CCC
BACKGROUND GUIDE
AGENDA
Addressing the Ongoing Ethnic Conflicts and
Identity-Based Killings in Ethiopia
INDEX
1. Letter from the Executive Board
2. About the committee
3. About the agenda
4. Timeline of events
5. Relevant legal frameworks
LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Dear delegates, it is our pleasure to welcome you to the Continuous Crisis
Committee at this edition of SJPUC MUN. We hope that this conference
proves to be one that shall have a positive impact on you and further
induces you to have better performances in further conferences. This
committee provides you an opportunity to discuss an agenda as recent as
less than half a decade ago. You as delegates will step into the shoes of
regional and global leaders alike and tackle the complexities of the
problems in the region of Ethiopia. Keep in mind that solving the crisis at
hand is of a higher priority rather than worsening the situation. Optimism
is not something that exists in a crisis committee.
The attached background guide is to provide a base for your research and
create a sense of direction for you to delve deeper into the agenda. On its
own, the background guide cannot be your only source of research and we
strongly advocate against the same. Another important thing to note is that
all forms of paperwork, i.e directives, portfolio requests, communiques
and press releases must be HANDWRITTEN. No online or printed forms
of paperwork will be accepted. Additionally, please make sure to analyse
crisis updates in speeches and address them thoroughly before moving on.
With that, we wish you the best of luck. Good luck and godspeed!
Krishna Iyer, Co-chairperson
Asnan Abidi, Co-chairperson
Ameen AJ, Rapporteur
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE
Directives
They are the most powerful crisis tool a delegate can use. Via a directive, a
delegate can take discreet action using all of their portfolio powers and
influence almost any sector of an agenda. They are used for conducting real
time actions with plausible motive (reason for the directive) and execution
(ability to achieve said motive) within your jurisdiction (portfolio powers).
For example, as the President of the United States of America, you could do a
lot of things, such as order an airstrike, arrange a world conference, or send
spies to Russia. However, there would be no plausible way you can acquire the
Bank of China as it is nationalised by the People’s Republic of China. Similarly,
while you could certainly do it, there would be no motive for you to impose a
ban on beef production and import across the USA unless in response to a crisis
update (for example, a cow-borne epidemic).
These bits of paperwork will set the direction of the committee and decide its ultimate
success. Keeping that in mind, below you shall find a structure of the same to help you
understand how to draft them and thus ensure maximum effectiveness. There are two
types of directives – covert and overt.
The covert directive is there to help you take individual action based on the powers
available to your portfolio.
An overt directive on the other hand is one which involves multiple delegates
cooperating to chart out a plan of action.
If the directive is covert, only the Executive Board will be able to read the
contents of the directive. Using their discretion, they will choose to either pass
or fail the entire or certain parts of the directive. They will also choose whether
or not to have it reflected in the crisis update and what effect it will have. If it is
overt, the directive will be displayed in front of the entire committee and
discussed, after which the committee shall vote on it, with a simple majority
determining whether it passes or fails (or whether it goes to the Executive Board
or not). While this does not guarantee passage, it can show the Executive Board
that the action is strongly supported by a majority and increase chances of it
passing.
Once you submit these directives, it will be the responsibility of the Executive Board
to judge the feasibility of the proposed measures and incorporate it accordingly into
the subsequent updates. While preparing either kind of update please keep in mind
these six tenets – Who, What, Why, Where, When, and How. If you address these six
points properly you shall have a good directive capable of swaying the outcome of the
committee. Directives will be accepted only during the time where lines of
communication are open and not at any other times, unless deemed fit by the
Executive Board.
The directives can be broadly classified into
• Covert operations (Covert directive)
• Joint ops (Joint Directive)
• Portfolio Request
• Understandings signed between factions/ nations (Treaties, MOUs etc.)
• Presidential Statements
• Overt directives
All the above mentioned types are self explanatory. It is completely fine if Joint
operations are intended to be of Covert nature. The Executive Board believes however
that one of the types requires clarification and that would be the usage of Portfolio
Requests. Portfolio requests are sent in when delegates require specific information
that is crucial for their next course of action.
This ideally collaborates with them requesting their Government agencies to feed
them the required information, by conducting certain actions. Only such covert
directives can be termed as Portfolio requests. The EB will not entertain portfolio
requests requesting random pieces of information that would not be viable to present
as a response. Next, the operations themselves can be divided into intel ops and
military or strategic ops, broadly. Sufficient understanding of the situation on ground
is necessary to implement the right type at appropriate times.
