Ethiopia Washngton Update - 02/04/10
Thursday, February 04, 2010
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- Confirmation hearings for Donald E. Booth, U.S. Ambassador-designate to Ethiopia. The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee held a confirmation hearing on Feb. 2. Booth expressed strong support for democracy, human rights and economic development in Ethiopia. He said that at ambassador he will press the Ethiopian government to create the conditions that are necessary for free and fair elections, including giving opposition politicians access to the media, and allowing international observers to monitor the campaign as well as the election process. He specifically called for the release of all political prisoners, including Birtukan Mideksa. Booth indicated a longstanding understanding of Ethiopia -- he has spent half his career working on Africa issues at the State Department. He said that in addition to the elections, the U.S. embassy will investigate emerging reports of attacks by the Ethiopian defense forces on civilians in the Ogaden and other areas. In written testimony he noted the large scale of food assistance the U.S. has provided Ethiopia and pledged to "seek to put more of our assistance money to work addressing the root causes of food insecurity." Booth said all of the right things. After he is confirmed by the Senate, the world will see how effectively he puts these words into action.
Booth's written testimony is available at URL
http://foreign.senate.gov/testimony/2010/BoothTestimony100202a.pdf
and a recording of his testimony, including questions and answers from Committee Chairman Sen. Feingold, is available at URL
http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/20100202/ [click on "Recorded Hearing"]
- In recent conversations, U.S. State Department officials have stressed the importance of the Ethiopian government's compliance with the Code of Conduct it has agreed regarding the upcoming elections. State Department officials said the U.S. are calling for the Ethiopian government to allow outside, impartial election observers to operate without restriction. They have received commitments from the Meles regime to provide opposition candidates access to radio and television.
- The All Ethiopia Unity Party are actively campaigning in Ethiopia. They deserve and need financial support from Ethiopians abroad, especially those in the United States. Please visit www.kaeup.com for information about making contributions.
Mesfin Mekonen
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