[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 13212-13213]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                ETHIOPIA

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, Ethiopia has increasingly been an active 
participant in the international community and a leader on the African 
continent--as a charter member of the United Nations, a cofounder of 
what are now the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority on 
Development, and a key partner in combating international terrorism. 
After decades, and some would say centuries of civil

[[Page 13213]]

strife, the 1994 Constitution and election of the coalition Ethiopian 
People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, EPRDF, in 1995 seemed to 
herald the beginning of an era of peace, democracy, and development. 
Efforts to reform the economy and political dynamics, while slow, 
reversed the devastating impact of the Derg and gave the people of 
Ethiopia some hope that a robust democracy was really taking root. In 
fact, in the runup to the 2005 elections, there was a deliberate and 
significant opening of political space--which included broad media 
coverage of opposition parties, relatively unimpeded access for 
opposition candidates to their constituents, and live televised debates 
between opposition candidates and ruling party incumbents. But in the 
aftermath of that May 2005 election--which ended in a deeply flawed 
process and aggressive tactics against the opposition--the ruling party 
has ratcheted up its rhetoric while backtracking significantly on its 
commitment to democracy. A newly proposed bill, called the Charities 
and Societies Proclamation, is the most recent indication of this 
backsliding.
  Indeed, for years, the U.S. State Department has reported 
``widespread human rights abuses'' in its annual country report on 
Ethiopia. Among the most consistent violations listed are the 
intimidation, beating, abuse, and arbitrary arrest and detention by 
Government security forces of journalists, opposition supporters, union 
leaders, and others who dare to challenge the ruling party. Some of the 
more egregious examples associated with the growing opposition began in 
2005 and include the arrest and prosecution for capital offenses of 131 
major opposition leaders and the arbitrary detention of 30,000 to 
50,000 civilians without charge. The ruling party also forcibly closed 
opposition political offices that same year and kept them closed 
through the eve of local elections this past April. Such conduct is a 
clear violation of regional and international human rights laws, to 
which Ethiopia is a signatory, and directly contradicts the country's 
own Constitution, still only 12 years old.
  Over the past year, I have become increasingly concerned by reports 
coming out of the Ogadan region of Ethiopia regarding military attacks 
on civilians and Government blockades of essential humanitarian and 
commercial supplies. National and international aid organizations with 
field missions in the area describe security forces burning villages 
and Government officials ordering entire village populations to move to 
specific ``resettlement'' locations that lack sufficient food, water, 
medical services, and sanitation facilities. Despite the numerous 
credible reports coming out of the region, the Ethiopian Government has 
denied that such violations may be occurring and has refused to even 
investigate these allegations and/or permit independent assessments of 
conditions in the region. Such stonewalling only further undermines the 
rule of law and the Government's obligation to protect its civilian 
population.
  The aid organizations now struggling to keep these Ethiopian 
civilians alive, as well as national and international human rights 
defenders, democracy advocates, independent journalists, and 
humanitarian organizations seeking to consolidate and extend peace, 
democracy, and development in Ethiopia, are already facing cumbersome 
bureaucratic rules and sometime succumb to self-censorship to avoid 
Government reprisals. The Ethiopian Government's new law, if passed in 
its current format, would make it almost impossible for these groups 
and individuals to continue their important efforts. Under the 
Charities and Societies Proclamation, non-Ethiopian organizations would 
be prohibited from engaging in democracy, human rights, good 
governance, or conflict resolution activities, and national civil 
society groups would have to forgo foreign funding and submit to strict 
Government regulation.
  To reaffirm and facilitate Ethiopia's commitment to and progress 
towards democratic development, eliminating extremism, good governance, 
combating HIV/AIDS, improving agricultural productivity, and reducing 
chronic hunger, the U.S. Government has provided billions of dollars 
worth of assistance in recent years with more than $700 million already 
in fiscal year 2008. The majority of this support is delivered through 
U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations that offer essential services 
and supplies to civilians as well as valuable technical assistance and 
resources to strengthen Ethiopian institutions and infrastructure. The 
new restrictions and regulations would severely limit or even prohibit 
much of this assistance and should cause the United States as well as 
other international donors to reconsider whether contributions to 
Ethiopia can further democracy, development and accountability.
  The Ethiopian Government claims the new regulations are aimed at 
improving the accountability and transparency of civil society 
organizations operating in Ethiopia. But what the provisions would 
actually do is erode the Government's own accountability and 
transparency by impeding these organizations' ability to serve their 
essential watchdog functions. This is not the time or place for tighter 
controls. Instead, the Ethiopian Government should support improvements 
in the quality and capacity of these groups, which are vital to the 
country's continued political, economic, and social development.
  The United States needs to work with our partners--both on the 
continent and off it--and strongly oppose the imposition of this new 
proclamation to protect the gains Ethiopia has made in recent years and 
pave the way for further consolidation of growth and democracy. If 
passed in its current format, this bill would have a devastating impact 
on our foreign policy objectives and Ethiopia's development as a robust 
democracy. And, even if revised and amended, passage of this bill would 
still send a negative message, that of a government desperately seeking 
to hold on to power and dismantle any groups that might expose its 
failures or limitations. We must stand with the people of Ethiopia and 
with the principles that Americans hold dear.

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