The Format for directives
Operation Name (Whatever you wish to call the intended action)
Status – (Whether it is covert or overt directive)
Primary Objective – (What your action intends to achieve immediately)
Secondary Objective – (What your action intends to achieve overall)
Mission Brief – (The details of the operation in a brief manner)
Plan of Action:
(This should be listed in the form of bullet points and should be detailed in nature so
as to lay out the entire plan from start to finish. Ideally one should account for all
possible exigencies and potential problems while drafting the points and address the
same – this will help in creating a watertight plan and increase its chances of success)
Personnel/Resources involved – (Who or what units and equipment shall be involved
in the
operation)
Operation date(s) – (The date and time during which your operation will commence
though it is not mandatory to mention. If it is a time bound operation then the end date
as well. If times are mentioned it should be in the military format, i.e., 1200 hours for
12 pm)
Signed – (Your portfolio name if this is a private directive, the portfolio names of
whoever has drafted the directive in case it is joint).
Delegates need to note that updates will largely be based on the directives received,
but not all directives will be converted into updates and displayed to the committee.
Having said that, we’d like to clarify one extremely important concept for crisis
committees:
Fog of War.
Fog of War, simply put, means that it is impossible to know the results of all action
undertaken by a particular group/cabinet/country immediately, as the success or
failure will depend on a lot of factors, most importantly, the timing of these actions
and the time that would be taken up for the actions to unfold. Therefore it is only
practical that the delegates don’t expect ALL their directives’ statuses to be known
throughout the course of committee. There will definitely be instances where your
directives would pass, but won’t be reflected as updates due to practical difficulties,
and vice versa, where failed directives will make it to updates to let the people who
have drafted it know about the consequences of their actions. The Executive Board
hopes that these crisis committee actions are understood in its absolute entirety by the
delegates, and this would eventually lead to easier and smoother functioning of both
committees. Please feel absolutely free to contact any of the members of the Executive
Board in case of queries.
Communiqués
A communiqué is a tool used to talk to a portfolio not present in committee and obtain
their assistance and support for your goals. It is framed as a letter and is simply
formatted with From and To. It can be a part of a directive (to obtain certain resources
for a directive) or a standalone communiqué for all future actions. All communiqués
are covert, i.e, secret in nature. They can be both individual and joint. When the
Executive Board receives a communiqué, they take on the role of the recipient
portfolio and assess it from their viewpoint. If the offer being made and the request
posed seems reasonably well phrased and profitable to the recipient, the communiqué
passes. If it does not, however, then the communiqué fails. In the former case,
information regarding the new resources the delegate has obtained will be sent to the
delegate by the Executive Board and/or will be reflected in full/in part in the crisis
update.
3. Press Releases
Press releases are used to share information with the entirety of committee to
announce foreign policy changes, major movements in discussion, trade deals/treaties
or discoveries achieved via covert directives that can be used to influence committee.
Sometimes agreements reached in
informal debate can be put up as a press release from a bloc to enable it to be
discussed in formal debate. While no questions can be asked unless especially
permitted by the Executive Board on a press releasee, it can always be explored and
cross questioned in other delegates’ speeches. Press releases will be sent to the
Executive Board, where we will either choose to read it out or have the delegate
announce it to the entirety of the committee. It should be drafted using continuous
writing unlike directives as it will have to be read out verbatim in committee.
ABOUT THE AGENDA
Following the Ethiopian Civil War’s end in 1991, the country became a
dominant-party state under the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary
Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition led by the Tigray People's
Liberation Front (TPLF). The TPLF, representing the Tigray ethnic group,
played a dominant role in Ethiopian politics for decades. Meles Zenawi,
leader of the TPLF, served as prime minister until his death in 2012, after
which Hailemariam Desalegn, from the Southern Ethiopian People's
Democratic Movement (SEPDM), succeeded him. By 2018, growing
public discontent over 27 years of repressive governance led to
Hailemariam’s resignation.
In March 2018, Abiy Ahmed, from the Oromo People’s Democratic
Organization (OPDO), was elected chairman of the EPRDF, and soon
after, he became Ethiopia’s prime minister. One of Abiy’s first major acts
was to end the decades-long border conflict with Eritrea, a move
welcomed globally but criticized by the TPLF, which viewed the peace
initiative as a betrayal, particularly considering the TPLF’s role in the
1998–2000 war with Eritrea. The TPLF accused Abiy of hastily making
peace without consulting key stakeholders.
