Thursday, October 18, 2007

Senator Jim Inhofe

453 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510 -3603

Tel: (202) 224-4721

Fax: (202) 228-0380

Re: H.R. 2003: Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007

Dear Honorable Senator Jim Inhofe:
We are grateful for your passionate commitment to alleviating poverty, promoting human rights and good governance in Africa specifically in Ethiopia, as you eloquently stated in your recent speech to the United States Senate. However, we are writing to you to express our deep disappointment about your statement on the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability bill (H.R.2003) which was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives. In particular, we are concerned that your statement on H.R.2003 appears to be based on distorted information that may have been provided to you, and reflects a lack of accurate data from independent sources on developments in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia’s political and social environment has been deteriorating at an alarming rate over the last few years. The ongoing systematic repression and the unspeakable crimes against civilians by the dictatorial government, which are too long to list in this letter but are carefully documented in multiple reputable sources, including the recent U.S. State Department country report on human rights, will, if not condemned and stemmed, ultimately make pockets within the country a breeding ground for terrorism. The unchecked and hardline government repression will increase the number of Ethiopians who choose to take up or support armed struggle against injustice in all parts of the country, for lack of any hope that the international community would take action against the atrocities committed by the government. Historically, Ethiopians have been a peaceful and staunchly pro-American society. The US must not turn against the people of Ethiopia by siding with a repressive regime that does not respect the dignity of its citizens, as this would be counterproductive and aggravate the currently prevailing instability. Our U.S. national interest will be sustainably protected and secured if our US government continues to stand with the 78 million Ethiopians, who in May of 2005 stood at the polling station for hours to cast their ballot and choose liberty over tyranny rather than live under a dictatorship that is skillful in maintaining a façade of democratic appearances.

During your speech on the United States Senate floor you stated:

“Ethiopia is so significant to the Horn of Africa. It remains an area of strategic importance in the war on terror. This area is critical to stability of the entire continent of Africa and is a national security interest of the United States. Ethiopia continues to be the central bulwark in the fight to deter the growth and disrupt the influence of Islamic extremism in the region”.

We do agree with your quoted statement. However, in order to prevent terrorists from taking a foothold in Ethiopia, and in the region, we believe it should be the Senate’s priority to support a bill such as H.R. 2003, which promotes U.S. security interests in the Horn of Africa, as well as American values of freedom and democracy. This bill is extremely important to our US national interests as it would encourage a stable, secure, transparent, and economically viable future for the horn of Africa by:

1.. Strengthening the government of Ethiopia through training in consultation with government authorities, political parties, and civil society groups

2. Promoting reconciliation between the ruling regime in Ethiopia and political and civil society groups, including in minority communities.

3. Re-establishing freedom of the press by repealing unconstitutional censorship laws

4. Strengthening human rights monitoring to protect individuals and organizations engaged in human rights work in Ethiopia

5. Facilitating the establishment of an independent national election board to enhance the credibility of the electoral process in Ethiopia

6. Seeking to increase the independence of the Ethiopian judiciary and enforce provisions of the Ethiopian Constitution and international human rights conventions

Therefore, we strongly encourage you to carefully and dispassionately examine the core tenets of the bill, which will serve to protect the long term interest of the United States, the stability of the region in the Horn, and help avert the repression of the 78 million Ethiopians.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at (703) 665-1292 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (703) 665-1292      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, by email at eacadvocacy@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Kassa Ayalew, M.D., M.P.H. Chair,

Ethiopian American Civic Advocacy (EACA)

C.C: Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Senator James Webb (D- VA)

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R- AK)

Senator Barbara Boxer (D- CA)

Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D- CT)

Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D- DE)

Senator Mel Martinez (R- FL)

Senator Johnny Isakson (R- GA)

Senator Barack Obama (D- IL)

Senator Richard G. Lugar (R- IN)

Senator David Vitter (R- LA)

Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D- MD)

Senator John F. Kerry (D- MA)

Senator Norm Coleman (R- MN)

Senator Chuck Hagel (R- NE)

Senator John Sununu (R- NH)

Senator Robert Menendez (D- NJ)

Senator George Voinovich (R- OH)

Senator Robert P. Casey (D- PA)

Senator James DeMint (R- SC)

Senator Bob Corker (R- TN)

Senator Russell D. Feingold (D- WI)

* The Ethiopian American Civic Advocacy (EACA) is a US based, non-profit, non-partisan civic organization striving to empower Ethiopian-Americans and Ethiopians to fight for the respect of human rights, promote democratic governance, and demand donor accountability in Ethiopia. For more information about EACA, please visit the website: www.eacamoveon.org.