those who wish to study the TDF should only find evidence of them by “digging the ground.”   Commentators have drawn parallels with rhetoric used during the lead up to the Rwandan Genocide. Similar calls have been made by Amhara officials, reinforcing the view across the government that Tigrayans are the “enemy” of Ethiopia. The President of Amhara, told Amharans to leave their work and education and head to the frontlines, where they should be “determined to destroy the TPLF” and “eliminate the terrorist TPLF”.   A Statement, released on 30 July 2021 by the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu, on the continued deterioration of the situation in Ethiopia also expressed concern. The Special Adviser outlined her distress over the use of “inflammatory statements” and “pejorative and dehumanising language” by political leaders and armed groups.   The international response   Despite international condemnation and attempts to bring the Ethiopian Federal Government and the TDF to the negotiating table – including through the threat and preparation of sanctions by the US and EU – reports are mounting of recent airstrikes, new arms deals and a surge in recruitment.   The Government of Ethiopia received fierce criticism from the international community following the banning of Médecins Sans Frontiers and the Norwegian Refugee Council in August for ‘spreading misinformation’, and the unprecedented expulsion of 7 high-level UN officials, for ‘meddling in the internal affairs of the country’. Many believe these expulsions were to conceal the ongoing human rights violations.   UNSC Resolution 2417   The conflict is the first major test for the UN Security Council Resolution 2417 (UNSC 2417) on Conflict and Hunger. One year into this conflict and the resolution has not been implemented effectively. The Security Council has met 8 times to discuss the situation, only twice publicly. There has been no decisive action at the UNSC, and only one non-binding Presidential Statement has been issued. OCHA has also provided at least one confidential white paper to the UNSC in May, linking the situation to UNSC 2417.   The Security Council remains divided. Some states – including the USA, UK and Ireland – have sought to link the discussions with UNSC 2417, and referenced the resolution within their remarks. Russia, China and the A3 plus one (Kenya, Niger, Tunisia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) sought to keep discussions to a minimum. While the former has argued that the conflict is a domestic matter and sovereignty must be upheld, the latter have outlined that there must be African solutions to African problems.   The Joint OHCHR and ECHR Investigation   The aforementioned OHCHR-ECHR joint investigative team (JIT) has concluded its field research and released its report. However, it has faced challenges and criticisms. The ECHR has been accused of lacking the institutional capacity, skills or impartiality needed for an independent investigation. Additionally, one OHCHR staff member was among those expelled by the Ethiopian Government at the end of September.   The JIT investigators were unable to reach many of the sites of the most violent massacres, including Axum. The reasons behind these access restrictions were not clearly explained within the report or publicly, with criticism levied against the Ethiopian Government for trying to curate the investigation and limit its scope. Additionally, despite reports of the systematic and widespread use of starvation crimes within the conflict, there was no mention in its mandate that starvation crimes would be investigated.   Notwithstanding that, there is (as discussed above) reference to these violations within the report, albeit cursorily. For a thorough investigation into the violations in Tigray, starvation must be investigated.   The African Union (AU) Commission of Inquiry (COI).   Little information has circulated about the progress of the AU’s COI. Despite the Government of Ethiopia’s original rejection of the AU’s independent investigation, the COI’s Commissioner Maya Sahil-Fadel outlined the need for it to remain independent. GRC has provided support to the AU to encourage their investigation to look into starvation crimes.   Sanctions   ​​To date, the US has only placed sanctions on one Eritrean military leader, General Filipos Woldeyohannes (Filipos), under their Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, in August. However, on 17 September President Biden signed an Executive Order allowing the US Government to sanction those preventing the delivery of aid, in a bid to get the parties to the conflict to the negotiating table. While no names have been officially added yet, the US Government has indicated that it is monitoring the situation closely.   While the TDF spokesperson Getachew Reda supported Biden’s attempts to start a negotiation process, President Abiy Ahmed responded through an open-letter published on Twitter. He compared the Tigray conflict to the US’ War on Terror and criticised the international community for misrepresenting the situation on the ground.   The US Government has said that sanctions could be avoided if parties to the conflict took clear and concrete steps towards a ceasefire and ensuring the delivery of aid. The White House indicated that this could include: “accepting African Union-led mediation efforts, designating a negotiations team, agreeing to negotiations without preconditions, and accepting an invitation to initial talks.”   