UNITED NATIONS (PA) – An attempt to secure the approval of the United Nations Security Council for a statement calling for an end to violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, highlighting millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance, withdrew Friday night following objections from India, Russia and especially China, UN diplomats said.
Three council diplomats said Ireland, which drafted the statement, decided not to push for approval following objections from the three countries.
The press statement would have been the first of the most powerful UN body on the Tigray crisis, which is entering its fourth month. Fierce fighting continues between Ethiopian and Allied forces and those now supporting the now fugitive Tigray leaders, who once dominated the Ethiopian government and the alarm is growing by the fate of 6 million people. Tigray. No one knows how many thousands of civilians have been killed.
On Tuesday, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock warned that “a campaign of destruction” was taking place, saying at least 4.5 million people needed help and demanding that neighboring Eritrean forces be accused of committing atrocities in Tigray leave Ethiopia.
The proposed statement made no mention of foreign forces or sanctions – two key issues – but called for “an end to violence in Tigray.”
The draft statement also noted “with concern” the humanitarian situation in Tigray, “where millions of people still need humanitarian aid” and the challenge of access for humanitarian workers. He called for “full and speedy implementation” of the Ethiopian government’s statements on February 26 and March 3 pledging “free access.”
Council diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the consultations were private, said China wanted the statement to focus only on the humanitarian situation, without referring to the violence in Tigray. India only wanted a minor change, and Russia reportedly backed its ally China at the last minute, diplomats said.
Reports from The Associated Press have detailed accounts of a massacre of several hundred Eritrean soldiers in the holy city of Axum in Tigray. and then by Amnesty International. Federal governments and Tigray regional officials believe the governments of others are illegitimate after the elections disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Human Rights Watch echoed reports Friday and said Eritrean armed forces “massacred dozens of civilians, including children up to the age of 13,” in the historic city of Axum in Tigray in November 2020. He called on the United Nations to urgently establish an independent investigation into war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in Tigray.