STATEMENT
Congressman Donald Payne
Tenth District – New Jersey
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kerry McKenney
(202) 225-3436
Payne Ethiopian Democracy Bill Passes House
On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives passed HR 2003, the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007. The bill, which received strong bipartisan support, calls on the Ethiopian government to foster accountability, respect the rule of law, and release all political prisoners. “I was cautiously optimistic in 2005 that political and human rights conditions would improve after the elections. I was wrong. In fact, conditions have gotten worse,” Congressman Donald M. Payne, chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, stated.
The Ethiopian Parliament established an 11-member Commission to “investigate whether government security forces used excessive force, caused damage to life and property, or showed a lack of respect for human rights”. The Commission’s report concluded that government security forces did in fact use excessive force against civilians. It further detailed that 763 civilians were injured and 193 were murdered. The report also stated that 71 police officers were injured and 6 were killed.
The Ethiopian government has released a number of high profile political prisoners in recent months. While some contend that this is progress, the fact remains that thousands of people remain in jail, no one has been held accountable for the violence in the wake of the 2005 elections, and the repression of opposition politicians, journalists and members of civil society continues unabated.
Moreover, the Ethiopian military has been engaged in numerous human rights abuses against civilians in the Ogaden, Oromia, and other regions of Ethiopia. “The humanitarian situations in the Ogaden and in Somalia are dire,” Payne stated during a Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health hearing on Ethiopia yesterday. “The situation is exacerbated by the Ethiopian government’s military campaign in the Ogaden. Conditions have become so dire that Ogadenis are fleeing to neighboring Somalia in search of relief.” HR 2003 attempts to put an end to these kinds of abuses and irresponsible acts by the Ethiopian government. “The government can no longer hide behind the ‘ally in the war on terrorism’ cloak,” Payne asserted yesterday in the hearing. “It cannot champion the rights of others while disrespecting those same rights of its own people. What type of government chokes off humanitarian aid to its citizens as a retaliatory tactic?”
Payne commented after the passage of the bill, “With the passage of this bill, the United States sends a clear message that we will not be supporters of state sanctioned human rights abuse. I look forward to working with the Senate to get this bill to the president’s desk.”