In December 2019, Abiy disbanded the EPRDF and merged its member
parties, along with several opposition groups, into the new Prosperity
Party. The TPLF, which had long dominated Ethiopian politics, refused to
join the new party. This refusal led to the TPLF’s loss of power at the
federal level, after which the party retreated to the Tigray Region, where it
continued to hold influence and clashed frequently with the federal
government. Tensions deepened when the Tigray regional government
defied federal directives, notably by refusing to allow the arrest of a
former security chief, Getachew Assefa.
The federal government accused the TPLF of seeking to reassert its
dominance through violence, while the TPLF claimed that Abiy’s
government was accumulating excessive power and marginalizing the
Tigrayan people. Tensions escalated throughout 2020, especially after the
National Election Board postponed the general elections, initially
scheduled for August, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The TPLF rejected
the extension of the federal government’s term, which had been granted by
the federal parliament. In response, the TPLF held its own regional
election in Tigray in September 2020, in defiance of the federal
government’s postponement. This action led to further confrontation, with
the federal government slashing funds to Tigray, a move the TPLF equated
with a “declaration of war.”
By October 2020, the TPLF declared that the terms of the federal
government had constitutionally expired and proposed a technocratic
caretaker government to replace the existing administration. As tensions
mounted, there were reports of Ethiopian and Eritrean military units
collaborating to eliminate the TPLF. Mediation efforts by the Ethiopian
Reconciliation Commission failed, and on the eve of conflict, the TPLF
blocked the federal government's appointee from assuming a military post
in Tigray.
In November 2020, violence erupted when Tigray forces launched attacks
on the Northern Command of the Ethiopian military, sparking a full-scale
military confrontation between the federal government and TPLF forces.
This marked the beginning of the Tigray War, fueled by years of political
rivalry and deepening ethnic and regional divisions.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
● May 1991 - The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) topples Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, head of a
Communist junta that ruled the country from 1974. The coalition is
led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), guerrilla fighters
who marched from their homeland in Ethiopia's north to the capital
Addis Ababa.
● August 1995 - The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is
proclaimed. The EPRDF sweeps to power in poorly contested
elections, and TPLF leader Meles Zenawi becomes Ethiopia's first
prime minister. Tigrayans dominate senior ranks of government.
● 1995 to 2012 - Meles introduces a system of ethnic federalism,
giving the country's main ethnic groups the chance to govern the
areas in which they dominate. Though Tigrayans make up about 5%
of the population, they benefit disproportionately, other regions
complain, as roads and other infrastructure are built in their sparsely
populated area.
● August 2012 - Meles dies in office. A prime minister from another
ethnic group is appointed.
● 2015 to 2018 - Divisions break out in the EPRDF over how quickly
to pursue political reforms in response to street protests that threaten
the coalition's grip.
● April 2018 - Abiy Ahmed, an Oromo, takes over as prime minister,
winning praise at home and abroad for opening up one of Africa's
most restrictive political and economic systems.
● 2019 - Tigrayans complain they are persecuted in a crackdown on
corruption and past abuses. Former senior military and political
officials are put on trial.
● Oct. 11, 2019 - Abiy is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his
peacemaking efforts, which ended two decades of hostility with
Eritrea. The TPLF continue to view Eritrea as an enemy.
● Nov. 21, 2019 - Ethiopia's ruling coalition agrees to form a single
party, but the TPLF refuses to merge with three other ethnic-based
parties, calling the move rushed and undemocratic.
● Sept. 8, 2020 - Tigray holds regional elections in defiance of the
federal government, which postponed nationwide polls due in
August because of COVID-19. Abiy's government says the vote is
illegal.
● October 2020 - The federal government starts to withhold some
funds meant for social welfare programs in Tigray, part of a plan to
starve the regional authorities of cash in retaliation for September's
vote.
RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORKS
1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The UDHR is a landmark document adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly, articulating the fundamental human rights that
should be universally protected. Although it is not legally binding, it
serves as the foundation for modern human rights law and norms. It
prohibits arbitrary violence, torture, and degrading treatment,
affirming every individual's right to life, liberty, and security. The
UDHR also underlines the right to equality before the law, freedom
of movement, and protection against discrimination, forming the
basis for numerous international treaties and national constitutions
worldwide.
