U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday signed a new executive order authorizing more sanctions against those involved in the ongoing conflict in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, where thousands have been killed and millions are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The continued conflict in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia has sparked one of the worst humanitarian and human rights crises in the world, with over 5 million people requiring humanitarian assistance and nearly one million living in famine-like conditions, the Biden Administration said.
According to the White House, the parties to the conflict – including Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF), the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and Amhara regional forces – have committed human rights abuses against civilians. There have been widespread reports of armed actors committing brutal acts of murder, rape, and other sexual violence against civilian populations. The UN Population Fund has estimated that tens of thousands of women and girls in northern Ethiopia will need medical, mental health, psychosocial, and legal services to begin to rebuild their lives following conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence.
The new sanctions signed by President Biden Friday authorizes the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), working with the U.S. Department of State (State), the authority to hold accountable those in the Ethiopian government, the Eritrean government, the TPLF, and the Amhara regional government who are responsible for, or complicit in, prolonging the conflict, obstructing humanitarian access, or preventing a ceasefire, said the White House. Treasury is prepared to take action under this E.O. to impose targeted sanctions against those responsible for the ongoing crisis, it added.
President Biden in a statement Friday said he is “appalled by the reports of mass murder, rape, and other sexual violence to terrorize civilian populations.”
“The ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia is a tragedy causing immense human suffering and threatens the unity of the Ethiopian state,” Biden said. “The United States is determined to push for a peaceful resolution of this conflict, and we will provide full support to those leading mediation efforts, including the African Union High Representative for the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo. We fully agree with United Nations and African Union leaders: there is no military solution to this crisis.”
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