The following letter was sent to Sen. Inhofe by the Ethiopian American Civic Advocacy (EACA) organization.
Dear Honorable Senator Jim Inhofe:
We are grateful for your passionate commitment to alleviating poverty, promoting human rights and good governance in Africa specifically in Ethiopia, as you eloquently stated in your recent speech to the United States Senate. However, we are writing to you to express our deep disappointment about your statement on the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability bill (H.R.2003) which was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives. In particular, we are concerned that your statement on H.R.2003 appears to be based on distorted information that may have been provided to you, and reflects a lack of accurate data from independent sources on developments in Ethiopia
Ethiopia's political and social environment has been deteriorating at an alarming rate over the last few years. The ongoing systematic repression and the unspeakable crimes against civilians by the dictatorial government, which are too long to list in this letter but are carefully documented in multiple reputable sources, including the recent U.S. State Department country report on human rights, will, if not condemned and stemmed, ultimately make pockets within the country a breeding ground for terrorism. The unchecked and hardline government repression will increase the number of Ethiopians who choose to take up or support armed struggle against injustice in all parts of the country, for lack of any hope that the international community would take action against the atrocities committed by the government. Historically, Ethiopians have been a peaceful and staunchly pro-American society. The US must not turn against the people of Ethiopia by siding with a repressive regime that does not respect the dignity of its citizens, as this would be counterproductive and aggravate the currently prevailing instability. Our U.S. national interest will be sustainably protected and secured if our US government continues to stand with the 78 million Ethiopians, who in May of 2005 stood at the polling station for hours to cast their ballot and choose liberty over tyranny rather than live under a dictatorship that is skillful in maintaining a façade of democratic appearances.
During your speech on the United States Senate floor you stated:
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Posted at 10/25/2007 09:15:00 AM
