UNITED NATIONS (AP) – An attempt to obtain UN Security Council approval for a declaration calling for an end to violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and to highlight the millions in need of humanitarian aid was abandoned on Friday night after objections from India, Russia and especially China, UN diplomats said.
Three council diplomats said that Ireland, which drafted the declaration, decided not to push for approval after objections from the three countries.
The press release would have been the first by the most powerful UN body on the Tigray crisis, which is entering its fourth month. The fierce struggle is said to continue between the Ethiopian and allied forces and those who support the now fugitive Tigray leaders who once dominated the government of Ethiopia and the alarm is growing about the fate of Tigray’s 6 million inhabitants. No one knows how many thousands of civilians were killed.
On Tuesday, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock warned that “a campaign of destruction” is taking place, saying that at least 4.5 million people need help and demanding that forces in neighboring Eritrea, 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 the violence in Tigray”.
The draft declaration also noted “with concern” the humanitarian situation in Tigray, “where millions of people are still in need of humanitarian assistance” and the challenge of access for humanitarian workers. He called for “full and swift implementation” of the Ethiopian government’s statements on February 26 and March 3, committing himself to “unrestricted access”.
Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because the consultations were private, said China wanted the declaration to focus only on the humanitarian situation, with no reference to violence in Tigray. India wanted only a small change, and Russia reportedly supported its ally China at the last minute, diplomats said.
Reports of a massacre of several hundred people by Eritrean soldiers in the holy city of Axum in Tigray have been detailed in reports by The Associated Press and then for Amnesty International. The federal government and regional officials in Tigray believe that each other’s governments are illegitimate after elections interrupted by the pandemic COVID-19.
Human Rights Watch echoed the reports on Friday, saying the Eritrean armed forces “massacred dozens of civilians, including children as young as 13,” in the historic town of Axum in Tigray in November 2020. It asked the UN to establish urgently an independent investigation into war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in Tigray.