Serving oppositions’ interest through HR 2003

By Mussie Eyassu (WIC) Following the approval of HR 2003 bill by the U.S. House of Representatives certain opposition groups in Ethiopia expressed delight. Some have gone far to read out statements at the House of Representatives against their own country. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), Ogaden Human Rights Committee (OHRC) and Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) have taken seats in the U.S. Congress to voice their respective testimonies opposing the incumbent government of Ethiopia in particular and the Ethiopian people in general. These opposition elements officially said that they supported the resolution taken by the U.S. House of Representatives to adopt HR 2003 bill. They did so thinking that the legislation would harm the incumbent government in Ethiopia. However, the reality is not what they are imagining to be so. It is rather the broad mass of the country that suffers the consequence. Supporting human rights, democracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom of the press, peacekeeping, capacity building, and economic development in the Federal Democratic of Ethiopia was said to be among the objectives of HR 2003. It is quite difficult to think of a democracy being flourished in a country, which is deprived of incentives or encouragements. It would have been much better if the congress members who voted for the bill had said that “so far the start is good, however, it should be continued in an intensified manner.” I don't know whether these people at the U.S. Congress want Ethiopia to do similar things like their country America, which has an experience of over 200 years democracy. The other thing is that the economy in this country is in a good shape. The incumbent government and other renowned international financial institutions certified that the Ethiopian economy has shown a 9-10 percent growth per annum over the past successive years. Members of US congress should have hailed this promising initiative. The HR 2003 bill is also said to have an objective of “collaborating with Ethiopia in the Global war on terror.” This is nonsense! Sorry to my language. But how can you make a country a partner in your fight against terrorism while you yourself try to discourage it by downgrading its endeavor in ensuring democracy? It is not hidden from members of the U.S congress that Ethiopia is working jointly with USA to get rid of terrorist elements in the Horn of Africa. Moreover, AU and other African countries have been collaborating with Ethiopia to make the sub-region a security Zone. Apart from intensifying relations in this regard, it is unwise to recommend for a new collaboration against terrorism. Seeking the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia was also stated as an objective of the HR 2003 bill. As a mater of fact, the Ethiopian government has shown a promising step by giving pardon to CUD leadership and members who had been imprisoned following the 2005 chaos. Jendayi E. Frazer, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs indicated this in her testimony she read out before the House of Representative. “... The governments recent pardon of 71 leaders of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and members of civil society was an important event which significantly enhanced dialogue and reconciliation in Ethiopia.” This is what the Assistant Secretary said. In addition to this, the Ethiopian government released over 17,000 prisoners in connection with the advent of the new Ethiopia Millennium. Therefore, members of the U.S. Congress hadn’t taken this in to account before they put the issue as an objective. One thing, which impressed me most, is the other objective of the Bill, which says: “strengthen U.S. Ethiopian relations”. It is only the members of the U.S. Congress who know how Ethio-American relation will be strengthened through the adoption of HR 2003 bill. They should know that adopting HR 2003 legislation would never intensify Ethiopia-USA relations. It rather spoils it. The international community knows very well that so far there has been a good relation between the two countries. The financial donations being given by USA and its cooperation to work closely to fight terrorism are the few examples that show the existing good relation between the two countries. Peter Pham stated in his recent article entitled ‘Conservative Columnist: Symbolism and Real politick’ that the relation between Ethiopia and USA has a long time history. By the way, Peter Pham is a director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University. Read what he has to say regarding Ethio-American relations. “…Ethiopia has had a long history of cooperating with the U.S. Except during the Marxist dictatorship that lasted from 1974 to 1991…The Kagnew communications facility, for example, was highly valued by the U.S. military as part of its global radio system. An Ethiopian contingent fought alongside U.S. forces in the Korean War (the unit, dubbed the ‘Kagnew Battalion,’ was attached to the 7th Infantry Division and fought in a number of engagements, including two famous battles at ‘Pork Chop Hill’)... “…Last year, when no one else was willing to deal with the menace of a rising Islamist movement in Somalia— which included Al-Qaeda members specially designated by the U.S. government as well as by the United Nations Security Council—Ethiopian troops preemptively dispersed the militants. All this is more than can be said for any other country in the sub region… “…Ethiopia has participated in the State Department-funded capacity-building East Africa Counter Terrorism Initiative (EACTI). The Terrorist Interdiction Program (TIP), which is designed to identify terrorists and hinder their movement across borders, is operative in Ethiopian airports and other international transit points…” I don’t think Donald Payne and his colleagues at the U.S. Congress haven’t read this fact. In general, I would like to forward my personal opinion that HR 2003 is a threat posed against the good relation between Ethiopia and USA. The two countries won’t gain any thing from this bill, which has been approved cynically by members of the Congress. The only ones that get advantages of HR 2003 bill are a few opposition elements like Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and Ogaden Human Rights Committee (HRC), which have