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“FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 1998 AND 1999” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1148-E1149 on June 7, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 1998 AND 1999
______
speech of
HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS
of maryland
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 4, 1997
The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1757) to consolidate international affairs agencies, to authorize appropriations for the Department of State and related agencies for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, and for other purposes:
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for taking the lead on the very critical issue of human rights progress in Ethiopia.
Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak about the deteriorating human rights situation in Ethiopia.
Almost exactly 6 years ago, the brutal Mengistu regime in Ethiopia, notorious for having one of the bleakest human rights records on the continent, fell.
The governance of the country was taken over by a coalition of ethnic based insurgency groups under the umbrella of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front [EPRDF], thus ending 15 years of terror.
At the time, there was much hope that the country was finally entering a period of democracy and respect for human rights.
Sadly, the removal of the Communist military dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam in May 1991, has not yielded the fruits of a functioning democracy.
The Ethiopian people are not benefiting from the so-called peace dividends of the new world order.
Instead, the country remains locked in a Marxist time warp and saddled with a minority-based ethnic dictatorship.
The Government continues to divide the nation's peoples into ethnic-
based Bantustans, or enclaves, each purposely pitted against the other with the goal of facilitating the dictatorial regime.
This ploy has endangered the Ethiopian people with the inevitable consequences of civil war with repercussions far worse than the tragedies that transpired in Bosnia and Rwanda.
These ethnic enclaves may be taken over by Moslem fundamentalist groups. There is a danger that Ethiopia, or parts of it could turn into an Iran-like regime.
Until the current government took over, Ethiopia was one of the few stable, democratic countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Now, all the democratically hostile countries surrounding Ethiopia, such as the Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, and Iran are seeking to exploit the chaotic situation in the country by exerting their negative influences.
Chaos is likely to continue to reign as long as the ethnocratic government is allowed to continue to monopolize political, economic, military and police powers, and to pursue its policies of setting Ethiopians against each other.
Ethiopians are disturbed that Western support is bolstering the misrule of Ethiopia by an ethnic minority and against the universally accepted principles of human rights, majority rule, and representative democracy.
Troubling accounts of repression and human rights violations by the new government have been emerging.
I would like to share with you just one story by way of illustration.
Mr. E is a 20-year-old mechanic of Amharic ethnicity. Like so many of their fellow citizens, Mr. E's family had suffered greatly under the Mengistu government.
His older brother had been arrested and viciously tortured for opposition activities and eventually fled the country.
Mr. E's father had been arrested on many occasions for questioning. The family was relieved when the regime fell and looked forward to peace.
After graduating from high school in 1994, Mr. E joined the All Amhara People's Organization, a major opposition group.
In February 1995, Mr. E was stopped on the street by police for a random search. When the police found Mr. E's party identification, they arrested him and locked him in a tiny brick cell where he was held with two other men incommunicado and without charge for 8 months.
Though he was only 18 and had just joined the organization, guards questioned Mr. E about the long-term plans of the All Amhara People's Organization.
Mr. E was fed only small amounts of bread and water; no sanitary provisions were made. Within a short time his health began to deteriorate.
By the end of 8 months, Mr. E was so ill that the guards decided to allow his parents to take him home. As he was leaving the prison, Mr. E finally received notice of the charges against him and a summons to appear in court.
As Mr. E recuperated at home, his neighbors reported that they were being questioned by unknown men in civilian clothes as to Mr. E's activities and whether he was receiving any visitors. Fearing that he would once again be arrested and held indefinitely, Mr. E fled Ethiopia and arrived in the United States in February 1996.
Like Mr. E, thousands of individuals opposed to the current government, particularly journalists, academicians, and opposition party officials were being harassed as they attempt to express their views on the critical issues facing the country.
The Ethiopian Government continues to deny political detainees both procedural and substantive due process of the law and has made a mockery of the administration of justice.
I would like to call particular attention to the plight of three political prisoners--Dr. Asrate Woldeyes, Dr. Taye Semayat, and Mr. Abera Yemane Ab.
At the behest of the Ethiopian-American community here in the United States, I have personally urged our State Department to intercede on behalf of these prominent political prisoners in Ethiopia.
I have also communicated my concerns directly to the Ethiopian Government. Thus far, I am sorry to report, no progress has been made.
But, we must not relinquish our struggle against the relentless assault on the human rights of the Ethiopian peoples.
We must urge the Ethiopian Government to cease the ethnic discrimination, foster positive relations between the various ethnic groups and to allow freedom of movement and expression.
In fiscal year 1996, the United States gave Ethiopia $109 million in bilateral economic assistance making Ethiopia the third highest recipient of United States aid to the continent.
More importantly, perhaps, the United States acts as the coordinator for all Western aid to Ethiopia.
I urge my colleagues to continue their support for the inclusion of human rights as an integral element of our foreign policy by supporting this amendment.
