III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 97 

Calling on the Government of Ethiopia, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, 

and other belligerents in the conflict in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia 

to cease all hostilities, protect human rights, allow unfettered humanitarian access, and cooperate with independent investigations of credible 

atrocity allegations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2021 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. COONS, Mr. KAINE, Mr. 

YOUNG, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MARKEY, 

Ms. SINEMA, Mr. SULLIVAN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. ROSEN, 

Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. DURBIN, and Ms. HASSAN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

MARCH 24, 2021 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble and an amendment to the title 

MAY 19, 2021 

Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble and an 

amendment to the title 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the Government of Ethiopia, the Tigray People’s 

Liberation Front, and other belligerents in the conflict 

in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia to cease all hostilities, 

protect human rights, allow unfettered humanitarian access, and cooperate with independent investigations of 

credible atrocity allegations. 


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Whereas the United States and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia share an important relationship and 

more than 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 tensions between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s 

Prosperity Party and the Tigray People’s Liberation 

Front (TPLF), which was part of the ruling coalition in 

Ethiopia until late 2019, escalated when the TPLF held 

elections in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia 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 TPLF rejected the postponement of general 

elections and considered the extension of the term of the 

Federal Government to be unconstitutional, and the Federal Government subsequently deemed the Tigray regional elections illegitimate; 

Whereas, in the early hours of November 4, 2020, Prime 

Minister Abiy ordered a military offensive in response to 

an attack by the TPLF on the Northern Command of the 

Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), which 

evolved into an armed conflict between the ENDF and allied forces on one side and the TPLF on the other side, 

with thousands of deaths reported; 

Whereas the Government of Ethiopia rejected all offers, including one extended by African Union Chairman Cyril 


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Ramaphosa in November 2020, to mediate talks with the 

TPLF; 

Whereas, on November 28, 2020, the Government of Ethiopia claimed victory in the conflict after taking Mekelle, 

the capital city of the Tigray Region, with Prime Minister Abiy announcing that his forces had ‘‘completed and 

ceased the military operations’’ and would shift focus to 

rebuilding the region and providing humanitarian assistance while Federal police attempt to apprehend leaders of 

the TPLF; 

Whereas clashes have continued in the Tigray Region and 

Ethiopian soldiers and allied forces have pursued prominent TPLF leaders, notably killing former Minister of 

Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Seyoum Mesfin as part of a 

‘‘stabilizing mission . . . to bring to justice perpetrators’’; 

Whereas, in 2020, prior to the outbreak of fighting in the 

Tigray Region, there were more than 1,800,000 people 

internally displaced in Ethiopia and approximately 

2,000,000 people in the Tigray Region were already in 

need of humanitarian assistance; 

Whereas the conflict in the Tigray Region has prompted 

more than 61,000 Ethiopians to seek refuge in Sudan, 

has displaced as many as 500,000 people internally, and 

has caused severe shortages of food, water, medical supplies, and other necessary goods for those who remain in 

the region; 

Whereas the conflict has disrupted harvests, livelihoods, markets, and supply chains, food and medical supplies have 

been looted, and restrictions and bureaucratic impediments continue to constrain the humanitarian response, 


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with nearly 4,000,000 people in the Tigray Region estimated to require urgent food assistance, including 

100,000 Eritrean refugees; 

Whereas, during the first few weeks of the conflict, there was 

a complete shutdown of electricity, banking, internet, and 

telephone services throughout the Tigray Region by the 

Government of Ethiopia, with government reports of 

TPLF forces also destroying communications infrastructure, and subsequent service restorations have been limited; 

Whereas, in addition to the shutdown of telephone and internet services, which has severely limited the flow of information on the conflict and the humanitarian situation, 

journalists have been restricted from accessing much of 

the Tigray Region, several journalists have been arrested 

in connection to their coverage of the conflict, and one 

journalist working for the Tigray Mass Media Agency 

was killed; 

Whereas, although the Government of Ethiopia entered into 

an agreement with the United Nations on November 29, 

2020, to facilitate humanitarian access to the Tigray Region, that access is not yet unfettered; 

Whereas, on February 1, 2021, the Secretary General of the 

Norwegian Refugee Council stated, ‘‘Twelve weeks since 

the fighting began, the basic elements of a response on 

the scale needed are still not in place. It is false to say 

that aid is increasingly getting through. Aid has only 

gone to the places with little conflict and more limited 

needs and is not keeping pace with the humanitarian crisis as it inevitably grows over time.’’; 


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Whereas, on February 6, 2021, the United Nations World 

Food Programme (WFP) announced a new agreement 

with the Government of Ethiopia to rapidly scale up the 

deployment of emergency food assistance while improving 

the process for reviewing and approving requests from 

United Nations and humanitarian partner agencies; 