presented testimonies at the U.S Congress against the incumbent government of Ethiopia. What surprised the international community most is that when these opposition elements cried out for the adoption of HR 2003, one of the American senior officials was heard expressing appreciation over promising initiatives taken by the Ethiopian government. Jendayi E. Frazer is a US assistant Secretary of African Affairs. She was one of the individuals who presented testimonies to the House Sub Committee Africa. The following is read in her testimony. “...The ruling and opposition parties engaged in a dialogue process that resulted in agreements to tackle some of the challenging dilemmas facing Ethiopia’s democracy. These include reform of the National Electoral Board, joint government opposition missions to investigate human rights concerns in Oromia, revising the media law and parliamentary rules of procedure, and establishing a code of conduct for the press... “These steps are unprecedented in Ethiopia and represent a monumental advancement in the political environment... It is critical that we all – as stakeholders in Ethiopia’s stability, democracy and prosperity – encourage all parties to move forward to regain in advances that we saw in early 2005 and to build up on them for the people of Ethiopia....” Financial Times states the following in its issue of October 3, 2007. “In testimony this week to the House Sub-Committee on Africa, Jendayi Frazer, the State Department's top official on African affairs hailed what she called 'unprecedented' agreements between the Ethiopian opposition and government, which she said were ‘a monumental advancement in the political environment’”. African-American congressman Donald M. Payne is said to have done a lot in fighting poverty in Africa. However, the reality on the ground is quite different. Look the campaign he is making against Ethiopia. It is quite clear that the motive behind is to impose restrictions on aid to Ethiopia. According to Financial Times (7 October 2007), “the U.S. will provide $ 300 million of aid to Ethiopia this year but it is unclear how much would be affected by the bill”. If Donald M. Payne really makes efforts to fight poverty, he will be the one who supports initiatives taken to make poverty a history in Ethiopia. We should never expect that an African American who has watched with folded hands in his lifetime the misery of black Americans in various Ghettoes of USA could support the promising efforts being made to mitigate poverty in one of African counties. Mr. Payne, you better do something first to the unfortunate black Americans that are suffering from scio-political problems in your own country. Senior government officials from Ethiopian side expressed sadness over the measure taken to adopt HR 2003 Legislation by U.S. House of Representatives. According to VoA, a chief advisor to Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Bereket Simon, says his nation is an emerging democracy. He accused U.S. members of congress of trying to undermine the Ethiopian government. “It has nothing to do with democracy, it has nothing to do with human rights, this is a matter of personal vendetta and definitely that is not going to work,” Bereket said, “This is a sovereign country, a country which has never bowed to any foreign aggression or foreign force. We assure these guys, these congressmen, that that is not going to black mail Ethiopia in any form.” Yes, nothing will happen to our country whether they adopt the legislation or not. Mr. Donald E. Payne has made a great mistake. Some opposition groups, the Eritrean government and other individuals including his advisor, an Ethiopian and a member of an opposition party, Mr. Ted Dagne, have made fool of him for the sake of gaining political profit. An individual named Wasa (pseudonym?) wrote the following about Donald's Ethiopian advisor, Ted Dage. “.... And let us not forget congressman Donald Payne and his advisor, Mr. Ted Dagne. Mr. Dagne, although hired by the congressional Research Service to produce independent and objective research to assist the congress in making informed policy, serves as Mr. Payne's personal advisor on all matters relating to the Horn of Africa, Mr. Dagne is himself an Ethiopian American who, coincidently, was one of those Addis Ababa students who fled to the United States. Sympathetic to both Eritrea and the Union of Islamic courts, Mr. Dagne provides the kind of advice to congressman Payne that serves the interests of his own political agenda-an agenda that hardly speaks to the interests of all the American people....” This is the fact behind the HR 2003. Ethiopian opposition elements and the Eritrean government have collaborated and misled Mr. Donald E. Payne who knowingly or unknowingly served their respective political agendas. It is paramount importance to say a few more points about his Excellency Mr. Donald E. Payne and his colleagues. What is written here below was browsed from the Internet (List of killed civilians U.S. Congressman Donald Payne mocked, October 09, 2007). See it, please. “…Along with Donald Payne, his HR2003 colleague Rep. Rohrabacher has apparently been the recipient of thousands of lobbyist dollars from anti-Ethiopia ONLF rebel financers and from the Eritrean government…  “…The inside stories are endless with all sides accusing each other but what is the most shocking is that Donald Payne actually tried to defend the ONLF separatist militants by saying that the ONLF terrorist attacks this year killed Ethiopian security forces. [He is saying that ONLF did not kill civilian Ethiopians and Chinese oil personnel] What a shame. All humans are worth equal but it is deplorable that Donald Payne actually tried to hide the civilians killed by the ONLF… “…Donald Payne said he wants a complete change of American policy to support Eritrea and to condemn Ethiopia. American government is considering labeling Eritrea a “state sponsor of Terrorism” for arming the insurgency in Mogadishu. But Donald Payne has been organizing files to angelize the insurgency and to smear Ethiopian and Somali governments as destabilizing force in the region. Basically, Donald Payne thinks the killing of civilians by ONLF is fine and the rise of extremism in Mogadishu is acceptable…” Don’t you think there is something hidden behind this HR 2003?

(c) Walta Information Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia