III 

Calendar No. 25 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 97 

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

and other belligerents to cease all hostilities, protect human rights, allow 

unfettered humanitarian access, and cooperate with independent investigations of credible atrocity allegations pertaining to the conflict in 

the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. 

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, and Mr. BOOKER) 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 

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic] 

RESOLUTION 

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

Liberation Front, and other belligerents to cease all hostilities, protect human rights, allow unfettered humanitarian access, and cooperate with independent investigations of credible atrocity allegations pertaining to the 

conflict in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. 


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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 remains limited; 

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 18:40 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR97.RS 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 in recent years 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 Ethiopia is undergoing a fragile democratic 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 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; 

and 

Whereas the conflict in the Tigray Region occurs within the 

context of complicated regional and global dynamics featuring 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 

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

than a century of diplomatic relations; 


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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 

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 


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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, 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 


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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.’’; 

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 


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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 estimates 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; 


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

Patten has highlighted reports of sexual and gender-based 

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 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; 


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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 

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 


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Sudan, and the fragile democratic transition and peace 

process in Sudan: 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 (TPLF) 

5 into armed conflict and condemns in the strongest 

6 terms all violence against civilians; 

7 (2) appreciates the willingness of Sudan to wel8 come refugees fleeing the conflict in the Tigray Re9 gion of Ethiopia; 

10 (3) calls on the Government of Eritrea to im11 mediately and fully withdraw its military forces from 

12 Ethiopia; 

13 (4) calls for the swift and complete restoration 

14 of electricity, banking, telephone, and internet serv15 ices throughout the Tigray Region and other parts 

16 of Ethiopia where communications have been re17 stricted; 

18 (5) calls on the Government of Ethiopia to— 

19 (A) ensure that any apprehensions of 

20 TPLF members are carried out with the least 

21 possible use of force and that the rights to 

22 which those detained are entitled under Ethio23 pian and international law are fully respected; 


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1 (B) release opposition leaders detained on 

2 the basis of their political activity as well as 

3 journalists detained on the basis of their report4 ing, and respect the rights of all Ethiopians to 

5 free expression and political participation, with6 out discrimination based on ethnicity, ideology, 

7 or political affiliation; and 

8 (C) convene a national dialogue inclusive of 

9 all nonviolent political parties, ethnic commu10 nities, religious groups, and civil society organi11 zations in Ethiopia to work toward the sustain12 able resolution of grievances and chart a demo13 cratic and peaceful path forward for the coun14 try; 

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

16 (A) cease all hostilities, fully comply with 

17 international humanitarian law, and refrain 

18 from actions that could spread or escalate the 

19 conflict, particularly attacks on civilian targets; 

20 (B) make demonstrable progress to guar21 antee unfettered and immediate humanitarian 

22 access, for personnel and supplies, to areas af23 fected by the conflict, and take all possible 

24 steps to protect the safety of civilians, including 


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1 refugees, displaced persons, and humanitarian 

2 aid workers; and 

3 (C) allow for, and cooperate with, inde4 pendent and transparent investigations of any 

5 alleged human rights abuses committed in the 

6 course of the conflict and hold perpetrators to 

7 account; and 

8 (7) urges the Secretary of State, the Secretary 

9 of the Treasury, and the Administrator of the 

10 United States Agency for International Develop11 ment, in coordination with the heads of other rel12 evant Federal departments and agencies, to— 

13 (A) engage at the highest levels with lead14 ers of the Government of Ethiopia, the Govern15 ment of Eritrea, and the TPLF to encourage 

16 the full cessation of hostilities and the with17 drawal of Eritrean forces, mitigate the humani18 tarian crisis that has emerged from the conflict, 

19 and support an inclusive process of national 

20 dialogue and reconciliation; 

21 (B) immediately establish criteria to end 

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

23 Ethiopia and support programming to meet im24 mediate humanitarian needs, including of refu25 gees and internally displaced persons, advance 


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1 nonviolent conflict resolution and reconciliation, 

2 and aid a democratic transition in Ethiopia; 

3 (C) ensure that the call made by Secretary 

4 of State Blinken on February 27, 2021, for a 

5 ‘‘full, independent, international investigation 

6 into all reports of human rights violations, 

7 abuses, and atrocities’’ committed in the course 

8 of the conflict is realized and impose strict ac9 countability measures on those found respon10 sible; 

11 (D) take all possible diplomatic steps to 

12 prevent further ethnic-based violence and mass 

13 atrocities, including by non-state armed groups, 

14 in Ethiopia; and 

15 (E) maintain close coordination with inter16 national allies and multilateral organizations re17 garding efforts to address the conflict in the 

18 Tigray Region and bring attention to the con19 flict in international fora, including the United 

20 Nations Security Council. 

21 That the Senate— 

22 (1) calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities 

23 in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia; 

24 (2) condemns in the strongest terms all violence 

25 against civilians; 


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1 (3) calls on the Government of Eritrea to imme2 diately and fully withdraw its military forces from 

