110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2003 

AN ACT 

To encourage and facilitate the consolidation of peace and 

security, respect for human rights, democracy, and economic freedom in Ethiopia. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

•HR 2003 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ethiopia Democracy 

3 and Accountability Act of 2007’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

5 It is the policy of the United States to— 

6 (1) support the advancement of human rights, 

7 democracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom of 

8 the press, peacekeeping capacity building, and eco9 nomic development in the Federal Democratic Re10 public of Ethiopia; 

11 (2) seek the unconditional release of all political 

12 prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia; 

13 (3) foster stability, democracy, and economic 

14 development in the region; 

15 (4) support humanitarian assistance efforts, es16 pecially in the Ogaden region; 

17 (5) collaborate with Ethiopia in the Global War 

18 on Terror; and 

19 (6) strengthen United States-Ethiopian rela20 tions based on the policy objectives specified in para21 graphs (1) through (5). 

22 SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN ETHIOPIA. 

23 The Secretary of State shall— 

24 (1) provide financial support to local and na25 tional human rights groups and other relevant civil 

26 society organizations to help strengthen human 
3 

•HR 2003 EH

1 rights monitoring and regular reporting on human 

2 rights conditions in Ethiopia; 

3 (2) provide legal support, as needed, for polit4 ical prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Ethi5 opia and assist local, national, and international 

6 groups that are active in monitoring the status of 

7 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in 

8 Ethiopia; 

9 (3) seek to promote and bolster the independ10 ence of the Ethiopian judiciary through— 

11 (A) facilitation of joint discussions between 

12 court personnel, officials from the Ethiopian 

13 Ministry of Justice, relevant members of the 

14 legislature, and civil society representatives on 

15 international human rights standards; and 

16 (B) encouraging exchanges between Ethio17 pian and United States jurists, law schools, law 

18 professors, and law students, especially in legal 

19 fields such as constitutional law, role of the ju20 diciary, due process, political and voting rights, 

21 criminal law and procedure, and discrimination; 

22 (4) establish a program, in consultation with 

23 Ethiopian civil society, to provide for a judicial mon24 itoring process, consisting of indigenous organiza25 tions, international organizations, or both, to mon-
4 

•HR 2003 EH

1 itor judicial proceedings throughout Ethiopia, with 

2 special focus on unwarranted government interven3 tion on matters that are strictly judicial in nature, 

4 and to report on actions needed to strengthen an 

5 independent judiciary; 

6 (5) establish a program, in consultation with 

7 Ethiopian civil society, and provide support to other 

8 programs, to strengthen independent media in Ethi9 opia, including training, and technical support; 

10 (6) expand the Voice of America’s Ethiopia pro11 gram; 

12 (7) support efforts of the international commu13 nity to gain full and unfettered access to the Ogaden 

14 region for— 

15 (A) humanitarian assistance organizations; 

16 and 

17 (B) independent human rights experts; and 

18 (8) work with appropriate departments and 

19 agencies of the Government of the United States 

20 and appropriate officials of foreign governments— 

21 (A) to identify members of the Mengistu 

22 Haile Mariam regime and officials of the cur23 rent Government of Ethiopia who were engaged 

24 in gross human rights violations, including 
5 

•HR 2003 EH

1 those individuals who may be residing in the 

2 United States; and 

3 (B) to support and encourage the prosecu4 tion of individuals identified under subpara5 graph (A) in the United States or Ethiopia. 

6 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIZATION IN ETHIOPIA. 

7 (a) STRENGTHENING LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND NA8 TIONAL DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES.—The Secretary of 

9 State shall— 

10 (1) provide assistance to strengthen local, re11 gional, and national parliaments and governments in 

12 Ethiopia, as needed; 

13 (2) establish a program focused on reconcili14 ation efforts between the Government of Ethiopia 

15 and political parties, including in minority commu16 nities, in preparation for negotiation and for partici17 pation in the political process; and 

18 (3) provide training for civil society groups in 

19 election monitoring in Ethiopia. 

20 (b) DEMOCRACY ENHANCEMENT.— 

21 (1) ASSISTANCE.—United States technical as22 sistance for democracy promotion in Ethiopia should 

23 be made available to all political parties and civil so24 ciety groups in Ethiopia. 

