Centering Human Rights in U.S. Policy on Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea
Subcommittee on African Affairs, Committee on Foreign Relations
United States Senate
Testimony by Lynn Fredriksson, Advocacy Director for Africa, Amnesty International USA
March 11, 2008
I would like to thank Chairman Feingold and distinguished members of the subcommittee for this important opportunity for Amnesty International to share our concerns about violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the need for a consistent re-centering of human rights in U.S. foreign policy on the Horn of Africa.
Introduction
Amnesty International is deeply concerned by widespread egregious human rights violations being perpetrated against civilians throughout the Horn of Africa. Ending current violations and preventing future violations in Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea is perhaps one of the greatest challenges of our time, requiring immediate action and long-term planning, attention to domestic conditions within the context of a regional perspective. Each set of country concerns must be considered independently—as with Ethiopian government repression of its domestic opposition, journalists and human rights defenders, and the humanitarian crisis in the Somali region (known as the Ogaden). In Eritrea an authoritarian government maintains a stranglehold on freedom of expression, freedom of religion and press freedom, while detaining thousands of dissidents, many in the harshest conditions. In Somalia a transitional government without popular mandate has not only failed to protect over one million displaced civilians, but has failed to hold its own troops accountable for violations against them. Compounding these challenges is the intervention of Ethiopian forces in Somalia, and recent threats of renewed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea along their disputed border. Further compounding these challenges is a flawed U.S. foreign policy which has placed short-sighted counter-terror concerns at the forefront of U.S. involvement in the region, while human rights and humanitarian concerns are routinely pushed aside.
In large part because of capable and resilient civil society throughout the region, despite these conditions, the situation is far from hopeless. But the United States and the International Contact Group, regional donors, and the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council, and other international organizations cannot simply maintain their current priorities and refuse to shift course. Crucial to this course shift is the re-centering of humanitarian and human rights in U.S. foreign policy. On Ethiopia, that means more consistent and more public denunciations of ongoing restrictions on civil society and the private media, demands for the release of remaining prisoners of conscience, and the requirement of a demonstrated opening of commercial and humanitarian access to the Somali region. Eritrea represents a different type of situation which requires a reversal in current policy. The U.S. administration should seriously consider any plans it might have to add Eritrean opposition groups to the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations or to add an already isolated regime to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, but should consider opportunities to provide essential humanitarian aid. The international community must also decide where it stands on the Boundary Commission Ruling, denying Ethiopia the ability to continue to flout its findings, and Eritrea an excuse to interfere with UNMEE. On Somalia, if the U.S. intends to alleviate, not worsen, anti-American sentiment on the Horn, it must first and foremost cease all land and air assaults intended to “take out” presumed al-Qaeda or other terrorist operatives. Since early 2007 four such assaults have been launched in Somalia, leading to civilian casualties, destruction of civilian property and livelihood, and the widespread belief that the U.S. protects the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and backs up Ethiopian forces, without genuine concern for civilians. In addition, the U.S. government must exert significantly more pressure on the governments of Ethiopia and Somalia to prevent human rights abuses and ensure accountability for the conduct of their armed forces.
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Evaluating U.S. Policy Objectives and Options on the Horn of Africa
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on African Affairs
March 11, 2008
Testimony by David H. Shinn
Adjunct Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs
George Washington University
I thank Chairman Feingold for inviting me to testify on U.S. policy objectives and options on the Horn of Africa. The Horn has long been one of the most conflicted regions of the world and, as back door to the Middle East, is strategically important to the U.S. It merits close attention by both the Administration and Congress.
The Subcommittee on African Affairs asked me to assess the current security situation in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia, and to identify the most serious threats to regional and U.S. security. It also solicited my analysis of efforts by governments in the Horn and by the Administration to address these threats. It then urged that I offer
recommendations on how the U.S. can better contribute to security, stability, growth, and democracy in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. In particular, the Subcommittee asked what tools and leverage the U.S. possesses that would be most effective in achieving U.S. objectives in the Horn of Africa.
Current Situation in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia
The serious challenges facing Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia are long-standing and have implications for neighboring Djibouti, Kenya, and Sudan just as developments in those countries impact the situation for the three countries discussed in this testimony. With approximately 75 million people and located in the center of the Horn, Ethiopia is in many ways key to peace and security (or lack thereof) in the region. But the cross-
border linkages are so important in the Horn that any one of the countries has the potential to destabilize or make more stable the other countries in the region.
Turning first to Ethiopia, the country is still recovering from the aftermath of the 2005 general election. The run-up to the election and the actual balloting were deemed to be generally free and fair. It was a major improvement over all previous elections. Charges by some opposition parties that the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) stole the election during the ballot counting process resulted in violence that continued sporadically for the subsequent six months. In some cases the opposition provoked a strong reaction by government security forces. Nevertheless, the security forces clearly used excessive force in responding to a number of challenges.
With local elections (districts and kebeles or wards) and those for some forty vacancies in the national legislature scheduled for April 2008, the internal political situation approaches another potentially significant turning point. Unfortunately, opposition political parties are demoralized, arguing that the government has shut down most of their regional offices and arrested some of their supporters. Several of the opposition parties may not even contest seats for local offices, which in Ethiopia are actually very important. The current internal political dynamic surrounding these elections does not auger well for enhancing democracy in the country. Traditionally, there are no international observers for local elections. In any event, because of the size of the country and large number of contests, it would be difficult to mobilize a sufficient number of international observers. Nevertheless, the local elections are an opportunity for advancing democracy in Ethiopia. If they fail to achieve this goal, it will be an enormous lost opportunity.
(CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama will win Mississippi’s Democratic primary, CNN projects. Obama will also finish first in the Texas Democratic caucuses, which were held last week. He will get more delegates out of the state than rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, who won the state’s primary. Under the Texas Democratic Party’s complex delegate selection plan, Texas voters participated in both a primary and caucuses last week. Two-thirds of the state’s 193 delegates were at stake at the primary, while the remaining third were decided by the caucuses. The exit polls in Mississippi also showed Democratic voters divided. Of those who voted for Obama, 42 percent said they would be satisfied if Clinton was the nominee, according to the exit polls…. Read more >>
EFJA’s Anniversary Message
While almost all of its heroic journalists living currently in exile in the four-corners of the globe, the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists Association (EFJA) is again obliged to mark its anniversary in the wilderness!
EFJA is today 16 years old! We therefore raise our voice louder to congratulate all our members at home and in exile for their fortitude and forbearance in the face of the state-instigated, ceaseless harassments and persecutions during the last decade and half!
EFJA’s role of guiding and coordinating the tasks of the free press journalists in Ethiopia had already been brought to an absolute standstill! The free press, which is the most vibrant, alternative voice of the masses in Ethiopia, was throttled in July 2005 by the violent actions of the tyrannical government of Meles Zenawi.
The dictator then did put more than 23 Free Press Journalists behind bars, charged them with crimes whose convictions include life sentence and death penalties, and in addition abolished the free press publications with a stroke of pen!
We, the Free Press Journalists in exile, are today taking ourselves the solemn duty of breaking a sunder the deadly silence which the myopic, ethno-centered Dictator has imposed on us!
We shall break apart deadly silence not only with our objectively recognizable existence as one of dynamic agents of democracy in Ethiopia. But also as still alert and active journalists of the free press by organizing a concretely functioning, Alternative Media of Information for the people of Ethiopia (AMIE)!
We take this opportunity to call upon all members of EFJA and IFJ, upon all professional colleagues and associations, to renew their traditional help and cooperation to enable us, the EFJA-members to launch a short-wave-radio- broadcasting service in Europe and to reach with it, the heart and minds of our people in Ethiopia and in Diaspora.
The iconic representation of Ethiopians in the wake of the widespread famines of the 70’s is the shocking picture of the emaciated children on the lapses of the yet starved, skinny mothers! Those gruesome images of the cruelest economic deprivations of the people of Ethiopia, however, do not speak the whole truth! They do not reveal the equally most shocking other deprivations, in particular, near-total gagging of the people, and the complete absence of an alternative media information for the citizens of Ethiopia.
The free press, which dozens of committed and courageous journalists and publishers pioneered, existed in Ethiopia for over a decade as an alternative media of the people, presenting alternative news, information, opinions and aspirations of the citizens.
