75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
UN Security Council briefing on Peace and Security in Africa (Tigray)
Statement by DPR Andre Lipand
August 26, New York
Thank you Mr. President,
I thank Secretary-General Guterres for being with us today and for the remarks he made.
Estonia welcomes today’s very timely Council meeting and reiterates the need to keep the situation in Tigray on the Council’s agenda.
We are deeply worried about the escalating conflict in Tigray, which is aggravating an already dire humanitarian situation and increasingly threatening the wider stability of the region.
The reports of growing civilian casualties, especially among children, are alarming. It is essential that all parties adhere to the international humanitarian law and do their utmost to protect civilians.
It must be acknowledged by all that there can be no military solution to this conflict. We join the Secretary General in calling upon the parties to cease hostilities as an immediate priority and to start negotiations for a permanent ceasefire.
We call upon the Tigray forces to stop their offensive, in particular in neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions, which has already caused massive displacement and will only expand the devastation and suffering.
At the same time, we call upon the Government of Ethiopia to request the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray, to ensure unfettered humanitarian access to the region and to restore basic services including water, fuel, electricity, communications and banking in all areas affected by the conflict.
We also urge the Government to facilitate the challenges faced on the ground by humanitarian aid organizations, in order for them to be able to assist those in need.
Estonia is increasingly concerned about the conflict driven food security crisis, which has been deteriorating mainly due to the interruption of supply lines. Around 400,000 people are already living in famine, the worst level of acute food insecurity, with 4 million more people approaching the same.
Mr. President,
Continued reports about violations and abuses of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including widespread sexual and gender based violence, are deeply worrying. In this context we reiterate the importance of the ongoing joint investigation by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. The perpetrators must be held accountable and brought to justice.
We are also worried about reports of arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Tigrayans in Addis Ababa. We call upon the Ethiopian authorities to investigate these possibly unlawful and discriminatory practices.
To conclude, the people of Ethiopia have suffered enough. While the immediate priority must be ending the hostilities, this should be followed by an inclusive and credible political process, with the aim of national reconciliation. The conflict in Tigray can only be solved through dialogue.
I thank you.