[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 162 (Friday, December 16, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13772-S13773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  VIOLENCE AND REPRESSION IN ETHIOPIA

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, on May 15, 2005, Ethiopia held the first 
open, multiparty, democratic elections in its 3,000-year history. It 
was an important milestone that gave the people of that country a sense 
of national pride and hope. Unfortunately, the elation that was so 
evident on election day was short lived. International observers cited 
serious vote counting irregularities and flaws in the electoral 
process.
  Nearly 25 million Ethiopians--90 percent of eligible voters--went to 
the polls, and early counts indicated strong support for the 
opposition. As it became clear that the ruling party was in danger of 
losing its grip on power, the

[[Page S13773]]

Government stopped the vote counting in a blatant move to manipulate 
the results. Accusations of vote rigging forced the National Electoral 
Board of Ethiopia, NEBE, to delay the release of the official results.
  The controversy led to protests in Addis Ababa, the Oromiya regions, 
and other provinces. On June 8, in response to protesters challenging 
the provisional results of the elections, Ethiopian security forces are 
accused of shooting at least 40 protestors, killing 26, temporarily 
detaining over 500 student protestors and arresting at least 50 people. 
Ethiopia's main opposition political party, the Coalition for Unity and 
Democracy Party, CUDP, refused to take its seats in Parliament in 
protest of the election results. Just recently, 50 members of the CUDP 
took their seats in Parliament, but there is some concern that they 
were pressured into doing so.
  Last month, the situation in Ethiopia took a further turn for the 
worse. On November 1, following street demonstrations that erupted into 
4 days of violence when police started shooting, at least 46 protesters 
were killed in Addis Ababa and other towns, and some 4,000 were 
arrested. There have been numerous reports of widespread arbitrary 
detention, beatings, torture, disappearances, and the use of excessive 
force by police and soldiers against anyone suspected of supporting the 
CUDP detainees.
  The detainees include distinguished Ethiopian patriots such as Hailu 
Shawel, president of the CUDP; Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, former 
chair of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council; Dr. Yacob Hailemariam, a 
former U.N. Special Envoy and former prosecutor at the International 
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; Ms. Birtukan Mideksa, CUDP vice president 
and a former judge; and Dr. Berhanu Negga, the recently elected mayor 
of Addis Ababa and university professor of economics.
  Today, the entire senior leadership of the CUDP is reportedly in jail 
and has been held incommunicado in harsh conditions, without access to 
their families or legal representatives. Amnesty International 
considers these individuals to be prisoners of conscience who have 
neither used nor advocated violence. The government of Prime Minister 
Meles Zenawi is seeking to charge them with treason, a capital offense, 
for the ``crime'' of urging their supporters to engage in peaceful 
protest on their behalf. CUDP leaders are scheduled to appear in court 
today, presumably to be officially charged with treason.
  Journalists and members of the media have also been jailed. According 
to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Ethiopian authorities have 
prevented most private newspapers from publishing, arrested or harassed 
local journalists and their family members, and threatened to charge 
journalists with treason. Thirteen journalists have been detained since 
last month's antigovernment protests, including two more who were just 
arrested this week.
  It is particularly disturbing, when one considers these events, that 
since 1991, the government of Prime Minister Meles has received 
billions of dollars in foreign aid, including to strengthen democratic 
institutions and the rule of law in his country. Recently, the European 
Union suspended its aid to Prime Minister Meles' government and is 
seeking ways to channel it to the Ethiopian people through private 
voluntary organizations.
  Last month, thousands of Ethiopians and their supporters in this 
country came to Washington to protest the violence and repression by 
the Meles government and to urge the Bush administration to help 
establish real democracy and the rule of law in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has 
been an ally of the United States in combating international terrorism, 
yet it is using similar tactics against its own people.
  Over the past several years, Ethiopia has made progress in both 
political reform and economic development. But that progress has been 
overshadowed by the tragic events of the past 6 months. The 
Government's heavy-handed tactics to steal the election and persecute 
those who sought to play by the rules of democracy, should be 
universally condemned.
  The Bush administration should make clear to Prime Minister Meles 
that if his government does not abide by the basic principles of 
democracy, due process and respect for human rights, including an end 
to the use of random searches, beatings, mass arrests and lethal force 
against peaceful protesters, and if political detainees are not 
released, that we will join with the European Union and suspend our aid 
to his government, including our support for financing from the World 
Bank and the African Development Bank other than for basic human needs. 
There should be severe consequences for such a flagrant subversion of 
the will of the Ethiopian people.

                          ____________________