The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
Kevin J Kelley
13 October 2007
Eritrea is seeking to overthrow the government of Ethiopia by supporting insurgent forces in the Horn, a senior US official charged last week.
Jendayi Frazer, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, sought to justify Washington's tilt toward Addis Ababa in the region by arguing that "The Ethiopian government is not threatening through terrorist actions any American citizens."
The government of Eritrea, she added, "is supporting groups and individuals who have been responsible for planning attacks that bombed our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania as well as hotels in Kenya where our citizens go."
Ms Frazer was referring to members of the Al Qaeda network said to be sheltering in Somalia under the protection of forces believed to receive assistance from Eritrea.
While noting US concerns about Ethiopia's human-rights record, Ms Frazer spoke in generally positive terms about the recent actions of the government headed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. She said the United States is unable to confirm allegations of atrocities carried out by Ethiopian troops operating in the country's Ogaden region. The Bush administration's approach to the Horn was challenged, however, by other speakers at a US House of Representatives' inquiry on October 2.
"The Horn is on fire and is threatening to explode," warned Saman Zarifi, an analyst with Human Rights Watch. "The Ethiopian government's military forces have systematically committed atrocities and violated the basic laws of war," he added, describing Ethiopia as "a key US ally and recipient of seemingly unquestioning US military, political and financial support."
Human Rights Watch has documented "massive crimes by the Ethiopian army" in the Ogaden, Mr Zarifi said. He cited "villages burned to the ground as part of a campaign of collective punishment; public executions meant to terrify villagers and rampant sexual violence used as a tool of warfare."
Human Rights Watch has also accused Ethiopian forces of committing war crimes in neighbouring Somalia. Mr Zarifi further suggested that the Bush administration's alignment with Mr Meles "threatens to make the United States complicit in continuing laws of war violations by the Ethiopian government."
Ms Frazer's unwillingness to speak out specifically against Ethiopian actions in the Ogaden also drew a rebuke from Congressman Donald Payne, chairman of the Africa affairs subcommittee that convened last week's inquiry on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mr Payne noted that Ms Frazer had roundly condemned human-rights abuses by Eritrea.
The Bush administration has also threatened to add Eritrea to a list of countries that are said to sponsor terrorism. Assistant Secretary of State Frazer did offer some mild criticisms of the Ethiopian government's human-rights record. She said the United States "continues to place a priority on the need for improved human-rights and greater political and economic freedoms in our dialogue with the government of Ethiopia."
But the US top Africa policymaker did not specifically mention the killings of 193 Ethiopian civilians who were protesting the disputed results of previous year's election. Ms Frazer referred instead to "post-election violence" as well as to the "lengthy detention and trial of opposition members, journalists and civil society activists" - which, she said, "cast a shadow" over the outcome of the elections.
The Ethiopian government has since behaved in an encouraging manner, the assistant secretary added. She pointed to the recent pardon of 71 opposition leaders and civil-society activists who had been held without charge following the election protests. That initiative "significantly enhanced dialogue and reconciliation in Ethiopia," Ms Frazer said.
The State Department recently hosted a group of opposition leaders in Washington, she noted. The United States has also expressed its "strong concerns" to Prime Minister Meles regarding "human-rights abuses conducted by all parties" in the Ogaden, Ms Frazer told the US House panel. At the same time, "the government of Ethiopia is facing a genuine security concern in the Ogaden region and has an obligation to respond," she said. Ms Frazer was explicit in condemning the behavior of both Eritrea and the Ogaden National Liberation Front, a group fighting for greater autonomy for that region.
A few months ago, Ms Frazer noted, the ONLF carried out an attack that killed nine Chinese oil workers and 77 Ethiopians, many of them civilians. The ONLF is also fighting in the Ogaden alongside "extremists" and "terrorists," and is receiving support from the Eritrean government, she charged.
"The United States also has grave concerns about human-rights issues in Eritrea, including democracy, rule of law, freedom of the press and religious freedoms," Ms Frazer continued. The Eritrean government headed by President Isaias Aferworki has been "attempting to overthrow the Meles government by supporting Ethiopian insurgents," the assistant secretary declared.
Human Rights Watch has independently issued condemnations consistent with those that the United States has directed against both the ONLF and Eritrea. Mr Zarifi told the congressional subcommittee that Human Rights Watch "has documented serious abuses of civilians in the Ogaden, including summary executions, by the forces of the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front." And he said his organisation is "enormously concerned by the Eritrean government's extreme and systematic repression of its citizens."
Mr Zarifi focused his October 2 remarks mainly on Ethiopia, however. He drew a parallel between the situations in the Ogaden and in Sudan's Darfur region. They follow "a frighteningly familiar pattern: a brutal counter-insurgency operation with ethnic overtones in which government forces deliberately attack civilians and displace large populations, coupled with severe restrictions on humanitarian assistance," he said.
"Unlike in Darfur, however, the state that is perpetrating abuses against its people in Ogaden is a key US ally," he added. The US House of Representatives meanwhile added its own voice last week to those urging the Bush administration to adopt a tougher line on Ethiopia.
The House passed a Bill seeking to restrict US military aid to Ethiopia, stipulating that it can be used only for counter-terrorism and peacekeeping purposes until the Ethiopian government improves its human rights performance.
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