Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy,
Assistance For Ethiopia
August 3, 2007
Mr. LEAHY. After the overthrow of Ethiopia’s
brutal former Prime Minister Mengistu, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
ushered in a period of hope and optimism. On May 15, 2005, Ethiopia
held its first open multi-party elections. The international community
praised the people of Ethiopia for an astounding 90 percent voter
participation rate, an encouraging beginning to a new political process.
The Ethiopian people deserve a democratic process in which opposition
parties can organize and participate, and journalists can publish
freely, without fear of arrest or retribution. Unfortunately, as it
turned out, the 2005 election was not the turning point many had hoped
for.
Early polls suggested the opposition Coalition for
Unity and Democracy Party would make gains in the Ethiopian Parliament
that could threaten the control of Prime Minister Meles’ ruling
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front. These reports were
followed by credible allegations of manipulation of the vote-counting
process. When the government finally announced results that assured its
continued hold on power, thousands of people took to the streets in
protest. The police arrested over 30,000 people and some 193 people
were killed. Although most of the protestors were released soon after
their arrest, 70 opposition leaders and journalists remained in prison.
Following these events, I wrote to Ethiopia’s
Ambassador Kassahun Ayele and officials at the State Department to
express my concern with the imprisonment of the Ethiopian politicians.
Human rights organizations and other international figures condemned the
detentions and urged Prime Minister Meles to release them. These
efforts were to no avail.
Some detainees remained in jail for over two years
before being brought to trial in a manner that was incompatible with
international standards of justice. Last month, they were convicted of
such vague charges as “outrage against the constitution” and “inciting
armed opposition”. They were stripped of their rights to vote and to
run for public office. Several were sentenced to life in prison.
Nothing was done to prosecute the police officers who fired on the
protesters. The situation had gone from bad to worse.
Then suddenly, less than two weeks ago, the
Ethiopian Government announced the pardon and release of 38 opposition
leaders. I am pleased that Prime Minister Meles heeded the pleas of the
Ethiopian people and the international community and released these
prisoners. The fact is, none of them should have been arrested or tried
in the first place. Their release was long overdue and is welcome.
I hope the government acts expeditiously to release
the remaining political detainees, and bring to justice police officers
who used excessive force. I also hope the negotiations that resulted in
the prisoners’ release will lead to further discussions between the
government and the leaders of the opposition, to ensure that their
political rights are fully restored and that future elections are not
similarly marred.
While this news is positive, it comes at a time
when journalists and representatives of humanitarian organizations
report human rights abuses of civilians, including torture, rape and
extrajudicial killings, by Ethiopian security forces, including those
trained and equipped by the U.S., in the Ogaden region.
Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman of the
Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, and a vocal defender of human
rights and democracy in Ethiopia, inserted into the Congressional Record
a June 18, 2007, New York Times article that described these
abuses.
This situation is also addressed in the Senate
version of the Fiscal Year 2008 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations
bill and report, which were reported by the Appropriations Committee on
July 10. The Appropriations Committee seeks assurance from the State
Department that military assistance for Ethiopia is being adequately
monitored and is not being used against civilians by units of Ethiopia’s
security forces. We need to know that the State Department is
investigating these reports. We also want to see effective measures by
the Ethiopian Government to bring to justice anyone responsible for such
abuses.
Unfortunately, it appears that the Bush
administration has made little effort to monitor military aid to
Ethiopia. It is no excuse that the Ethiopian military has impeded
access to the Ogaden, as it has done. In fact, this should give rise to
a sense of urgency. If we cannot properly investigate these reports,
and if the Leahy Law which prohibits U.S. assistance to units of foreign
security forces that violate human rights is not being applied because
the U.S. Embassy cannot determine the facts, then we should not be
supporting these forces.
As if the allegations of human rights violations
were not enough, the New York Times reported on July 22 that the
Ethiopian military is blocking food aid to the Ogaden region. The
article also claimed that the military is “siphoning off millions” of
dollars intended for food aid and a UN polio eradication program. A
subsequent article on July 26 indicated that the World Food Program and
the Ethiopian Government have reached agreement, after weeks of
discussions, on a process for getting food aid through the military
blockade to civilians in the Ogaden region. But the same article also
reported that regional Ethiopian officials have expelled the Red Cross.
Mr. President, during the Cold War we supported
some of the world’s most brutal, corrupt dictators because they were
anti-communist. Their people, and our reputation, suffered as a
result. Now the White House seems to support just about anyone who says
they are against terrorism, no matter how undemocratic or corrupt. It
is short sighted, it tarnishes our image, and it will cost us dearly in
the long term.
Prime Minister Meles has been an ally against
Islamic extremism in the Horn of Africa, for which we are grateful. But
there are serious concerns with Ethiopia’s U.S.-supported military
invasion of Somalia. It has led to some of the same problems associated
with the Bush Administration’s misguided decision to invade Iraq without
a plan for leaving the country more stable and secure than before the
overthrow of Saddam. Iraq’s partition now seems only a matter of time,
and it is hard to be optimistic that Somalia a year from now will be any
more secure, or any less of a threat to regional stability, than before
the influx of Ethiopian troops.
Ethiopia is also a poor country that has faced one
natural or man-made disaster after another, and the U.S. has responded
with hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian and other
assistance. We have a long history of supporting Ethiopia and its
people, and we want to continue that support. But our support to the
government is not unconditional. We will not ignore the unlawful
imprisonment of political opponents or the mistreatment of journalists.
We will not ignore reports of abuses of civilians by Ethiopian security
forces.
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