UN handpicks ex Tanzania Chief judge to head Ethiopia human rights investigations

The President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Federico Villegas has approved the appointment of Mr. Mohamed Chande Othman of Tanzania to the Council-created Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia as its new Chairperson.

Mr. Othman’s appointment comes following the resignation of Kaari Betty Murungi as Chairperson and Member of the Commission. Ambassador Villegas thanks Ms. Murungi for her role on the Commission and wishes her well in her future endeavours.

He takes over from Kaari Betty Murungi following her resignation as chairperson and member of the commission. Apart from a seven-year stint as Tanzania’s top judge (2010-2017), Mr Othman also served as chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1998- 2000) and the Council’s independent expert on the human rights situation in the Sudan (2009-2010) among his previous postings.

His previous experience includes that of Prosecutor General of Timor-Leste (2000-2001), Chief of Prosecutions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1998-2000), and Senior Legal and Justice Sector Adviser for UNDP-Cambodia.
He also served as a member of the UN Human Rights Council’s High-Level Commission of Inquiry into the Situation in Lebanon following the Israel-Lebanon Armed Conflict in 2006 and as the UN Human Rights Council’s Independent Expert on the human rights situation in the Sudan (2009-2010).

The three-person Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, created in December 2021, is mandated to investigate alleged human rights violations and abuses in Ethiopia committed since November 2020.

The commission is scheduled to deliver its next update on the Ethiopian situation to the UN Human Rights Council between February and March 2023