A resolution calling on the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People's Liberation Front to cease all hostilities, protect the human rights of all Ethiopians, and pursue a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

III 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. RES. 798 Calling on the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front to cease all hostilities, protect the human rights of all Ethiopians, and pursue a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 9, 2020 Mr. RISCH (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Calling on the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray Peo- ple’s Liberation Front to cease all hostilities, protect the human rights of all Ethiopians, and pursue a peace- ful resolution of the conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Whereas the United States and the Federal Democratic Re- public of Ethiopia share a strong relationship built over a century of diplomatic relations; Whereas Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Af- rica and plays a key role in advancing security and sta- bility across sub-Saharan Africa, including as a top con- tributor of uniformed personnel to United Nations peace- keeping missions; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR798.IS SR798 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 798 IS Whereas Ethiopia has been beset in recent years by multiple human rights and humanitarian challenges, including tar- geted ethnic violence, natural disasters, and political un- rest, leading to the internal displacement of more than 1,800,000 Ethiopians in 2020 alone; Whereas tensions between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which was part of the ruling coalition in Ethiopia until late 2019, escalated when the Tigray People’s Lib- eration Front held elections in the region of Tigray on September 9, 2020, despite the decision by the Federal Government of Ethiopia to postpone general elections due to the COVID–19 pandemic; Whereas the Tigray People’s Liberation Front rejected the postponement of elections and considered the extension of the term of the Federal Government to be unconstitu- tional, and the Federal Government subsequently deemed the Tigray elections illegitimate; Whereas, in the early hours of November 4, 2020, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front carried out an attack on the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces; Whereas Prime Minister Abiy then ordered a military offen- sive and 6-month state of emergency in the Tigray re- gion, which has evolved into an armed conflict in the re- gion and surrounding areas between the Ethiopian Na- tional Defense Forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, with reports of thousands of deaths; Whereas the Tigray People’s Liberation Front claims it acted in self-defense and has accused the Ethiopian National Defense Forces of striking some civilian targets; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR798.IS SR798 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 798 IS Whereas the Tigray People’s Liberation Front admits to hav- ing fired missiles at 2 airports and having launched rock- ets across the border into Eritrea in what they say was retaliation for air strikes in the Tigray region; Whereas Amnesty International confirmed that, on November 9, 2020, ‘‘likely hundreds’’ of ethnic Amhara people were stabbed or hacked to death in the town of Mai-Kadra in the Tigray region, and some witnesses attributed the killings to retreating Tigray People’s Liberation Front forces; Whereas the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has ex- pressed concern over the arrests of journalists in connec- tion to the conflict in the Tigray region and called on the Government of Ethiopia to respect due process rights; Whereas the closures of roads and airports servicing the Tigray region have contributed to shortages of fuel and other necessary goods and impeded the delivery of hu- manitarian assistance to more than 2,000,000 people al- ready in need of aid, including approximately 100,000 Eritrean refugees and hundreds of United States citizens living in the region; Whereas the Government of Ethiopia has shut down elec- tricity, banking, internet, and telephone services in the Tigray region, creating additional challenges for the de- livery of humanitarian services and the protection of civil- ians; Whereas the conflict has already forced approximately 50,000 Ethiopians to flee to Sudan, and aid agencies warn that more than 200,000 refugees could enter Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea in the next 6 months; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR798.IS SR798 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 798 IS Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that ‘‘there is a risk this situation will spi- ral totally out of control, leading to heavy casualties and destruction, as well as mass displacement within Ethiopia itself and across borders’’; Whereas, according to international human rights organiza- tions, Tigrayans have been suspended from their jobs and prevented from leaving the country, and there are reports of surveillance and mass arrests of citizens of Ethiopia based on their ethnicity; Whereas the United Nations Special Adviser on the Responsi- bility to Protect and the Acting Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide have expressed deep concern over ‘‘reports of incidents of ethnically and religiously moti- vated hate speech, incitement to violence and serious human rights violations including arbitrary arrests, killings, displacement of populations and destruction of property in various parts of the country,’’ stressing that the ethnically motivated attacks and reported ethnic profiling of citizens constitute ‘‘a dangerous trajectory’’ that heightens the risk of atrocity crimes; Whereas the conflict in the Tigray region occurs within the context of democratic transition in Ethiopia, an uptick in targeted ethnic violence in Ethiopia, ongoing talks, medi- ated by the African