[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 798 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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 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.

Whereas the United States and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia share 
        a strong relationship built over a century of diplomatic relations;
Whereas Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and plays a key 
        role in advancing security and stability across sub-Saharan Africa, 
        including as a top contributor of uniformed personnel to United Nations 
        peacekeeping missions;
Whereas Ethiopia has been beset in recent years by multiple human rights and 
        humanitarian challenges, including targeted ethnic violence, natural 
        disasters, and political unrest, 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 
        Liberation 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 unconstitutional, 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 offensive and 6-month state 
        of emergency in the Tigray region, which has evolved into an armed 
        conflict in the region and surrounding areas between the Ethiopian 
        National 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;
Whereas the Tigray People's Liberation Front admits to having fired missiles at 
        2 airports and having launched rockets 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 expressed concern over the 
        arrests of journalists in connection 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 humanitarian assistance to more than 2,000,000 people 
        already 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 electricity, banking, internet, 
        and telephone services in the Tigray region, creating additional 
        challenges for the delivery of humanitarian services and the protection 
        of civilians;
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;
Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that 
        ``there is a risk this situation will spiral 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 organizations, 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 Responsibility to Protect and 
        the Acting Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide have expressed 
        deep concern over ``reports of incidents of ethnically and religiously 
        motivated 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, mediated by the African Union, between 
        Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan over the filling and use of the Grand 
        Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia's rapprochement with Eritrea, and 
        the fragile democratic transition and peace process in Sudan;
Whereas the conflict in the Tigray region jeopardizes the security and stability 
        not only of Ethiopia, but of the broader East Africa region, 
        particularly as Ethiopia withdraws its troops from Somalia to support 
        domestic needs, including the operation in the Tigray region;
Whereas African Union Chairman Cyril Ramaphosa, President 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 Ethiopia claimed victory in the 
        conflict after a series of artillery strikes on Mekelle, the capital 
        city of the Tigray region, with Prime Minister Abiy announcing that his 
        forces had ``completed and ceased'' military operations and would shift 
        focus to rebuilding the region and providing humanitarian assistance 
        while Federal police attempt to apprehend leaders of the Tigray People's 
        Liberation Front;
Whereas, although Prime Minister Abiy stated that no civilians were harmed by 
        the operation in Mekelle, the communications blackout in the Tigray 
        region impedes verification of that claim and the International 
        Committee 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 withdrawing from Mekelle but would continue fighting the Federal 
        Government; and
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) strongly disapproves of the escalation of political 
        tensions between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray 
        People's Liberation Front into armed conflict and condemns in 
        the strongest terms any and all violence against civilians, 
        such as the reported mass killings in Mai-Kadra, Ethiopia;
            (2) appreciates the readiness of Sudan and Djibouti to 
        welcome refugees fleeing the conflict in the Tigray region of 
        Ethiopia and supports the de-escalation efforts led by the 
        African Union;
            (3) calls on the Government of Ethiopia to immediately and 
        fully restore electricity, banking, telephone, and internet 
        service in the Tigray region;
            (4) urges all parties to the conflict to--
                    (A) cease all violence and refrain from actions 
                that could spread or escalate the conflict, including 
                attacks on international or civilian targets;
                    (B) engage in good faith in regional and 
                international mediation efforts to end the conflict and 
                commit to a credible, inclusive dialogue towards a 
                sustainable resolution of political grievances;
                    (C) comply with international humanitarian law, 
                guarantee unfettered humanitarian access to areas 
                affected by the conflict, and take all possible steps 
                to protect the safety of civilians, including refugees, 
                displaced persons, and humanitarian aid workers;
                    (D) respect and promote the rights of all people in 
                Ethiopia to free expression, political participation, 
                and due process without discrimination based on 
                ethnicity or religion; and
                    (E) allow for, and cooperate with, independent and 
                transparent investigations of any alleged human rights 
                abuses committed in the course of the conflict and hold 
                perpetrators to account; and
            (5) urges the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the 
        Treasury, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
        International Development, in coordination with the heads of 
        other relevant Federal departments and agencies, to--
                    (A) engage at the highest levels with leaders of 
                the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People's 
                Liberation Front to encourage dialogue to address the 
                root causes of the conflict, achieve sustainable peace, 
                and mitigate the humanitarian crisis;
                    (B) end the pause of all non-life-sustaining 
                assistance to Ethiopia and support programming to meet 
                immediate humanitarian needs, including of refugees and 
                internally displaced persons, advance nonviolent 
                conflict resolution and reconciliation, and aid 
                democratic transition in Ethiopia;
                    (C) consider imposing targeted sanctions on any 
                political or military officials found responsible for 
                violations of human rights carried out in the course of 
                the conflict;
                    (D) take all possible diplomatic steps to prevent 
                further mass atrocities in Ethiopia; and
                    (E) maintain close coordination with international 
                allies and multilateral organizations regarding efforts 
                to address the conflict in Ethiopia and bring attention 
                to the conflict in international fora, including the 
                United Nations Security Council.
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