Washington, DC — Friday the G-8 leaders will begin a summit at Camp David, MD, with discussions focusing on the global economic recovery and food security in the developing world, with President Obama having invited the leaders of Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania to discuss food security, but the presence of Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is causing growing concern because of the land grab issue in his country and unaddressed human rights abuses there.
"Several years ago, I introduced legislation to sanction the Ethiopian government for the killing of peaceful protesters in 2005 and its broader violations of human rights," said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights. "Not only do human rights violations continue in Ethiopia, but the government has now added the element of displacing their own people in favor of foreign interests farming Ethiopian land instead of their own citizens. Having Ethiopia at the table to discuss food security is counter-productive based on their land policies.
"The only way the inclusion of Ethiopia at the G-8 summit makes sense is if this forum provides an occasion to have a serious discussion with Meles about his unacceptable treatment of Ethiopian citizens, including policies that have made more of his people's food insecure," Smith said.
According to recent human rights reports, the Ethiopian government is forcibly relocating 70,000 people from the Gambella region in the southwestern part of the country to make land available for foreign investment in agriculture. Those displaced Ethiopians now face a lack of food, new farmland or available health and education services for their families. An estimated 5,000 Anuak people has been forced to flee to Kenya and 8,000 Anuak are now refugees in South Sudan.
Previous State Department human rights reports have consistently cited Ethiopia for such human rights violations as unlawful killings, torture and other abuse of detainees, arbitrary arrest and detention, illegal searches and the use of excessive force by security services in counterinsurgency operations. The new State Department human rights report will be released shortly and is not expected to indicate a reduction of human rights violations in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Federal High Court on January 19, 2012, convicted three Ethiopian journalists, an opposition leader, and a fifth person under an anti-terrorism law that one human rights organization claims violates free expression and due process rights. The ruling comes one month after two Swedish journalists were sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of "rendering support to terrorism," based on their having illegally entered Ethiopia to investigate and report on abuses in the country's Ogaden area.
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The congressman opinion is based on information that he has gotten from ex derg facist members who are now his constituents and are knockin his door tobring their case to congress.One fact he has forgotten is Ethiopia is not a 53 state of USa. as a sovereign nation has the right to decide what is working for them. The congreetriessman and his late friend who want to dictate what african counries should and should not do should know they are violating international law. The congressman who says 70,000 people are forced to resettle should make a fact finding effort to learn about the lives of these people before and after settlment. We Ethiopians are trying to fight poverty and bring our country from foreign aid dependency and be able to provide school,health and other services to the population and this is possible when people live togather. If attempting to improve the lives of our people who living scattered IS A CRIME it is only in the CONGRESSMANS mind.
I don't think it matters who is making truthful statement or not, the real question is:
Are the majority of the people better off than they were 20 or 30 years ago? Is there social mobility and access to education and economy?
is displacing communities from their ancestral land good for them? What would the displaced communities say if they were to be given a chance to speak out?
is growing food for export by corporations ethical while there is still hunger in parts of the country and the country is food importing state and is not self sufficient ....?
Hayelom you are such an idiot servant of this dictator Meles Zenawi....why you try to hide how meles regime killed innocent Ethiopians and jailed them in prison for expressing their idea. Don't you know the EPRDF regime is a parasite for Ethiopia..It is better to shut your mouth....
@ Hayelom Even if someone doesn't agree on statements and opinions of others, one should be able to accept the right of evereyone to comment and express his thougts - also about politics of the ethiopien goverment. To attack someone because he is expressing his opinion is deeply antidemocratic. It would be a pleasure and very interesting to read arguments wich support your thesis. In the article sources are named. What are your sources, please? I'm glad that for most ethiopiens a fair discussion with the freedom of speech and expressing oneself is a natural thing - although not always possible in their country.
It baffles me why a leader that kills his own people, that does not believe in democracy and does not tolerate opposing opinions, does not believe in elections is being invited to sit next to genuine politicians? His people have clearly spoken, they are on streets every where telling anybody that cares for the country, he is a killer. It is not that the Obama administrations does not know that he is rune-of-the-mill dictator. These days he himself is not pretending. So the question must be asked why? Why does he gets invited to tables where world affairs are being discussed, isn't this disrespecting his people, the once he stifles in his own country!
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