The French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, and her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, are on a 48-hour visit to Addis Ababa. A “support” visit to the ongoing peace process since the signing of the Pretoria peace agreement. During their talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, they emphasized the scale and gravity of the crimes committed during the two years of conflict and insisted on the importance of justice.
With our correspondent in Addis Ababa, Florence Morice
“ There is no lasting peace without justice “. This is one of the key messages conveyed Thursday, January 12 in Addis Ababa by the French and German Foreign Ministers. And it is also one of the conditions set by the European Union to resume its budgetary support to Ethiopia, suspended shortly after the start of the conflict, recalled Catherine Colonna, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs.
” Member States to express their wish for a gradual re-engagement, provided, of course, that the peace process continues to progress and in particular that progress continues with regard to justice and the fight against impunity. »
Following a meeting with the two diplomats, the Deputy Prime Minister and Ethiopian Minister of Justice, Demeke Mekonnen, showed his willingness to do what is necessary to ensure that the crimes committed do not go unpunished. ” The government of Ethiopia has already asked the UN human rights office to deploy monitors to “conflict affected areas” alongside the Ethiopian human rights commission. And also to support the consultation process on the transitional justice policy. »
Behind the scenes, however, several observers regret the lack of a timetable for this transitional justice process provided for by the Pretoria agreement and recall that on several occasions Ethiopia has tried to block the financing of the United Nations committee of experts responsible for to investigate abuses committed during the conflict.
This Friday, the two heads of French and German diplomacy are to meet with the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, as well as human rights defenders.