WHO chief may face genocide charges

Economist David Steinman has called for the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief to be prosecuted for genocide, reports Saudi Gazette. 

In a complaint filed at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the American economist nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize has accused WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of being involved in directing Ethiopia's security forces who killed, arbitrarily detained, and tortured Ethiopians.

Earlier from 2013 to 2015, Dr Tedros was one of three officials in control of the Ethiopian security services. 

Dr Tedros, 55, took over at the WHO three years ago and is the organization's first leader without medical qualifications.

He served as Ethiopia's health minister from 2005 to 2012 and its foreign minister until 2016 when his Tigray People's Liberation Front party was the main member of the ruling coalition.

In his complaint, Steinman pointed to a 2016 US government report on human rights in Ethiopia that found the "civilian authorities at times did not maintain control over the security forces, and local police in rural areas and local militias sometimes acted independently".

Steinman added that the US report cited "other documented crimes". He accused Dr Tedros of being involved in the "intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters", including "arbitrary arrest . . . and lengthy pre-trial detention".

Steinman, a former consultant to the US National Security Council, was a senior foreign adviser to Ethiopia's democracy movement for 27 years until its victory in 2018 under Abiy Ahmed Ali, the current prime minister.