Senator Russ Feingold

"In Ethiopia, the State Department's annual reports over the last decade all document persistent human rights abuses by the security forces, including unlawful killings, beatings, abuse and torture, especially targeting members of the political opposition," Senator Feingold said.

The US law maker expressed his disappointment in a statement issued following the State Department's denial of any "consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights" in Ethiopia.

"I appreciate that there can be a need to engage with foreign countries notwithstanding ongoing human rights abuses, but federal law requires certification of extraordinary circumstances before providing assistance to nations, not individual units, that have a history of systemic violations of human rights in order to "avoid identification of the United States, through such programs, with governments which deny to their people internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms," he said in the statement.

"In addition, the State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007 specifically cites 'the use of excessive force by security services in an internal conflict and counter-insurgency operations.' This is a reference to the Ethiopian military's operations in the Ogaden region, where available reporting alleges that they have subjected civilians to executions, torture and rape," the Senator said in a statement.

Mr. Feingold said Ethiopia is a key US ally in the Horn of Africa which makes contributions to peacekeeping efforts. But he said Ethiopia's refusal to address the gross human rights violations requires the US president to provide certifications before providing military assistance to the country.

The statement also included a stern warning of the consequences of cooperating with the "most repressive and brutal governments," and said: "As the bipartisan 9/11 Commission found '[o]ne of the lessons of the Cold War was that short-term gains in cooperating with the most repressive and brutal governments were too often outweighed by long-term setbacks for America's stature and interests.'"

Refering to Chad, Senator Feingold said State Department reports "consistently criticize the government's failure to prosecute members of the security forces who committed crimes... Ten years of such abuses, if not many more, suggests to me a consistent pattern of gross violations."

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(Photo of Senator Feingold: courtesy of thumbjig.blogspot.com)