•HRES 445 IH 
Whereas, in the early hours of November 4, 2020, Prime 
Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military offensive in re-
sponse to an attack by the TPLF on the Northern Com-
mand of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces 
(ENDF), which evolved into an armed conflict between 
the ENDF and allied forces on one side, eventually in-
cluding Eritrean forces, and the TPLF on the other side; 
Whereas Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed rejected requests to en-
gage in talks with the TPLF during a meeting in Addis 
Ababa with former Liberian President Ellen Johnson 
Sirleaf, former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano, 
and former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, 
three special envoys appointed by President Cyril 
Ramaphosa of South Africa, the then-African Union 
Chairman in November 2020, to mediate in the conflict 
and broker a solution to the crisis; 
Whereas, on November 28, 2020, the Government of Ethi-
opia claimed victory in the conflict after taking Mekelle, 
the capital city of the Tigray Region, with Prime Min-
ister Abiy announcing that his forces had ‘‘completed and 
ceased the military operations’’ and would shift focus to 
rebuilding the region and providing humanitarian assist-
ance while Federal police apprehend leaders of the 
TPLF; 
Whereas clashes have continued in the Tigray Region, and 
Ethiopian soldiers, Eritrean forces, and other armed 
groups 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 [the] perpetrators’’; 
Whereas the conflict in the Tigray Region has forced more 
than 63,000 Ethiopians to seek refuge in Sudan, has dis-
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placed more than 1,000,000 people internally, and has 
caused severe shortages of food, water, medical facilities 
and supplies, and other necessary goods for those who re-
main in the region; 
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 infrastruc-
ture, and subsequent service restorations have been lim-
ited; 
Whereas in addition to the shutdown of telephone and inter-
net services, which has severely limited the flow of infor-
mation on the conflict and the humanitarian situation, 
journalists have been restricted from accessing much of 
the Tigray Region, several journalists have been arrested 
and harassed in connection to their coverage of the con-
flict, 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 Re-
gion, aid agencies report that constraints to access re-
main; 
Whereas, since mid-2020, the Office of the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty Inter-
national, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission 
(EHRC), and other credible human rights monitors have 
reported gross violations of human rights, incidents of 
ethnic cleansing, rising cases of sexual and gender-based 
violence, and other atrocities and a rise in ethnic and 
intercommunal violence in other parts of Ethiopia, in-
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•HRES 445 IH 
cluding in the Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Somali, 
Afar, Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and 
People’s Region states; 
Whereas, on January 27, 2021, the United States Govern-
ment 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 re-
ports have emerged that EDF soldiers participating in 
the conflict have attacked civilians, including Eritrean 
refugees, looted and destroyed homes and religious insti-
tutions, and otherwise conducted gross violations of 
human rights; 
Whereas the conflict has disrupted harvests, livelihoods, mar-
kets, and supply chains, with food and medical supplies 
looted and medical facilities targeted and destroyed, and 
with restrictions and bureaucratic impediments con-
tinuing to constrain the humanitarian response and draw 
the Tigray region closer to famine conditions and a hu-
manitarian disaster; 
Whereas an estimated 5,200,000 people in the Tigray Region 
require immediate humanitarian assistance, including al-
most 100,000 Eritrean refugees; 
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, since November 2020, at least eight humanitarian 
workers, including one employee of the International Res-
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•HRES 445 IH 
cue Committee, three employees of the Danish Refugee 
Council, and one staff member employed by a USAID 
partner, were killed while conducting humanitarian oper-
ations in the Tigray region, and one more in 
Benishangul-Gumuz; 
Whereas at least one known instance of allied forces oper-
ating under the command of the ENDF deliberately tar-
geted a humanitarian aid worker who had declared his 
status before being accused of providing food and sup-
plies to the TPLF and eventually killed; 
Whereas victims of interethnic, intra-ethnic, and intercom-
munal violence in Ethiopia come from all ethnic groups, 
and victimizers often come from some of the same 
groups; 
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 esti-
mates from the EHRC, more than 600 Amhara civilians 
were killed due to what the EHRC Chief Commissioner 
concluded was ‘‘for no reason other than their ethnicity’’, 
and a mass killing of Tigrayans in the city of Axum on 
November 28–29, 2020, which involved, according to re-
ports from Amnesty International, the systematic killing 
of ‘‘hundreds of unarmed civilians’’ after Ethiopian and 
Eritrean troops retook the city; 
Whereas, on February 11, 2021, the governing party of the 
Benishangul-Gumuz state acknowledged that dozens of 
its mid- and senior-level officials have been complicit in 
targeted ethnic violence against Amhara, Agaw, and 
Shinasha; 
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•HRES 445 IH 
Whereas, on March 25, 2021, the United Nations Office for 
the High Commissioner of Human Rights and the EHRC 
announced that they will conduct a joint ‘‘objective, inde-
pendent investigation’’ into human rights abuses in the 
Tigray region for an initial period of three months; 
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, on April 23, 2021, Secretary Blinken announced 
the appointment of Ambassador Jeffery Feltman as U.S. 
Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, to ‘‘underscore the 
Administration’s commitment to lead an international 
diplomatic effort to address the interlinked political, secu-
rity, and humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa’’; 
Whereas the conflict in the Tigray Region may have led eth-
nic Tigrayans throughout Ethiopia, as well as those serv-
ing with the ENDF in various missions throughout the 
region, to be suspended from their jobs, redeployed from 
their forward operating bases, and detained or prevented 
from leaving the country, and there are reports of surveil-
lance and mass arrests of Ethiopians; 
Whereas several opposition political parties say the Govern-
ment of Ethiopia has restricted their right to peacefully 
assemble and organize, citing the detention or harass-
ment of some of their local candidates and supporters 
and efforts to prevent them from opening local offices, 
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 
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•HRES 445 IH 
some major opposition parties to threaten to withdraw 
from the forthcoming general elections; 
Whereas the Government of Ethiopia, with the help of allied 
forces operating in Tigray and other parts of Ethiopia, 
continue to detain prominent political opponents, some of 
whom have been charged with terrorism and other 
crimes; 
Whereas the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) 
announced on May 15, 2021, that the national elections 
have been further delayed; 
Whereas according to a pre-election assessment conducted by 
the National Democratic Institute and the International 
Republican Institute, ‘‘significant difficulties, including 
widespread insecurity and ethnic conflicts, delays in Na-
tional Election Board of Ethiopia’s (NEBE’s) candidate 
and voter registration procedures, poor cooperation from 
some state governments, boycotts and threats of boycotts 
by several political parties with broad constituencies, as 
well as the COVID–19 public health crisis, threaten the 
ability of voters and parties to participate in the process 
and, thereby, the potential for credible elections.’’; 
Whereas the Government of Ethiopia designated the TPLF 
and a group it identified as ‘‘Shene’’ as terrorist organi-
zations in May 2021, further reducing the likelihood of 
brokering a comprehensive political resolution to the cri-
ses that involves all parties to the conflicts; 
Whereas, on May 23, 2021, the Department of State an-
nounced visa restrictions under the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act on, ‘‘current or former Ethiopian or Eri-
trean government officials, members of the security 
forces, or other individuals—to include Amhara regional 
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•HRES 445 IH 
and irregular forces and members of the Tigray People’s 
Liberation Front (TPLF)—responsible for, or complicit 
in, undermining resolution of the crisis in Tigray.’’; 
Whereas the conflicts in the Tigray and Oromia Regions, 
intercommunal violence in other parts of Ethiopia, and 
the erosion of political and civic space call into the ques-
tion of whether the general elections in 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, in-
cluding ongoing negotiations between Ethiopia, Egypt, 
and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, 
Ethiopia’s rapprochement with Eritrea in 2018, threats 
posed by the Somalia-based foreign terrorist organization 
Al-Shabaab, a struggle for influence and power among 
regional and global actors, an increasingly hostile border 
disputes between Ethiopia and Sudan over al-Fashaga, 
and the fragile democratic transition and peace process 
in Sudan: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) calls for the immediate cessation of hos-
tilities in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia and end to 
violence throughout the Federal Democratic Repub-
lic of Ethiopia; 
(2) calls on the Government of Ethiopia and 
the Government of the State of Eritrea to fulfill its 
commitment to immediately and fully withdraw Eri-
trean Defense Forces from Ethiopia; 
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(3) condemns in the strongest terms any human 
rights violations, murder, looting, rape, and other 
crimes committed by Ethiopian forces, the Eritrean 
military, or any other forces in the Tigray Region or 
elsewhere in Ethiopia; 
(4) strongly disapproves of the escalation of po-
litical tensions between the Government of Ethiopia 
and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) 
into armed conflict; 
(5) calls for full and unfettered access for hu-
manitarian operations and for journalists and dip-
lomats seeking access to affected areas throughout 
Tigray and elsewhere in Ethiopia; 
(6) calls for the swift and complete restoration 
of lifesaving medical services, as well as electricity, 
banking, telephone, and internet services throughout 
the Tigray Region and other parts of Ethiopia where 
communications have been restricted; 
(7) supports the joint investigation of the Office 
