The Ethiopian government officially responded to the United States Congress’ decision on Tuesday to issue a resolution against the government over human rights and political reforms.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, Ethiopia described the resolution as untimely, inappropriate and in parts biased.
A summary of the resolution read as follows:
“House Res. 128 recognizes Ethiopia’s efforts to promote regional peace and security, and its partnership with the U.S. to combat terrorism, promote economic growth, and address health challenges. In addition, the resolution expresses concern about human rights abuses and contracting democratic space, and condemns excessive use of force by Ethiopian security forces.
“The resolution calls on the Government of Ethiopia to lift the state of emergency, end the use of excessive force, release wrongfully imprisoned protesters, and improve transparency, while at the same time urging protesters and opposition groups to use peaceful discussion and avoid incitement.
“The resolution calls on the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development to cooperate and strengthen ties with Ethiopia, condemn human rights abuses, and promote accountability.”
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement responded by saying the resolution is counterproductive and is against the important partnership between the U.S. and Ethiopia.
“The (U.S.) House fails to take into account the situation on the ground. H.R. 128 ignores the positive strides the country has made recently,” the statement read. “Even if H.R.1 28 is not pending and just expiration opinion, the government of Ethiopia has been working with members of the Congress including the leadership, providing information on the implementation of substantive reforms.”
Other major issues contained in the statement included Ethiopia’s continued role in regional security, government’s commitment to work to improve accountability, justice and rule of law for the citizenry and also continued engagement with relevant U.S. outfits in improving bilateral relations.
“The government of Ethiopia would also like to express its appreciation to those Members of Congress, Senate and Executive branch who, having evaluated the facts on the ground as well as weighing the importance of the bilateral relationship, worked against this biased resolution,” the statement added.
Despite a late challenge led by Senator James Inhofe to get Congress to reject the resolution, the motion was adopted by voice vote.
