U.S. Congressmen Support Sanctions On Ethiopia

[Juje]

U.S. Congressmen Support Sanctions On Ethiopia

Mayur Pahilajani - AHN News Writer

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The US House of Representatives showed their support for a bill that would impose travel sanctions on Ethiopian officials and block military assistance to the country. The bill, which was passed on Tuesday, is a measure to force Ethiopian government to improve its track on democracy and human rights. Meanwhile, the bill was criticized by the Bush administration because Ethiopia is an important U.S. military ally in the African continent.

 

Legislator Donald Payne told BBC, that the bill, called the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act, "was passed because there has been a serious problem with democracy in Ethiopia."

 

The bill was introduced by the Congressmen as there have been many reports on the rise of human rights violence in Ethiopia. The country has reported violence after the crackdown on opposition supporters after 2005 elections.

 

 

Ethiopia is regarded as an important U.S. ally in the region to fight against its "war on terror" and the Al-Qaeda group. Last year, the U.S. had supported Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia, which increased human rights violations in its eastern ****** region bordering Somalia.

 

Additionally, U.S. troops have trained Ethiopian soldiers to protect their borders, reports say.

 

The bill stresses Ethiopia to bring democratic reforms in to the country, release imprisoned opposition leaders, to punish the security forces violating human rights, to form an independent judiciary system and to maintain the freedom of press. If the bill becomes law, it will also impose sanctions on the military aid of at least $1.5 million, reports BBC.

 

According to reports, Ethiopian government has accepted that last year its security forces killed around 200 civilians who were protesting against the controversial election.

 

"Two years later people are still being imprisoned. There's still problems in the ****** region. People are having food kept away from them. That's why we finally said we need to move forward with it, Legislator Payne told BBC.

 

Source: AHN, Oct 04, 2007

 

And to say that Ethiopia came to help the TFG to establish themselves..lol. Well according to the current picture the TFG is not doing bad in emulating its guardians.

[Juje]

Ethiopia rebels back US pressure on government

NAIROBI (Reuters) - An Ethiopian rebel group applauded on Saturday a bill passed by the U.S House of Representatives that would force their government to make democratic reforms or else lose security aid.

 

The group, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), are armed rebels fighting for greater autonomy in ethnically Oromo parts of the vast Horn of Africa nation.

 

"We believe the Oromo people would have everything to gain and nothing to lose from the advancement of human rights, democracy, independence of the judiciary and the supremacy of the rule of law and freedom of the press, which (the bill) calls for," the OLF statement said.

 

"The bill...(highlights) the Ethiopian government's large-scale human rights violations," the OLF added, calling for the U.S. Senate and president to sign the bill into law.

 

The bill also backs the release of Ethiopian political prisoners, of whom more than 80 percent are ethnic Oromo detained under false charges, the OLF said.

 

The bill, passed this week by the House of Representatives, threatens to deny U.S. entry visas to officials deemed involved in human rights violations.

 

Another rebel group, the ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF), has also welcomed the bill.

 

But the Ethiopian government has reacted angrily, saying that if it passes into law, it will threaten regional stability and Addis Ababa's close ties with Washington.

 

Ethiopia is the U.S. government's main security partner in the region, and as such, the bill exempts counter-terrorism operations from any funding restrictions.

 

The bill has surfaced nearly two years after violent protests over May 2005 election results killed nearly 200 when protesters claiming vote-rigging clashed with security forces.

 

That, and a subsequent trial of opposition members including those who won seats in parliament and other positions, led to rights criticism and the withholding of some Western aid.

 

Once a darling of the West, former guerrilla leader Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's reputation has suffered badly from rights concerns in recent years, including his prosecution of a military campaign against the ONLF this year.

 

Source: Reuters, Oct 07, 2007

 

By Jeremy Clarke

Sunday, October 07, 2007