Steps towards ensuring humanitarian access could involve: “authorizing daily convoys of trucks carrying humanitarian supplies to travel overland to reach at-risk populations; reducing delays for humanitarian convoys; and restoring basic services such as electricity, telecommunications, and financial services.”   President Biden’s threat has been bolstered by similar cautions from the European Union. The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly for a resolution in early October which would request sanctions to be placed on those prolonging the conflict and contributing to humanitarian suffering if conditions had not improved by the end of the month. That time is now up. We must wait and see what action the European Commission takes moving forward.   Additional investigations and enquiries   A universal jurisdiction claim has been opened with the Belgium Prosecutors Office on behalf of bereaved families. Several victims have submitted testimonies; however, no further information seems to exist publicly about this.   In response to the increasing reports of rhetoric which could amount to ‘incitement to genocide’, the US House of Representatives recently passed a bill requiring the State Department to determine whether the current conflict represents a genocide. The US State Department acknowledged this bill, while outlining that they were already conducting investigations and monitoring the situation closely.   Recommendations   Whilst there have been several investigations instigated at the international level, there remains two critical gaps in information documentation:   First, there has yet to be a comprehensive mapping of the relevant governmental and military actors involved in the conflict. There is a dearth of information which even begins to outline these actors’ roles and responsibilities for decisions or actions taken which have indirectly or directly contributed to violations of international law. This gap was also mentioned by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights during the press conference for the launch for the JIT report, noting that the investigation was a human rights one, not a criminal investigation, and as such did not make findings regarding the criminal responsibility of specific individuals, calling for further investigation into events and the pattern of (criminal) conduct.   Perpetrator mapping will enable an understanding of the conflict levers and further influence behavioural change. It will also ensure that repressive measures and redress can be sustainably and credibly furthered.   Second, there is a lack of credible documentation of humanitarian access violations. There needs to be a comprehensive investigation into the individuals, ministries, and military units responsible for obstructing, withholding, looting and destroying humanitarian aid and linkages drawn to show that this is directly contributing to the famine and severe food insecurity crisis in Ethiopia. This gap was also highlighted by the JIT report (p. 5).   Global Rights Compliance calls for continued monitoring and reporting on the situation and broadly supports the recommendations in the OHCHR and EHRC report on options for accountability. GRC recommends the following actions:   Parties to the conflict must negotiate a ceasefire and ensure the de-escalation of both hostilities and rhetoric. Violations of human rights and attacks on objects indispensable for survival must end. Parties to the conflict must ensure the safety of humanitarian workers and enable the delivery of aid.   In particular, the Government of Ethiopia must end the blockade on the region so essential services can resume. This includes allowing humanitarian aid (including food and medicines) into the region, re-opening banks, resuming the Productive Safety Net Payments (PSNP), providing electricity and re-establishing communications infrastructure. All measures which may exacerbate the man-made famine and humanitarian crisis must cease, especially attacks on indispensable objects.   The United Nations Security Council must use the tools at its disposal, to implement UNSC 2417 and other relevant UNSC Resolutions. This includes appointing a Special Envoy on UNSC 2417 who could monitor and inform the UNSC on conflict-induced food insecurity during armed conflict.   The international community must support impartial and independent investigations. For example, through cases which draw upon universal jurisdiction, support for the AU’s COI, and the OHCHR-ECHR investigation. Starvation crimes must be considered within the investigations if they are to provide a thorough assessment of war crimes in Tigray. GRC fully supports the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism to collect evidence on the most serious violations committed during the conflict, including starvation violations, and prepare files for criminal prosecution, as per the call put out by the OHCHR and EHRC.   At the State level, action can also be taken. States can provide support for investigations and support civil society groups which monitor human rights. To ensure the criminalisation of starvation as a method of warfare, States can ratify the Rome Statute amendment, which makes it a crime within non-international armed conflicts.   7 million people are already facing conflict-induced food insecurity across Tigray, Afar and Amhara. There must be a concerted effort to bring the parties to the conflict to the negotiating table and bring this conflict to an end.   http://starvationaccountability.org/news-and-events/tigray-one-year-on-an-anniversary-of-famine-and-conflict
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