Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of reports that Ethiopia allegedly used Iranian-made armed drones in the Tigray War.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We advocate for responsible arms exports which comply with international obligations, including International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law. The US have set out that Iran supplied Mohajer-6 drones to Ethiopia in 2021. If so and in the absence of approval by the UN Security Council, such transfers by Iran violate UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of drones in the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are aware of reporting that drones are being used in the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia. We call for a ceasefire by all sides, including the Ethiopian Government, to end airstrikes. The indiscriminate targeting of civilians, no matter the weapon used, is against international law, and is entirely unacceptable.
A joint investigation by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, published on 3 November found reasonable grounds to believe that all parties to the conflict in Tigray have, to varying degrees, committed violations of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law. The UK will continue to support the UN in the need for independent, transparent and impartial investigations and will work to ensure that those responsible for these atrocities are held to account.