3 Ethiopia, and condemns in the strongest terms any 

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

5 other crimes committed by the Eritrean military or 

6 any other forces in the Tigray Region or elsewhere in 

7 Ethiopia; 

8 (4) strongly disapproves of the escalation of po9 litical tensions between the Government of Ethiopia 

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

11 into armed conflict; 

12 (5) calls for the swift and complete restoration of 

13 electricity, banking, telephone, and internet services 

14 throughout the Tigray Region and other parts of 

15 Ethiopia where communications have been restricted; 

16 (6) appreciates the willingness of Sudan to wel17 come refugees fleeing the conflict in the Tigray Re18 gion; 

19 (7) urges the Government of Ethiopia to— 

20 (A) take tangible steps toward improving 

21 humanitarian access in keeping with commit22 ments made to the United Nations World Food 

23 Programme and Secretary of State Antony 

24 Blinken; 


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1 (B) pursue accountability for human rights 

2 abuses and atrocities; and 

3 (C) make progress on other key issues with 

4 regard to the conflict in the Tigray Region and 

5 threats to regional stability following the visit of 

6 Senator Coons; 

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

8 (A) ensure that any apprehensions of TPLF 

9 members are carried out with the least possible 

10 use of force and that the rights to which those de11 tained are entitled under Ethiopian and inter12 national law are fully respected; 

13 (B) require the immediate and full with14 drawal of Eritrean forces from Ethiopia; 

15 (C) release all opposition leaders, sup16 porters, and activists detained on the basis of 

17 their political activity and views as well as jour18 nalists detained on the basis of their reporting, 

19 and respect the rights of all Ethiopians to free 

20 expression and political participation, without 

21 discrimination based on ethnicity, ideology, or 

22 political affiliation; and 

23 (D) convene a credible and countrywide 

24 process of national dialogue and reconciliation 

25 inclusive of all nonviolent political parties, ethVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\SR97.RS SR97

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1 nic communities, religious groups, and civil soci2 ety organizations in Ethiopia to work toward 

3 the sustainable resolution of grievances and chart 

4 a democratic and peaceful path forward for the 

5 country; 

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

7 (A) cease all hostilities, commit to a polit8 ical solution for resolving existing differences, 

9 fully comply with international humanitarian 

10 law, and refrain from actions that could con11 tinue, spread, or escalate the conflict, particu12 larly attacks on civilian targets; 

13 (B) make demonstrable progress to guar14 antee unfettered and immediate humanitarian 

15 access, for personnel and supplies, to areas af16 fected by the conflict, and take all possible steps 

17 to protect the safety of civilians, including refu18 gees, displaced persons, and humanitarian aid 

19 workers; and 

20 (C) allow for, and cooperate with, inde21 pendent and transparent investigations of any 

22 alleged human rights abuses committed in the 

23 course of the conflict in the Tigray Region and 

24 other conflicts across Ethiopia, and hold per25 petrators to account in a credible process; and 


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

2 of the Treasury, and the Administrator of the United 

3 States Agency for International Development, in co4 ordination with the heads of other relevant Federal 

5 departments and agencies, to— 

6 (A) engage at the highest levels with leaders 

7 of the Government of Ethiopia, the Government 

8 of Eritrea, and the TPLF to encourage the full 

9 cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of 

10 Eritrean forces, mitigate the humanitarian crisis 

11 that has emerged from the conflict, and support 

12 an inclusive process of national dialogue and 

13 reconciliation; 

14 (B) immediately establish criteria to end 

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

16 Ethiopia and support programming to meet im17 mediate humanitarian needs, including of refu18 gees and internally displaced persons, advance 

19 nonviolent conflict resolution and reconciliation 

20 throughout the country, and aid a democratic 

21 transition in Ethiopia; 

22 (C) take continued actions to ensure that a 

23 ‘‘full, independent, international investigation 

24 into all reports of human rights violations, 

25 abuses, and atrocities’’ committed in the course 


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1 of the conflict as called for by Secretary of State 

2 Blinken on February 27, 2021, is conducted, and 

3 impose strict accountability measures on those 

4 found responsible; 

5 (D) use all diplomatic, developmental, and 

6 legal tools to prevent further ethnic-based vio7 lence and mass atrocities, including by non-state 

8 armed groups, and promote competitive multi9 party democracy in Ethiopia; and 

10 (E) maintain close coordination with inter11 national allies and multilateral organizations re12 garding efforts to address the conflict in the 

13 Tigray Region and other regions of Ethiopia 

14 and bring attention to the conflict in inter15 national fora, including the United Nations Se16 curity Council. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A 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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Calendar No. 25 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 97 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the Government of Ethiopia, the Tigray 

in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. ible atrocity allegations pertaining to the conflict operate with independent investigations of credallow unfettered humanitarian access, and coto cease all hostilities, protect human rights, People’s Liberation Front, and other belligerents 

MARCH 24, 2021 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble and an amendment to the title 


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