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 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; 


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•SRES 798 IS 

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; 


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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; 


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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 

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draws 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 


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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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) strongly disapproves of the escalation of po3 litical tensions between the Government of Ethiopia 

4 and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front into 

5 armed conflict and condemns in the strongest terms 

6 any and all violence against civilians, such as the re7 ported mass killings in Mai-Kadra, Ethiopia; 

8 (2) appreciates the readiness of Sudan and 

9 Djibouti to welcome refugees fleeing the conflict in 

10 the Tigray region of Ethiopia and supports the de11 escalation efforts led by the African Union; 

12 (3) calls on the Government of Ethiopia to im13 mediately and fully restore electricity, banking, tele14 phone, and internet service in the Tigray region; 

15 (4) urges all parties to the conflict to— 

16 (A) cease all violence and refrain from ac17 tions that could spread or escalate the conflict, 

18 including attacks on international or civilian 

19 targets; 

20 (B) engage in good faith in regional and 

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1 flict and commit to a credible, inclusive dialogue 

2 towards a sustainable resolution of political 

3 grievances; 

4 (C) comply with international humani5 tarian law, guarantee unfettered humanitarian 

6 access to areas affected by the conflict, and 

7 take all possible steps to protect the safety of 

8 civilians, including refugees, displaced persons, 

9 and humanitarian aid workers; 

10 (D) respect and promote the rights of all 

11 people in Ethiopia to free expression, political 

12 participation, and due process without discrimi13 nation based on ethnicity or religion; and 

14 (E) allow for, and cooperate with, inde15 pendent and transparent investigations of any 

16 alleged human rights abuses committed in the 

17 course of the conflict and hold perpetrators to 

18 account; and 

19 (5) urges the Secretary of State, the Secretary 

20 of the Treasury, and the Administrator of the 

21 United States Agency for International Develop22 ment, in coordination with the heads of other rel23 evant Federal departments and agencies, to— 

24 (A) engage at the highest levels with lead25 ers of the Government of Ethiopia and the 


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1 Tigray People’s Liberation Front to encourage 

2 dialogue to address the root causes of the con3 flict, achieve sustainable peace, and mitigate 

4 the humanitarian crisis; 

5 (B) end the pause of all non-life-sustaining 

6 assistance to Ethiopia and support program7 ming to meet immediate humanitarian needs, 

8 including of refugees and internally displaced 

9 persons, advance nonviolent conflict resolution 

10 and reconciliation, and aid democratic transi11 tion in Ethiopia; 

12 (C) consider imposing targeted sanctions 

13 on any political or military officials found re14 sponsible for violations of human rights carried 

15 out in the course of the conflict; 

16 (D) take all possible diplomatic steps to 

17 prevent further mass atrocities in Ethiopia; and 

18 (E) maintain close coordination with inter19 national allies and multilateral organizations re20 garding efforts to address the conflict in Ethi21 opia and bring attention to the conflict in inter22 national fora, including the United Nations Se23 curity Council. 

Æ 


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