of the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights 
Commission on human rights violations in the 
Tigray region; 
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(8) appreciates the willingness of Sudan to wel-
come refugees fleeing the conflict in the Tigray Re-
gion; 
(9) urges the Government of Ethiopia to— 
(A) take tangible steps toward improving 
humanitarian access in keeping with commit-
ments made to the United Nations World Food 
Programme and Secretary of State Antony 
Blinken; 
(B) pursue accountability for human rights 
abuses and atrocities; and 
(C) make progress on pursuing a political 
solution in advance of the planned elections in 
2021 and other key issues with regard to the 
conflict in the Tigray Region and threats to re-
gional stability; 
(10) calls on the Government of Ethiopia to— 
(A) ensure that any apprehensions of bel-
ligerents in the conflict are carried out with the 
least possible use of force and that the rights 
to which those detained are entitled under Ethi-
opian and international law are fully respected; 
(B) release all opposition leaders, sup-
porters, and activists detained on the basis of 
their political activity and views as well as jour-
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nalists detained on the basis of their reporting, 
and respect the rights of freedom of expression 
of all Ethiopians and political participation, 
without discrimination based on ethnicity, ide-
ology, or political affiliation; and 
(C) convene a credible and countrywide 
process of national dialogue and reconciliation 
inclusive of all nonviolent political parties, eth-
nic communities, religious groups, and civil so-
ciety organizations in Ethiopia to work toward 
the sustainable resolution of grievances and 
chart a democratic and peaceful path forward 
for the country; 
(11) urges all parties to the conflict to— 
(A) cease all hostilities, commit to a polit-
ical solution for resolving existing differences, 
fully comply with international humanitarian 
law, and refrain from actions that could con-
tinue, spread, or escalate the conflict, particu-
larly attacks on civilian targets; 
(B) make demonstrable progress to guar-
antee unfettered and immediate humanitarian 
access, for personnel and supplies, to areas af-
fected by the conflict, and take all possible 
steps to protect the safety of civilians, including 
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refugees, displaced persons, and humanitarian 
aid workers; and 
(C) allow for, and cooperate with, inde-
pendent and transparent investigations of any 
alleged human rights abuses committed in the 
course of the conflict in the Tigray Region and 
other conflicts across Ethiopia, and hold all per-
petrators to account in a credible process; and 
(12) urges the Secretary of State, the Secretary 
of the Treasury, and the Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Develop-
ment, in coordination with the heads of other rel-
evant Federal departments and agencies, to— 
(A) engage at the highest levels with the 
Government of Ethiopia, the Government of the 
State of Eritrea, the TPLF, and other parties 
to the conflict to encourage the immediate and 
full cessation of hostilities, and the full with-
drawal of all Eritrean forces, mitigate the hu-
manitarian crisis in the region, and support an 
inclusive process of national dialogue and rec-
onciliation in Ethiopia; 
(B) maintain close coordination with inter-
national allies and multilateral organizations re-
garding efforts to address the conflict in the 
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Tigray Region and other regions of Ethiopia, 
and bring attention to the conflict in inter-
national fora, including the United Nations Se-
curity Council; 
(C) immediately establish criteria to end 
the pause of all remaining nonlife-sustaining as-
sistance to Ethiopia and continue to support 
programming to meet immediate humanitarian 
needs, including of refugees and internally dis-
placed persons, advance nonviolent conflict reso-
lution and reconciliation throughout the coun-
try, and aid a democratic transition in Ethi-
opia; 
(D) as appropriate, use all diplomatic, de-
velopmental, and legal tools to prevent further 
ethnic-based violence and mass atrocities, in-
cluding by nonstate armed groups, and promote 
competitive multiparty democracy in Ethiopia; 
(E) continue to take actions that, accord-
ing to Secretary of State Blinken on February 
27, 2021, ensure a ‘‘full, independent, inter-
national investigation into all reports of human 
rights violations, abuses, and atrocities’’ com-
mitted in the course of the conflict; 
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(F) urgently determine whether atrocities 
committed in Tigray amount to war crimes and 
crimes against humanity; and 
(G) based on the investigations, impose 
targeted sanctions and accountability measures 
on those found responsible for committing 
human rights abuses and atrocities. 
Æ 
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