Whereas humanitarian access to the refugee camps that were 

home to almost 100,000 Eritrean refugees at the start of 

the conflict has been especially restricted, with the 

Hitsats and Shimelba camps still completely inaccessible, 

and the United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that 

20,000 Eritrean refugees displaced from those camps remain unaccounted for; 

Whereas United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 

Filippo Grandi has expressed alarm about the ‘‘overwhelming number of disturbing reports of Eritrean refugees in Tigray being killed, abducted and forcibly returned to Eritrea’’; 

Whereas, in November 2020, four humanitarian workers, including one employee of the International Rescue Committee and three employees of the Danish Refugee Council, were killed at Hitsats refugee camp; 

Whereas challenges to access have significantly restricted the 

reporting and documentation of atrocities, but survivor 

and eye-witness testimony and satellite imagery have enabled reports to emerge of targeted violence or indiscriminate attacks against civilians committed by multiple parties to the conflict; 

Whereas examples of reported atrocities committed in the 

Tigray Region include the massacre in the town of Mai 

Kadra on November 9, 2020, in which, according to estiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR97.ATS SR97

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mates from the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission 

(EHRC), more than 600 civilians died from what the 

EHRC Chief Commissioner concluded was ‘‘for no reason 

other than their ethnicity,’’ and a mass killing in the city 

of Axum on November 28 through 29, 2020, which involved, according to reports from Amnesty International, 

the systematic killing of ‘‘hundreds of unarmed civilians’’ 

after Ethiopian and Eritrean troops retook the city; 

Whereas United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila 

Patten has highlighted reports of sexual and genderbased violence, including a high number of alleged rapes 

in Mekelle; 

Whereas, on January 27, 2021, the United States Government publicly confirmed that Eritrean Defense Forces 

(EDF) are participating in the conflict in alliance with 

the ENDF and called for the immediate withdrawal of all 

EDF soldiers from the Tigray Region, and credible reports have emerged that EDF soldiers participating in 

the conflict have attacked civilians, including Eritrean 

refugees, and looted and destroyed homes and religious 

institutions; 

Whereas Ethiopia has been beset for nearly a decade by multiple human rights and humanitarian challenges, including targeted ethnic violence, intercommunal conflict, natural disasters, and political unrest; 

Whereas, since mid-2020, the Office of the United Nations 

High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission 

have reported atrocities and a rise in ethnic and intercommunal violence in other parts of Ethiopia, including 


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in the Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Somali, Afar, and 

Oromia regions; 

Whereas, according to international human rights organizations, during the conflict in the Tigray Region, ethnic 

Tigrayans throughout Ethiopia 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, in March 2021, President Biden asked Senator 

Christopher Coons to serve as an emissary to convey the 

President’s grave concerns to Prime Minister Abiy about 

the humanitarian crisis and human rights abuses in the 

Tigray Region and the risk of broader instability in the 

Horn of Africa; 

Whereas Ethiopia is undergoing a fragile political transition, 

with the postponed 2020 general elections rescheduled for 

June 2021, except in the Tigray Region, where elections 

have not yet been scheduled; 

Whereas the Government of Ethiopia has restricted the right 

of several opposition political parties to peacefully assemble and organize, and a number of opposition leaders 

have been jailed since the summer of 2020, with varying 

degrees of due process violations and procedural delays in 

their trials, leading some major opposition parties to 

threaten to withdraw from the forthcoming general elections; 

Whereas the conflict in the Tigray Region, intercommunal violence in other parts of Ethiopia, and the erosion of political and civic space calls into the question whether the 

general elections in June 2021 can meet the aspirations 


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and expectations of the Ethiopian people and internationally accepted standards for free and fair elections; and 

Whereas the conflict in the Tigray Region occurs within the 

context of complicated regional and global dynamics, including ongoing negotiations between Ethiopia, Egypt, 

and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, 

Ethiopia’s rapprochement with Eritrea, threats posed by 

the violent extremist organization Al-Shabaab, a struggle 

for influence and power among regional and global actors, increasingly hostile border disputes between Ethiopia and Sudan, and the fragile democratic transition 

and peace process in Sudan: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls for the immediate cessation of hos3 tilities in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia; 

4 (2) condemns in the strongest terms all violence 

5 against civilians; 

6 (3) calls on the Government of Eritrea to im7 mediately and fully withdraw its military forces from 

8 Ethiopia, and condemns in the strongest terms any 

9 human rights violations, murder, looting, rape, and 

10 other crimes committed by the Eritrean military or 

11 any other forces in the Tigray Region or elsewhere 

12 in Ethiopia; 