25 (2) RESTRICTION.— 
6 

•HR 2003 EH

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nonessential United 

2 States assistance shall not be made available to 

3 the Government of Ethiopia if the Government 

4 of Ethiopia acts to obstruct United States tech5 nical assistance to advance human rights, de6 mocracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom 

7 of the press, economic development, and eco8 nomic freedom in Ethiopia. 

9 (B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

10 term ‘‘nonessential United States assistance’’ 

11 means assistance authorized under any provi12 sion of law, other than humanitarian assistance, 

13 food aid programs, assistance to combat HIV/ 

14 AIDS and other health care assistance, peace15 keeping assistance, and counter-terrorism as16 sistance. 

17 SEC. 5. ENSURING GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR HUMAN 

18 RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY, AND ECONOMIC DE19 VELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA. 

20 (a) LIMITATION ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE; TRAVEL

21 RESTRICTIONS.— 

22 (1) LIMITATION ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

24 subparagraph (B), security assistance shall not 

25 be provided to Ethiopia until such time as the 
7 

•HR 2003 EH

1 certification described in paragraph (3) is made 

2 in accordance with such paragraph. 

3 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall 

4 not apply with respect to peacekeeping assist5 ance, counter-terrorism assistance, or inter6 national military education and training for ci7 vilian personnel under section 541 of the For8 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (commonly referred 

9 to as ‘‘Expanded IMET’’). Peacekeeping or 

10 counter-terrorism assistance provided to Ethi11 opia shall not be used for any other security-re12 lated purpose or to provide training to security 

13 personnel or units against whom there is cred14 ible evidence of gross human rights abuses or 

15 violations. 

16 (2) TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS.—Beginning on the 

17 date that is 60 days after the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act and until such time as the certification 

19 described in paragraph (3) is made in accordance 

20 with such paragraph, the President shall deny a visa 

21 and entry into the United States to— 

22 (A) any official of the Government of Ethi23 opia— 

24 (i) who has been involved in giving or25 ders to use lethal force against peaceful 
8 

•HR 2003 EH

1 demonstrators or police officers in Ethi2 opia; or 

3 (ii) against whom there is credible evi4 dence of gross human rights abuses or vio5 lations; 

6 (B) security personnel of the Government 

7 of Ethiopia who were involved in the June or 

8 November 2005 shootings of demonstrators; 

9 (C) security personnel responsible for mur10 dering Etenesh Yemam; and 

11 (D) security personnel responsible for mur12 dering prisoners at Kaliti prison in the after13 math of the election violence in 2005. 

14 (3) CERTIFICATION.—The certification de15 scribed in this paragraph is a certification by the 

16 President to Congress that the Government of Ethi17 opia is making credible, quantifiable efforts to en18 sure that— 

19 (A) all political prisoners and prisoners of 

20 conscience in Ethiopia have been released, their 

21 civil and political rights restored, and their 

22 property returned; 

23 (B) prisoners held without charge or kept 

24 in detention without fair trial in violation of the 

25 Constitution of Ethiopia are released or receive 
9 

•HR 2003 EH

1 a fair and speedy trial, and prisoners whose 

2 charges have been dismissed or acquitted and 

3 are still being held are released without delay; 

4 (C) the Ethiopian judiciary is able to func5 tion independently and allowed to uphold the 

6 Ethiopian Constitution and international 

7 human rights standards; 

8 (D) security personnel involved in the un9 lawful killings of demonstrators and others, in10 cluding Etenesh Yemam, and Kaliti prisoners 

11 are held accountable; 

12 (E) family members, friends, legal counsel, 

13 medical personnel, human rights advocates, and 

14 others have access, consistent with international 

15 law, to visit detainees in Ethiopian prisons; 

16 (F) print and broadcast media in Ethiopia 

17 are able to operate free from undue interference 

18 and laws restricting media freedom, including 

19 sections of the Ethiopian Federal Criminal 

20 Code, are revised; 

21 (G) licensing of independent radio and tel22 evision in Ethiopia is open and transparent; 

