Congressional
Record Statement of Senator Russ Feingold
On the Political Crisis in Ethiopia
March 3, 2008
Mr. President,
I rise today to discuss the political situation in Ethiopia. The US-Ethiopian
partnership is an incredibly important one – perhaps one of the
more significant on the continent given not only our longstanding history
but also the increasingly strategic nature of our cooperation in recent
years. Ethiopia sits on the Horn of Africa – perhaps one of the
roughest neighborhoods in the world, with Somalia a failed state and
likely safe haven for terrorists, Eritrea an inaccessible authoritarian
regime that exacerbates conflicts throughout the region, Sudan a genocidal
regime, and now Kenya descending into crisis. By contrast, Ethiopia
seems relatively stable with its growing economy and robust poverty
reduction programs.
Indeed, one look
at the deteriorating situation on the Horn of Africa and it is clear
just how essential our relationship with Ethiopia really is. Unfortunately,
the Bush Administration’s approach to strengthening and building
bilateral ties with Ethiopia has been short-sighted and narrow. As in
other parts of the world, the Administration’s counter-terrorism
agenda dominates the relationship, while poor governance and human rights
concerns get a pass.
Mr. President,
genuine democratic progress in Ethiopia is essential if we are to have
a healthy and positive bilateral relationship. We can not allow a myopic
focus on one element of security to obscure our understanding of what
is really occurring in Ethiopia. Rather than place our support in one
man, we must invest in Ethiopia’s institutions and its people
to create a stable, sustainable political system. As we are seeing right
now in Kenya, political repression breeds deep-seated resentment, which
can have destructive and far-reaching consequences. The United States
and the international community can not support one policy objective
at the expense of all others. To do so not only hurts the credibility
of America and the viability of our democratic message, but it severely
jeopardizes our national security.
Mr. President,
I am seriously concerned about the direction Ethiopia is headed –
because according to many credible accounts, the political crisis that
has been quietly growing and deepening over the past few years may be
coming to a head. For years, faced with calls for political or economic
reforms, the Ethiopian government has displayed a troubling tendency
to react with alarmingly oppressive and disproportionate tactics.
For example, Mr.
President, in 2003, we received reports of massacres of civilians in
the Gambella region of Ethiopia, which touched off a wave of violence
and destruction that has yet to truly loosen its grip on the region.
At that time, hundreds of lives were lost, tens of thousands were displaced,
and many homes, schools, and businesses throughout the area were destroyed.
Credible observers agree that Ethiopian security forces were heavily
involved in some of the most serious abuses and more than 5 years later
no one has been held accountable and there have been no reparations.
The national elections
held in May 2005 were a severe step back for Ethiopia’s democratic
progress. In advance of the elections, the Ethiopian Government expelled
representatives of the three democracy-promotion organizations supported
by USAID to assist the Ethiopian election commission, facilitate dialogue
among political parties and election authorities, train pollwatchers,
and assist civil society in the creation of a code of conduct. This
expulsion was the first time in 20 years that a government has rejected
such assistance, and the organizations have still not returned to Ethiopia
because they do not feel an environment exists where they can truly
undertake their objectives.
Despite massive
controversy surrounding the polls, it is notable that opposition parties
still won an unprecedented number of parliamentary seats. Their pursuit
of transparency and democracy was again thwarted, however, when they
tried to register their concerns about the election process. In one
incident, peaceful demonstrations by opposition members and their supporters
in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa were met with disproportionate
and lethal force that killed more than 30 people and injured over 100.
In another incident, the Ethiopian government arrested thousands of
peacefully protesting citizens who took to the streets in support of
the opposition.
The systemic nature
of this crackdown was revealed in credible reports coming from the Oromia
and Amhara regions that federal police were unacceptably threatening,
beating and detaining opposition supporters. Indeed, international human
rights groups documented that regional authorities were exaggerating
their concerns about armed insurgency and “terrorism” to
try to justify the torture, imprisonment and sustained harassment of
critics and even ordinary citizens.
This tendency to
portray political dissent as extremist uprisings has been repeated more
recently with regards to what is being characterized by some as a brutal
counterinsurgency operation led by Ethiopia’s military in the
Ogaden, a long-neglected region that borders Somalia. Certainly I recognize
the serious security concerns in this region, made worse by the porous
borders of the failed state just a stone’s throw away.
But it is precisely
because Ethiopia is our partner in the fight against al Qaeda, its affiliates
and allies, Mr. President, that I am so concerned about what I understand
to be a massive military crackdown that does not differentiate between
rebel groups and civilians. While I am sure there are few clean hands
when it comes to fighting in the Ogaden region, the reports I have received
about the Ethiopian government’s illicit military tactics and
human rights violations are of great concern.
I have been hearing
similar reports of egregious human rights abuses being committed in
Somalia, about which I am gravely concerned. When I visited Ethiopia
just over a year, I urged the Prime Minister not to send his troops
into Somalia because I thought it might make instability there worse,
not better. Tragically, more than a year later, it seems my worst fears
have been realized as tens of thousands of people have fled their homes,
humanitarian access is at an all time low, and there are numerous reports
of increasing brutality towards civilians caught in the crossfire. In
the interest of its own domestic security, Ethiopia is contributing
to increased regional instability.
Mr. President, what troubles me most is that the reports of Ethiopia’s
military coming out of the Ogaden and Mogadishu join a long list of
increasingly repressive actions taken by the Ethiopian government. The
Bush Administration must not turn a blind eye to the aggressive –
and recurring – tactics being utilized by one of our key allies
to stifle dissent.
I certainly welcome
the role the Bush Administration has played in helping to secure the
release of many -- although not all -- of the individuals thrown in
jail in the aftermath of the 2005 elections. I welcome the Embassy’s
engagement with opposition members and their efforts to encourage Ethiopian
officials to create more political space for alternative views, independent
media, and civil society. These are all important steps Mr. President,
but they do not go far enough.
The Administration’s
efforts at backroom diplomacy, Mr. President, are not working. I understand
and respect the value of quiet diplomacy, but sometimes we reach the
point where such a strategy is rendered ineffective – when private
rhetorical commitments are repeatedly broken by unacceptable public
actions. For example, recent reports that the Ethiopian government is
jamming our Voice of America radio broadcasts should be condemned in
no uncertain terms, not shrugged off.
The Bush administration
must live up to its own rhetoric in promoting democracy and human rights
by making it clear that we do not – and will not -- tolerant the
Ethiopian government’s abuses and illegal behavior. It must demonstrate
that there are consequences for the repressive and often brutal tactics
employed by the Ethiopian government, which are moving Ethiopia farther
away from – not closer to – the goal of becoming a legitimate
democracy and are increasingly a source of regional instability.
Mr. President,
I’m afraid that the failure of this Administration to acknowledge
the internal crisis in Ethiopia is emblematic of its narrow-minded agenda,
which will have repercussions for years to come if not addressed immediately.
Worse yet, without a balanced US policy that addresses both short- and
long-term challenges to stability in Ethiopia, we run the risk of contributing
to the groundswell of proxy wars rippling across the Horn – whether
in Somalia, eastern Sudan, or even the Ogaden region. And those wars,
in turn, by contributing to greater insecurity on the Horn and providing
opportunities for forces that oppose U.S. interests, pose a direct threat
to our own national security as well.
I yield the floor.
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