The state-owned, controlled, managed and all-reaching media either deliberately ignored or distorted most of the information they are delivering. They were in the past as they are today, for that reason alone, ignored by the general public.
In contrast, the free press weeklies and monthlies are craved for by the public, obtained with a cost at least 300% higher than that of the overtly subsidized state-media, and are perused with great alacrity. The content of the free press are valued greatly by the audience. Their comments and editorials actually guide the public as attested to by the huge turn-out of the 15th may 2005 national elections, and also from the lists of the endless persecutions which the regime in power lavishly meted out against the free press journalists!
There has never been a day in the year since august 1993, when a number of free press journalists were not continued to prison cell! International media and human rights organizations condemned and re-condemned the government of Meles Zenawi for its arbitrary arrest and wanton persecutions of the free press journalists. Instead, it was the incessant reports and condemnations of the international media and human rights organizations that kept Meles Zenawi for more than a decade now among the list of top ten enemies of the press!
EFJA is a member of international federation of journalists, IFJ. Independently and through the later, we are also affiliated with several international media and human rights organizations, among which some manifested their appreciation of our professional works by giving us distinguished awards! Among the many others who closely follow our efforts to enable freedom of expression, and the right to publish free press, have root in Ethiopia, we are citing today by name and offer them our deepest gratitude to the following:
o International Federation of Journalists, IFJ, Brussels, Belgium
o International Press Institute, IPI, Vienna, Austria
o Amnesty International, AI, London, UK
o Reporters Sans Frontiers, RSF, Paris, France
o PEN International, PEN, London, UK
o Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, New York, USA
o International Federation of Freedom Exchange, IFEX, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
o Human Rights Watch, New York and Washington DC, USA
o UN Higher Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, NY, USA
o The German Federation of Journalists Union, Germany.
We, the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists have also been obtaining immensely valuable and most relevant, concrete supports from countries and organizations such as the European Union.
We are, therefore, highly appreciate the eloqant representation which the EU Parliament Election Observation Team under the leadership of Madam Ana Gomes presented on the state hipped sabotaged May 2005 National Elections of Ethiopia, and of the subsequent resolutions of the 22 July 2007 in which the EU parliament called on the commission and the member states to support the Development of Free Media Broadcasting in Ethiopia.
Democracy and Press Freedom shall prevail in Ethiopia!
Kifle Mulat
President, EFJA
(APA) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – One hundred of the 500 city service buses which Ethiopia has purchased from China at an estimated 20 million dollars, have begun arriving in the country, APA observed here on Wednesday.
The buses are intended to help tackle the transport shortage in Addis Ababa where around 5 million people live.
Ethiopian Ministry of Transport and Communication said the remaining buses are expected in the country by next week.
Transport sources say there are currently around 14,000 taxis in Addis Ababa and over 500 city buses.
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How much commission did Azeb Mesfin, Meles Zenawi’s wife, and Junedin Sado, the transportation minister, receive from the purchase of these inferior quality buses from China? ER Research Unit is investigating.
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
The White House
President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate three individuals and appoint two individuals to serve in his Administration.
The President intends to nominate Mimi Alemayehou, of the District of Columbia, to be the United States Director of the African Development Bank. Ms. Alemayehou currently serves as Founder and Managing Partner of Trade Links, LLC. Prior to this, she served as a Program Manager at the International Executive Service Corps. Earlier in her career, she served as Director of International Regulatory Affairs at the Worldspace Corporation. Ms. Alemayehou received her bachelor’s degree from West Texas A&M University and her master’s degree from Tufts University.
The President intends to nominate Rear Admiral Jonathan W. Bailey, of New York, to be Commissioner of the Mississippi River Commission (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Representative).
The President intends to nominate William Clifford Smith, of Louisiana, to be a Member of the Mississippi River Commission (Engineer), for a nine-year term.
The President intends to appoint Karen P. Hughes, of Texas, to be a Member of the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy, for the remainder of a three-year term expiring 12/30/10.
The President intends to appoint Charles M. Younger, of Texas, to be a Member of the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy, for the remainder of a three-year term expiring 12/30/10.