23 (H) Internet access is not restricted by the 

24 government and the ability of citizens to freely 
10 

•HR 2003 EH

1 send and receive electronic mail and otherwise 

2 obtain information is guaranteed; 

3 (I) the National Election Board (NEB) in4 cludes representatives of political parties with 

5 seats in the Ethiopian Parliament and the NEB 

6 functions independently in its decision-making; 

7 (J) representatives of international human 

8 rights organizations engaged in human rights 

9 monitoring work, humanitarian aid work, or in10 vestigations into human rights abuses in Ethi11 opia are admitted to Ethiopia and allowed to 

12 undertake their work in all regions of the coun13 try without undue restriction; and 

14 (K) Ethiopian human rights organizations 

15 are able to operate in an environment free of 

16 harassment, intimidation, and persecution. 

17 (4) WAIVER.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

19 waive the application of paragraph (1) or (2) on 

20 a case-by-case basis if the President determines 

21 that such a waiver is in the national security in22 terests of the United States. 

23 (B) NOTIFICATION.—Prior to granting a 

24 waiver under the authority of subparagraph 

25 (A), the President shall transmit to Congress a 
11 

•HR 2003 EH

1 notification that includes the reasons for the 

2 waiver. 

3 (b) TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS AND

4 PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President, the Secretary 

6 of State, and other relevant officials of the Govern7 ment of the United States shall call upon the Gov8 ernment of Ethiopia to immediately— 

9 (A) release any and all remaining political 

10 prisoners and prisoners of conscience, especially 

11 prisoners held without charge; and 

12 (B) allow full and unfettered access to the 

13 Ogaden region by humanitarian aid organiza14 tions and international human rights investiga15 tors. 

16 (2) TORTURE VICTIM RELIEF.—While it is the 

17 responsibility of the Government of Ethiopia to com18 pensate the victims of unlawful imprisonment and 

19 torture and their families for their suffering and 

20 losses, the President shall provide assistance for the 

21 rehabilitation of victims of torture in Ethiopia at 

22 centers established for such purposes pursuant to 

23 section 130 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

24 (22 U.S.C. 2152). 
12 

•HR 2003 EH

1 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that the Government of the United States should— 

3 (1) encourage the Government of Ethiopia to 

4 enter into discussions with opposition political 

5 groups interested in reconciliation in order to bring 

6 such groups into full participation in the political 

7 and economic affairs of Ethiopia, including their le8 galization as political parties, and provide such as9 sistance as is warranted and necessary to help 

10 achieve the goal described in this paragraph; and 

11 (2) provide assistance to promote the privatiza12 tion of government owned or controlled industries 

13 and properties in Ethiopia. 

14 SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ETHI15 OPIA. 

16 (a) RESOURCE POLICY ASSISTANCE.—The President, 

17 acting through the Administrator of the United States 

18 Agency for International Development and in cooperation 

19 with the World Bank and other donors, shall provide as20 sistance, as needed, for sustainable development of Ethio21 pia’s Nile and Awash River resources, including assistance 

22 to help Ethiopia with the technology necessary for the con23 struction of irrigation systems and hydroelectric power 

24 that might prevent future famine. 
13 

•HR 2003 EH

1 (b) HEALTH CARE ASSISTANCE.—The President, 

2 acting through the Administrator of the United States 

3 Agency for International Development, shall provide mate4 rial support to hospitals, clinics, and health care centers 

5 in Ethiopia, especially hospitals, clinics, and health care 

6 centers in rural areas. 

7 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to Congress 

10 a report on the implementation of this Act, including a 

11 description of a comprehensive plan to address issues of 

12 security, human rights, including in the Ogaden region, 

13 democratization, and economic freedom that potentially 

14 threaten the stability of Ethiopia. 

15 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro17 priated to carry out this Act $20,000,000 for each of the 

18 fiscal years 2008 and 2009. 
14 

•HR 2003 EH

1 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

2 to the authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) 

3 are authorized to remain available until expended. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 2, 

2007. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2003 

AN ACT 

To encourage and facilitate the consolidation of 

mocracy, and economic freedom in Ethiopia. peace and security, respect for human rights, de-