Union, between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan over the filling and use of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia’s rapprochement with Eri- trea, and the fragile democratic transition and peace process in Sudan; Whereas the conflict in the Tigray region jeopardizes the se- curity and stability not only of Ethiopia, but of the broader East Africa region, particularly as Ethiopia with- VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR798.IS SR798 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 798 IS draws its troops from Somalia to support domestic needs, including the operation in the Tigray region; Whereas African Union Chairman Cyril Ramaphosa, Presi- dent of South Africa, has appointed Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, and Kgalema Motlanthe, former President of South Africa, as envoys to mediate a resolution to the conflict in the Tigray region, but the Government of Ethiopia has dismissed calls for mediation as of December 2020; Whereas, on November 28, 2020, the Government of Ethi- opia claimed victory in the conflict after a series of artil- lery strikes on Mekelle, the capital city of the Tigray re- gion, with Prime Minister Abiy announcing that his forces had ‘‘completed and ceased’’ military operations and would shift focus to rebuilding the region and pro- viding humanitarian assistance while Federal police at- tempt to apprehend leaders of the Tigray People’s Lib- eration Front; Whereas, although Prime Minister Abiy stated that no civil- ians were harmed by the operation in Mekelle, the com- munications blackout in the Tigray region impedes verification of that claim and the International Com- mittee of the Red Cross reported on November 29, 2020, that 80 percent of patients at Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekelle were suffering trauma injuries; Whereas, on November 29, 2020, Debretsion Gebremichael, leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, disputed Prime Minister Abiy’s claims of victory and told reporters that Tigray People’s Liberation Front forces were with- drawing from Mekelle but would continue fighting the Federal Government; and VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR798.IS SR798 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •SRES 798 IS Whereas United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi noted that although the Government of Ethiopia announced the completion of military operations in the Tigray region, it ‘‘does not mean the conflict is finished’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) strongly disapproves of the escalation of po- 2 litical tensions between the Government of Ethiopia 3 and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front into 4 armed conflict and condemns in the strongest terms 5 any and all violence against civilians, such as the re- 6 ported mass killings in Mai-Kadra, Ethiopia; 7 (2) appreciates the readiness of Sudan and 8 Djibouti to welcome refugees fleeing the conflict in 9 the Tigray region of Ethiopia and supports the de- 10 escalation efforts led by the African Union; 11 (3) calls on the Government of Ethiopia to im- 12 mediately and fully restore electricity, banking, tele- 13 phone, and internet service in the Tigray region; 14 (4) urges all parties to the conflict to— 15 (A) cease all violence and refrain from ac- 16 tions that could spread or escalate the conflict, 17 including attacks on international or civilian 18 targets; 19 (B) engage in good faith in regional and 20 international mediation efforts to end the con- 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR798.IS SR798 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •SRES 798 IS flict and commit to a credible, inclusive dialogue 1 towards a sustainable resolution of political 2 grievances; 3 (C) comply with international humani- 4 tarian law, guarantee unfettered humanitarian 5 access to areas affected by the conflict, and 6 take all possible steps to protect the safety of 7 civilians, including refugees, displaced persons, 8 and humanitarian aid workers; 9 (D) respect and promote the rights of all 10 people in Ethiopia to free expression, political 11 participation, and due process without discrimi- 12 nation based on ethnicity or religion; and 13 (E) allow for, and cooperate with, inde- 14 pendent and transparent investigations of any 15 alleged human rights abuses committed in the 16 course of the conflict and hold perpetrators to 17 account; and 18 (5) urges the Secretary of State, the Secretary 19 of the Treasury, and the Administrator of the 20 United States Agency for International Develop- 21 ment, in coordination with the heads of other rel- 22 evant Federal departments and agencies, to— 23 (A) engage at the highest levels with lead- 24 ers of the Government of Ethiopia and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR798.IS SR798 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •SRES 798 IS Tigray People’s Liberation Front to encourage 1 dialogue to address the root causes of the con- 2 flict, achieve sustainable peace, and mitigate 3 the humanitarian crisis; 4 (B) end the pause of all non-life-sustaining 5 assistance to Ethiopia and support program- 6 ming to meet immediate humanitarian needs, 7 including of refugees and internally displaced 8 persons, advance nonviolent conflict resolution 9 and reconciliation, and aid democratic transi- 10 tion in Ethiopia; 11 (C) consider imposing targeted sanctions 12 on any political or military officials found re- 13 sponsible for violations of human rights carried 14 out in the course of the conflict; 15 (D) take all possible diplomatic steps to 16 prevent further mass atrocities in Ethiopia; and 17 (E) maintain close coordination with inter- 18 national allies and multilateral organizations re- 19 garding efforts to address the conflict in Ethi- 20 opia and bring attention to the conflict in inter- 21 national fora, including the United Nations Se- 22 curity Council. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR798.IS SR798 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS