German parliamentarian speaks out on repression in Ethiopia

A member of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, Mr Thilo Hoppe, has asked his government to review its policy toward Ethiopia. The following is the statement he released:

Development cooperation with Ethiopia should be reviewed

Thilo Hoppe, Member of the German Bundestag, has issued the following statement on the human-
rights situation in Ethiopia:

It is not only in the Arab world that the voices of those who are no longer willing to accept a lack of democracy and a disregard for human rights are growing louder; this is also happening in Ethiopia.

The German Bundestag’s Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development met with opposition politicians and human-rights activists from Ethiopia, who reported on the suppression of protests in Addis Ababa and the imprisonment of journalists, politicians and NGO representatives critical of the regime.

The Federal Government should follow up on these reports and also raise the critical human-rights situation in negotiations with Ethiopia on development cooperation.

Development cooperation with the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi should be reviewed.

The review must examine what kind of assistance reaches the poorest of the poor and fosters sustainable development – and what forms of cooperation may be misused by the government and may even hinder democratic development. It must be made clear to the Ethiopian government that, in Germany’s view, development cooperation cannot be separated from the realization of human rights.

Thilo Hoppe
Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages
Stv. Vorsitzender des Ausschusses für wirtschaftliche
Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung
E-Mail: [email protected]