Radhika Coomaraswamy of Sri Lanka has been appointed to serve as a member of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, according to a statement made today by Ambassador Federico Villegas (Argentina), who is the president of the Human Rights Council. On March 2, 2022, Ms. Coomaraswamy was appointed to the human rights investigative body, joining Steven Ratner of the United States and chair Kaari Betty Murungi of Kenya.
The Commission of Human Rights Experts was established by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on December 17, 2021, with the task of looking into claims of abuses and violations of international human rights, humanitarian, and refugee law in Ethiopia since November 3, 2020 by all parties to the conflict.
Following her nomination to serve as The Gambia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Fatou Bensouda resigned from the three-person Commission on June 8, 2022, and her replacement was announced today.
Ms. Coomaraswamy brings years of experience as a human rights advocate, expert, and lawyer to this position, having held a variety of positions both domestically and internationally. She previously served in a number of positions, including from 2017 to 2019 as a member of the Human Rights Council’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar and from 2006 to 2012 as the UN Secretary-Special General’s Representative for Children and Armed Conflict (see biography below).
The Human Rights Council will hear an oral report from the Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia on June 30, marking the Council’s first hearing with the commission. A thorough written report from the Commission is expected to be delivered to the human rights body in September and then to the UN General Assembly session later this year.
Biography of Radhika Coomaraswamy
Internationally recognized human rights defender Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka), a lawyer by training and former chair of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission, served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women from 1994 to 2003 and as a member of the fact-finding mission to Myanmar from 2017 to 2019.
She also served as the UN Secretary-Under-Secretary-General General’s and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 2006 to 2012, where she was in charge of writing the annual report.
As the lead author of a global study on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security, Ms. Coomaraswamy was chosen by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in 2014.
She earned her B.A. from Yale University, J.D. from Columbia University, LLM from Harvard University, and honorary PhDs from Amherst College, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, University of Edinburgh, University of Essex, and the CUNY School of Law.