Approved: 3/27/22
A RESOLUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON
WHEREAS, the US and Ethiopia have a long history of constructive bilateral relations including mutual support during WWII and the Korean War, and efforts to constrain Al-Shabaab in Somalia; and
WHEREAS, the 2021 Democratic Party of Oregon Platform Article 4 – Foreign Policy states our support for the Universal declaration of Human Rights and our support for humanitarian foreign aid; and
WHEREAS, the 2021 Democratic Party of Oregon Platform, Article 6 – Human Rights, Plank 2 affirms our belief that “all peoples have the right to live dignified lives, free from abuse, neglect, poverty, violence, oppression, …and state sanctioned killing”; and
WHEREAS, the root cause of the current situation stems from the conflict between the previously empowered Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), who ruled from 1991 to 2018, and the rise to power of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his current government; and
WHEREAS, this humanitarian crisis began on November 4, 2020, when the TPFL launched a coordinated, overnight attack on multiple military bases and injured and killed a large number of military personnel, and on November 10, killing 1563 civilians in Mai-Kadra, and again on November 14, when the TPLF launched missiles in the capital of Eritrea and in the Amhara region, and again on August 5, 2021, when the TPLF executed 240 civilians and refugees in Afar region, including 107 children, all prompting the Ethiopian government to launch their own law-enforcement operation, and,
WHEREAS, the conflict in the Tigray region has killed thousands of people, resulted in child conscriptions, displaced more than 2 million people, left an estimated 5,200,000 people in need of immediate humanitarian assistance, and caused severe shortages of food, water, medical facilities and supplies, and other necessary goods for those who remain in the region:
THEREFORE, WE, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON, HEREBY RESOLVE THAT:
Section 1. We urge President Biden to reverse the policy of the previous President and to restore adequate humanitarian aid – hundreds of millions of dollars – to Ethiopia at this critical juncture.
Section 2. We join with and urge our Congressional delegation and President Biden to support an immediate, unilateral cease-fire and commitment to a political solution for resolving existing differences, full compliance with international humanitarian law, and refraining from actions that could continue, spread, or escalate the conflict, particularly attacks on civilian targets, while strongly urging the African Union to continue to use its offices of Peace and Security Architecture, Peace and Security Council and other resources to bring an end to the conflict and to avoid famine conditions and another humanitarian disaster.
Section 3. We will forward this resolution to our Oregon Congressional Delegation, to the offices of Vice President Harris and President Biden, and to Secretary of State Blinken.
Resolution submitted by Peter Nordbye, SCC Delegate, Clackamas County.
ADOPTED by the Democratic Party of Oregon on March 27th, 2022.
