US senators worry over 'troubling developments' in Ethiopia

Ethiomedia | January 18, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Four prominent US senators on Saturday said they were concerned about "troubling developments" in Ethiopia that may put relations between the two countries at risk unless reversed in time.

In a letter addressed to dictator Meles Zenawi, the US lawmakers said they were concerned by government measures that range from the re-arrest of opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa to the recently enacted laws threatening the civil society of Ethiopia.

"We worry that Birtukan's re-arrest signals your government's waning commitment to those democratic principles," the senators said. "This is a disappointing signal in advance of your country's elections next year."

The four lawmakers are: Senator Russell Feingold , chairman of the sub-committee on African Affairs; Johnny Isakson, Ranking Member on the Sub-Committee on African Affairs; Patrick Leahy, chairman of State & Foreign Ops Subcommittee; and Richard J. Durban, Chairman of Human Rights & the Law Subcommittee.

Concerning the promulgation of the law widely condemned by human rights groups as an act that criminalizes human rights work, the senators said they were disappointed to learn of the "passage of your government's law restricting civil society groups receiving more than 10percent of their funding from sources outside Ethiopia from doing any work related to human rights, gender equality, the rights of the disabled, children's rights or conflict resolution."

The US lawmakers also shared their concerns over the widespread human rights violations in the Ogaden.

"We appreciate the fact that Ethiopia has legitimate security concerns in the Ogaden, but fear that this pattern of arrests, if true, risks exacerbating local grievances and contributing to radicalization rather than effective counter-insurgency and stabilization," the senators said in the letter (Download full text of letter here.)

One of the staunchest human rights defenders, Senator Feingold has been keenly following developments in Ethiopia for several years. In March 2008, he told Congress:

"I am seriously concerned about the direction Ethiopia is headed – because according to many credible accounts, the political crisis that has been quietly growing and deepening over the past few years may be coming to a head. For years, faced with calls for political or economic reforms, the Ethiopian government has displayed a troubling tendency to react with alarmingly oppressive and disproportionate tactics."