13 (4) strongly disapproves of the escalation of po14 litical tensions between the Government of Ethiopia 

15 and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) 

16 into armed conflict; 


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1 (5) calls for the swift and complete restoration 

2 of electricity, banking, telephone, and internet serv3 ices throughout the Tigray Region and other parts 

4 of Ethiopia where communications have been re5 stricted; 

6 (6) appreciates the willingness of Sudan to wel7 come refugees fleeing the conflict in the Tigray Re8 gion; 

9 (7) urges the Government of Ethiopia to— 

10 (A) take tangible steps toward improving 

11 humanitarian access in keeping with commit12 ments made to the United Nations World Food 

13 Programme and Secretary of State Antony 

14 Blinken; 

15 (B) pursue accountability for human rights 

16 abuses and atrocities; and 

17 (C) make progress on other key issues with 

18 regard to the conflict in the Tigray Region and 

19 threats to regional stability following the visit of 

20 Senator Coons; 

21 (8) calls on the Government of Ethiopia to— 

22 (A) ensure that any apprehensions of 

23 TPLF members are carried out with the least 

24 possible use of force and that the rights to 


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1 which those detained are entitled under Ethio2 pian and international law are fully respected; 

3 (B) require the immediate and full with4 drawal of Eritrean forces from Ethiopia; 

5 (C) release all opposition leaders, sup6 porters, and activists detained on the basis of 

7 their political activity and views as well as jour8 nalists detained on the basis of their reporting, 

9 and respect the rights of all Ethiopians to free 

10 expression and political participation, without 

11 discrimination based on ethnicity, ideology, or 

12 political affiliation; and 

13 (D) convene a credible and countrywide 

14 process of national dialogue and reconciliation 

15 inclusive of all nonviolent political parties, eth16 nic communities, religious groups, and civil so17 ciety organizations in Ethiopia to work toward 

18 the sustainable resolution of grievances and 

19 chart a democratic and peaceful path forward 

20 for the country; 

21 (9) urges all parties to the conflict to— 

22 (A) cease all hostilities, commit to a polit23 ical solution for resolving existing differences, 

24 fully comply with international humanitarian 

25 law, and refrain from actions that could conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR97.ATS SR97

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1 tinue, spread, or escalate the conflict, particu2 larly attacks on civilian targets; 

3 (B) make demonstrable progress to guar4 antee unfettered and immediate humanitarian 

5 access, for personnel and supplies, to areas af6 fected by the conflict, and take all possible 

7 steps to protect the safety of civilians, including 

8 refugees, displaced persons, and humanitarian 

9 aid workers; and 

10 (C) allow for, and cooperate with, inde11 pendent and transparent investigations of any 

12 alleged human rights abuses committed in the 

13 course of the conflict in the Tigray Region and 

14 other conflicts across Ethiopia, and hold per15 petrators to account in a credible process; and 

16 (10) urges the Secretary of State, the Secretary 

17 of the Treasury, and the Administrator of the 

18 United States Agency for International Develop19 ment, in coordination with the heads of other rel20 evant Federal departments and agencies, to— 

21 (A) engage at the highest levels with lead22 ers of the Government of Ethiopia, the Govern23 ment of Eritrea, and the TPLF to encourage 

24 the full cessation of hostilities and the with25 drawal of Eritrean forces, mitigate the humaniVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR97.ATS SR97

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1 tarian crisis that has emerged from the conflict, 

2 and support an inclusive process of national 

3 dialogue and reconciliation; 

4 (B) immediately establish criteria to end 

5 the pause of all non-life-sustaining assistance to 

6 Ethiopia and support programming to meet im7 mediate humanitarian needs, including of refu8 gees and internally displaced persons, advance 

9 nonviolent conflict resolution and reconciliation 

10 throughout the country, and aid a democratic 

11 transition in Ethiopia; 

12 (C) take continued actions to ensure that 

13 a ‘‘full, independent, international investigation 

14 into all reports of human rights violations, 

15 abuses, and atrocities’’ committed in the course 

16 of the conflict as called for by Secretary of 

17 State Blinken on February 27, 2021, is con18 ducted, and impose strict accountability meas19 ures on those found responsible; 

20 (D) use all diplomatic, developmental, and 

21 legal tools to prevent further ethnic-based vio22 lence and mass atrocities, including by non23 state armed groups, and promote competitive 

24 multi-party democracy in Ethiopia; and 


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1 (E) maintain close coordination with inter2 national allies and multilateral organizations re3 garding efforts to address the conflict in the 

4 Tigray Region and other regions of Ethiopia 

5 and bring attention to the conflict in inter6 national fora, including the United Nations Se7 curity Council. 

Æ 


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