During civil wars, the UDHR serves as a moral and legal guide,
affirming that all people, regardless of the internal conflict, have the
right to life, liberty, and security of person. It condemns the arbitrary
killings, torture, and mass displacement that often accompany civil
wars. Even though it is non-binding, it establishes the expectation
that parties to a conflict should respect civilians' human rights and
uphold dignity in times of chaos, laying the groundwork for
post-conflict justice.
2. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The ICCPR is a binding treaty that commits its signatories to respect
and ensure the civil and political rights of individuals. It explicitly
prohibits arbitrary killings, torture, and inhumane or degrading
treatment, ensuring fundamental freedoms like the right to life,
freedom of expression, and the right to a fair trial. States are
obligated to protect individuals from arbitrary detention and uphold
due process of law. The ICCPR establishes mechanisms for states to
be held accountable, with the Human Rights Committee overseeing
compliance and addressing violations.
The ICCPR remains in effect during civil wars, obliging all parties
to respect fundamental rights like the right to life, prohibition of
torture, and access to justice. In situations of civil war, the covenant
becomes critical in protecting civilians from extrajudicial killings,
unlawful detention, and targeted violence. While some rights may be
temporarily restricted during emergencies, core rights such as
freedom from torture and the right to a fair trial cannot be suspended
under any circumstances.
3. Convention Against Torture
CAT is a treaty that unequivocally bans torture and other cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. It requires states to
prevent, investigate, and punish acts of torture, ensuring that no one
is returned to a country where they may face such treatment
(non-refoulement). This convention goes further than other human
rights treaties by mandating states to take legal action against
individuals accused of torture. It also creates a system of regular
reporting and monitoring through the Committee Against Torture,
holding states accountable for their obligations.
Civil wars are notorious for incidents of torture and other inhumane
practices carried out by state or non-state actors. CAT explicitly
prohibits torture, regardless of whether the conflict is internal or
international, and mandates that perpetrators be held accountable.
Even in the chaos of civil war, states and parties are legally bound to
prevent, investigate, and punish acts of torture, ensuring that
individuals are not subjected to cruel treatment by any actor
involved in the conflict. Another important thing to note is that the
prohibition of torture is a jus cogens norm, a fundamental
non-derogable principle in international law.
4. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide
The Genocide Convention defines genocide as acts intended to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious
group. This convention obligates states to prevent and punish acts of
genocide, whether committed in times of peace or conflict. It holds
individuals and states accountable for genocide and includes
mechanisms for international cooperation in investigating and
prosecuting such crimes. The convention’s importance was
reinforced by later international tribunals and the establishment of
the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Civil wars sometimes escalate into genocidal acts where groups are
targeted based on ethnicity, religion, or nationality. This convention
obligates all states to prevent genocide and punish those responsible,
regardless of whether the violence occurs during an international or
civil conflict. Parties to the conflict, whether government forces or
rebel factions, can be held accountable if they commit acts aimed at
destroying specific groups within the country. The prohibition of
genocide is also a jus cogens norm.
5. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination
ICERD commits states to eliminate racial discrimination in all its
forms, including in areas like employment, education, and housing.
It prohibits any distinction, exclusion, or preference based on race,
color, descent, or national or ethnic origin. The convention also
requires states to combat hate speech, racial violence, and to ensure
that all individuals, regardless of race, have equal protection under
the law. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
monitors state compliance, ensuring accountability through regular
reporting and review processes.
Civil wars frequently involve ethnic or racial dimensions, where
groups are targeted based on identity. ICERD prohibits violence and
discrimination on racial, ethnic, or national grounds, and it becomes
especially relevant in civil wars where these divisions are used to
justify violence. States and other actors are obligated to protect all
ethnic groups and ensure equal protection under the law, regardless
of the conflict. Ethnic cleansing or other forms of racially motivated
violence may also lead to international legal action.
Aside from these frameworks, the Charter of the United Nations is the
governing authority in the maintenance of international law and relations
between states, accordingly regulating the behaviour of states. Various
principles of International Humanitarian Law also apply in several
situations of conflict. Other important principles of international law that
can apply is the principle of non-intervention, right to humanitarian
intervention and invitation to intervention. All of the above stipulated
concepts play a huge role in the sphere of international relations,
especially in times of conflict. This subsequently enlarges the scope in
speeches, allowing for a comprehensive front room performance.