Ethiopian Democracy and Accountability Act (HR 2003)
The Millennium Gift from the Greatest Democracy (USA) to the People of the Oldest Nation (Ethiopia)
By Network of Ethiopian Scholars-Scandinavian Chapter
We would like to add our voice again to support the HR 2003 bill that advocates human rights, the rule of law and democratic governance in Ethiopia. This is a great opportunity to clear the decks and come out principled and consistent for the US Government and US legislative arm. Aid shall go to the people, not to the rulers that rule brutally and undemocratically.
We are also puzzled why the Meles Government puts up such an incredible opposition to it by hiring expensive lobbyists. If indeed this regime stands for rule of law, human rights and establishing a sustainable foundation for democratic governance in Ethiopia, it should have been part of the groups that advocates this bill rather than fighting it.
Still there are thousands of political prisoners including anti-poverty activists that are classified as prisoners of conscience that have not been released. So the bill is very balanced, fair and provides a robust framework for Ethiopian-USA relations for years to come.
This bill is not just aimed at a particular Government. It is a standard setter for any Government. It establishes what Ethiopian-Americans wish to see as a principled relationship between their country of birth and their new country of America. It is what the US legislative branch adopts also to make US policy consistent in Ethiopia by firmly backing human rights, rule of law and orderly democratic transition based on the values of freedom and justice.
NES calls for allowing the bill to go through the normal US rules, procedures and regulations. Only when this happens can all the stakeholders from the opposition, the Meles Government, the US Government can achieve a win-win outcome by enlisting US moral and legislative authority in backing principles of human rights, democracy, rule of law and the prospect of effecting sustainable democratic transition in Ethiopia. This bill indeed can likewise be replicated to many other areas of the developing world, which have difficulties and are painfully coming out from the era of dictatorships into democratic civilisation.
We believe a big step is being made by passing this bill, which is inspired by the principle of enshrining democratic accountability and the submission of power to the rule of law. This bill should not be seen in the context of the current occupants of power in Ethiopia. The expansion of democracy and human rights in Ethiopia will worth more than the transient politics of the current rulers.
Ethiopians would like to see HR2003 as the best gift to their millennium from the USA. We call upon the US Senate and the US President to live up to their creeds of liberty and justice and pass the human rights bill 2003 to help Ethiopian democracy grow step by step without indulging in the politics that harms all rather than builds us all.
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Network of Ethiopian Scholars-Scandinavian Chapter
Contact email: [email protected]