Colleagues, it’s my pleasure this afternoon to mark up H.R.
4423, introduced as the Ethiopia Consolidation Act of 2005. Last
May, this Subcommittee held a hearing on the border dispute
between Ethiopia and Eritrea. As that hearing made quite clear,
the governments of both nations were in violation of international
human rights standards, even as the world was distracted by the
potential of a reignited war between these two neighbors.

Within weeks of that hearing, Ethiopia held what promised to
be a breakthrough election. The process had never been more
open. Opposition political parties had never had more freedom to
campaign, despite some continued government interference. A
greater percentage of voters turned out at the polls than ever before
in Ethiopian history. Preliminary returns indicated an exponential
increase in the number of seats won by the opposition candidates.
Unfortunately, the promise of the May 2005 elections ended
with the questionable counting of the ballots cast, delayed release
of election results and subsequently with gunfire. With election
results delayed weeks past the end of voting, citizens throughout
the country became concerned that their individual votes had been
discounted. Massive arrests of students led to demonstrations, and
in early June, nearly 40 political activists were shot to death by
government forces in the capital city of Addis Ababa.

I became concerned that the situation in Ethiopia, an ally of
the United States in the vital Horn of Africa region, could spiral
out of control. Therefore, my office began working with Human
Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Oxfam America to
develop legislation that sought to correct some of the problems that
led to the increasing human rights abuses and encourage Ethiopia
to pursue a more certain path to democratic elections, good
governance and economic development.

That summer, my staff and I visited Ethiopia to see for
ourselves what could be done to salvage a situation that continued
to deteriorate. We were disappointed with the reaction of Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi, who told us he had “proof” that opposition
leaders were guilty of treason and he could arrest them at any
point. Conversely, we saw proof that opposition officials were
being followed and harassed.

A flawed process of resolving election complaints, and onand-
off negotiations between the government and the opposition,
failed to resolve the increasingly bitter dispute over the election
and the delayed release of results. Meanwhile, mass arrests
continued, and the ban on demonstrations and the limitations on
free speech continued. In November, another demonstration
resulted in shooting deaths at the hands of government forces – this
time including innocent bystanders.

The intent of H.R. 4423 has always been to hold accountable
those who were involved in the shootings, as well as the
government that has failed to fully investigate or prosecute its
forces involved in two sets of shootings. Over the past few weeks,
we have been able to strengthen this bill, with the help of good
suggestions and input from colleagues on this Subcommittee and
our friends in the human rights community.

There is a requirement that all military cooperation not
connected with either counter-terrorism or peacekeeping be
suspended until the U.S. certifies that the government of Ethiopia
is respecting human rights and the rule of law. Although the
overwhelming amount of current military cooperation between our
nations would be exempted, this prohibition would prevent future
expansion of U.S.-Ethiopia military cooperation until the specified
conditions are met.

There also is a travel ban that prevents travel to America by
those government officials and forces involved in the shooting of
demonstrators, as well as those civilians determined to be involved
in the unfortunate deaths of seven police officers.

However, H.R. 4423 is not merely a punitive measure. It
provides technical assistance and other support to try to change the
circumstances that have limited Ethiopia’s progress and have led to
the tragic incidents of 2005. In this regard:

• H.R. 4423 calls for the immediate and unconditional release
  of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in
  Ethiopia.

• It provides support for the work of both international and
  domestic human rights agencies and urges the dispatch of the
  UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

• It provides human rights training for both domestic human
  rights organizations and government agencies, so that both
  sides are clear about what is called for in international human
  rights agreements to which Ethiopia is a signatory, and so
  that the rule of law can prevail in Ethiopia’s court system.

• It establishes technical assistance for court, police, security
  and prison personnel so that those arrested and held in
  custody can be treated in a humane way when their
  incarceration is justified by the facts, and so that those who
  peacefully demonstrate to express their political views can be
  dealt with in a lawful manner.

  It establishes a Judicial Watch Network to enable the
  Ethiopian judiciary to operate independently with monitoring
  of actions that threaten that independence.

• It encourages the Government of Ethiopia to revise its laws
  that currently unduly limit the right of journalists to freely
  provide information, and establishes a program to strengthen
  the private media in Ethiopia – a vital factor in any free
  society.

• It provides technical assistance to enhance the democratic
  operation of local, regional and national governments and to
  promote reconciliation through peaceful political groups.

• It provides support and encouragement of efforts by the
  Government of Ethiopia and the political opposition to work
  together to ensure that future elections – including the
  upcoming local elections – are conducted in an atmosphere
  free of intimidation and harassment and that those elected to
  office are allowed to exercise their duties as public officials
  without undue limitations.

• It provides technical assistance on the appropriate and
  effective use of resources, especially water resources, as well
  as economic policy assistance on such issues as land
  ownership to help build the Ethiopian economy so that it can
  reduce the need for donor support.

• Finally, it provides financing for U.S.-Ethiopian commercial
  ventures so that the Ethiopian private sector can create jobs
  and help this nation reduce its high level of poverty.

I believe the amendment in the nature of a substitute I am
introducing today is a more comprehensive, effective piece of
legislation, and for that I thank my colleagues, especially our
ranking member, Mr. Payne, and Ambassador Watson for their
helpful interventions.

I’m sure they would agree that each day we delay in passing
this legislation is yet another day that political party officials,
human rights activists, journalists and even children remain behind
bars without a strong, legislative statement by our government.

This bill has 15 cosponsors – three of them among the
members of this Subcommittee: Mr. Royce, Mr. Tancredo and
Ambassador Watson. I thank them for their support for this
measure, and I ask for the support of the other members of this
body for H.R. 4423 as amended so that we can favorably report
this bill out of Subcommittee.