Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Omer Redi
5 August 2008
The US Administration has expressed concerns over what its senior official described as troubling developments in narrowing the democratic space in Ethiopia, particularly in the areas of press freedom and the independent operation of civil society organizations.
David J. Kramer, who took office recently as assistant secretary of state for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, said the revised Press Law and a bill in the hands of legislators that is meant to regulate the operations of civil society organizations are major concerns in Washington D.C.
Kramer said this on Thursday, July 24, 2008, after having spoken to senior government and party officials, including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi the previous day. Bereket Simon, Public Relations advisor to the Prime Minister, confirmed to Fortune that the Assistant Secretary had extensive discussions on several issues with Prime Minister Meles and other party officials of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
Kramer told the media that Ethiopia and his country enjoy strong and vibrant relations in different areas, including that on security and humanitarian assistance.
The Assistant Secretary, who repeatedly mentioned his country's important relations with Ethiopia, and the fruitful discussions during his brief stay, was nonetheless reluctant to state whether or not he was satisfied with the explanations he got from Ethiopian authorities over Washington's concerns.
Kramer, who stayed for 48 hours in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia being the only country in Africa he visited as part of his overseas trip, which included European countries said, "My government send me here to underscore that the US attaches equal importance to issues of democracy and human rights,".
Washington's concerns are mainly about Ethiopia's recent media law, the legislation on the Civil Society Organizations (CSO), a.k.a as NGOs, the elections, and the interactions between the government and opposition groups, according to Kramer.
"We have been extremely impressed with the progress this country has made over the past 17 years," Kramer said. "[But] there is concern in Washington, which is echoed here too, that the political space is being closed."
That is not how senior administration officials from Addis Abeba view it. Rather, they argue that the political space is actually expanding. For Bereket, Washington's concern is a misplaced one.
"As anyone can see, in the last 17 years the government has had an unwavering stance on the need to build a democratic country," Bereket told Fortune. "Democracy is the express will of the Ethiopian people, and there is no alternative to it. The fact that private electronic media has become operational since 2005 indicates that the space is not shrinking."
The media and right to information law was ratified by the Ethiopian Parliament on July 1, 2008; a day before media practitioners conducted a seminar at the Ghion Hotel in an attempt to produce a document reflecting an industry consensus, to have been presented to the legislative house.
The law, which includes articles that people in the media fear undermine the effort to promote the growth of professional and responsible media was, however, voted against by over 70pc of opposition MPs. Also, 11 MPs abstained from voting, including one from the United Ethiopian Democratic Party (UEDP-Medhin).
Its President, Lidetu Ayalew, believes despite some defects of the new law, his party considers it better than its predecessor.
Lidetu, however, identifies two major problems of the law: it puts the information act and press law into a single legislation, allowing Ministry of Information to be a regulatory body yet it also has media operations; and a certain article is vague as to whether it is an exemption or a prohibition that gives information dealing with government matters.
But his party's leaders were not among those who conferred with the Assistant Secretary last week. Nonetheless, he would like to see the concerns expressed "resolved by ourselves [Ethiopians]; not by foreign influence."
"I do, however, share their concerns," Lidetu elaborated.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Addis Fortune. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
