Washington Update
By Mesfin Mekonen | September 14, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC - Members of the opposition, Yesahak Kifle, Dr. Seyoum Solomon, both representing the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUD-Kinijit), and Mesfin Mekonen of Ethiopian Americans Council and Ethiopian National Council (ENC) met recently with U.S. House Speaker Dennis Haster staff.
In addition to discussing the following points, a number of background documents, including recent coverage of Ethiopia in the Economist magazine and other publications, were covered at the meeting. Issues raised were:
- The human rights, economic and military situations in Ethiopia are very bad and getting worse. Elected opposition members of parliament, journalists, civic group members and activists were being held in terrible conditions and were being tried for fabricated crimes. The absence of Press Freedom, the censorship and blocking of websites and blogs despite the fact that the Internet was being accessed by a tiny fraction of the Ethiopian population, and how the government combines communist-type control and corrupt methods have arrested economic development, and the defection of top army officers were topics touched upon during the meeting.
- The Smith Legislation isn't a magic wand and it won't by itself fix Ethiopia's problems, it will nonetheless help and even more importantly, send a strong signal to both the Meles regime and the Ethiopian people that the United States supports democracy and human rights.
- This is particularly important because Ethiopians are starting to give up on democracy. Many Ethiopians risked their lives for a genuin election that was rigged by the Meles regime, and how this act is impacting people to give up hope on conducting "fair elections."
- The Meles regime has given a lobbying firm, DLA Piper Jaffrey, a $50,000/month contract to block the Smith legislation. The firm is spreading the word that America needs to stick with Meles because he is an ally in the war on terrorism. In reality, however, Meles is fueling terrorism, as the Economist magazine has pointed out.
Various represive methods being pursued by the Meles regime - widespread violations of human rights, a divide and conquer policy that pits ethnic groups against each other, and the lack of economic progress - were destabilizing Ethiopia and creating conditions that al Qaeda and other extremist groups can exploit.
Such conditions are attracting an ever growing number of Ethiopian Americans to be politically active. The number one issue of Ethiopians who have received American citizenship is U.S. support for democracy and human rights in Ethiopia, and Ethiopian-Americans will be very grateful to any members of Congress who support this cause.
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The writer can be reached for comments at mmekonen@aol.com.
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2006ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
WASHINGTON, DC - Members of the opposition, Yesahak Kifle, Dr. Seyoum Solomon, both representing the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUD-Kinijit), and Mesfin Mekonen of Ethiopian Americans Council and Ethiopian National Council (ENC) met recently with U.S. House Speaker Dennis Haster staff.
In addition to discussing the following points, a number of background documents, including recent coverage of Ethiopia in the Economist magazine and other publications, were covered at the meeting. Issues raised were:
Various represive methods being pursued by the Meles regime - widespread violations of human rights, a divide and conquer policy that pits ethnic groups against each other, and the lack of economic progress - were destabilizing Ethiopia and creating conditions that al Qaeda and other extremist groups can exploit.
Such conditions are attracting an ever growing number of Ethiopian Americans to be politically active. The number one issue of Ethiopians who have received American citizenship is U.S. support for democracy and human rights in Ethiopia, and Ethiopian-Americans will be very grateful to any members of Congress who support this cause.
---------
The writer can be reached for comments at mmekonen@aol.com.
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2006ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
