I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2228 

To encourage and facilitate the consolidation of security, human rights, 

democracy, and economic freedom in Ethiopia. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2007 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, and Mr. ROHRABACHER) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To encourage and facilitate the consolidation of security, 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ethiopia Freedom, De5 mocracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States to— 

8 (1) support the advancement of human rights, 

9 democracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom of 

10 the press, peacekeeping, capacity building, and ecomstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 nomic development in the Federal Democratic Re2 public of Ethiopia; 

3 (2) collaborate with Ethiopia in the Global War 

4 on Terror; 

5 (3) seek the unconditional release of all political 

6 prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia; 

7 (4) foster stability, democracy, and economic 

8 development in the region; and 

9 (5) strengthen United States-Ethiopian rela10 tions based on the policy objectives specified in para11 graphs (1) through (4). 

12 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

13 Congress finds the following: 

14 (1) The people of Ethiopia have suffered for 

15 decades due to military conflicts, natural disasters, 

16 poverty and diseases, regional instability, and the 

17 brutal dictatorship of the military junta under 

18 Mengistu Haile Mariam. Hundreds of thousands of 

19 civilians were brutally murdered by the Mengistu re20 gime, including women and children. Many more 

21 sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom, respect for 

22 human rights, and to bring an end to the brutal dic23 tatorship of the Mengistu regime. Members of that 

24 murderous regime are currently living in Europe, the 

25 United States, and Africa. 

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1 (2) In May 1991, the brutal dictatorship of the 

2 Mengistu regime came to an abrupt end when the 

3 Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front 

4 (EPRDF) defeated the Mengistu army. In July 

5 1991, the EPRDF and a coalition of other political 

6 groups established a transitional government in 

7 Ethiopia. A number of liberation movements joined 

8 the transitional government in a spirit of a new start 

9 and the building of a democratic Ethiopia. These 

10 groups included the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), 

11 the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), and 

12 many others. 

13 (3) Since the ouster of the Mengistu regime in 

14 1991, the EPRDF-led government instituted a 

15 multiparty system and organized three regional and 

16 national elections and a number of local elections. 

17 The 1995 and 2000 elections were largely boycotted 

18 and judged to be neither free nor fair. Some opposi19 tion groups participated in the 2000 elections, giving 

20 such groups 12 seats in the 546-seat parliament. 

21 (4) The May 2005 pre-election period and the 

22 conduct of the elections in Ethiopia were seen by ob23 servers to be transparent, competitive, and relatively 

24 free and fair, although there were a number of prob25 lems reported. More than 90 percent of registered 

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1 voters participated and dozens of political parties 

2 took part in the elections. Moreover, some inter3 national groups observed the elections, unprece4 dented access to the mass media was given to the 

5 opposition, and there were televised debates between 

6 the government and the opposition. Some political 

7 parties and armed political groups boycotted the 

8 2005 elections. However, trained local groups were 

9 barred from observing the elections. 

10 (5) The May 15, 2005, elections were seen by 

11 observers as questionable. The opposition accused 

12 the Government of Ethiopia of stealing the elections 

13 and called for civil disobedience, which resulted in 

14 the killing of demonstrators and detention of opposi15 tion leaders and thousands of their followers, includ16 ing 11 elected members of parliament and the elect17 ed mayor of Addis Ababa. 

18 (6) The Coalition for Unity and Democracy 

19 (CUD), the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces 

20 (UEDF), and the ruling EPRDF reached an agree21 ment to resolve disputed election results peacefully 

22 with the help of the National Electoral Board 

23 (NEB). The NEB investigated more than 299 com24 plaints and later agreed to hold reruns in 31 con25 stituencies. In late August 2005, the NEB held remstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 runs in the 31 constituencies as well as in all 23 

2 constituencies in the Somali region, where elections 

3 had been postponed due to insecurity. 

4 (7) Election results show that opposition parties 

5 won 170 seats in the national parliament, a signifi6 cant increase from the 12 seats they won in the 

7 2000 elections. Opposition parties also won the city 

8 council in Addis Ababa, giving them control over the 

9 capital. An estimated 150 of the 170 opposition 

10 members of parliament have taken their seats. In 

11 early May 2006, the Government of Ethiopia ap12 pointed a caretaker government in the capital. Mem13 bers of parliament from the CUD walked out of par14 liament in protest. The CUD won the city, but the 

15 designated mayor has been in detention since No16 vember 2005. 

17 (8) Human rights conditions deteriorated sig18 nificantly after the May 15, 2005, elections in Ethi19 opia and overall human rights conditions in the 

20 country remain poor. The Department of State, in 

21 its 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Prac22 tices, noted a myriad of human rights abuses by the 

23 Government of Ethiopia. Moreover, journalists and 

24 editors of the independent press have been and con25 tinue to face harassment and prosecution for alleged 

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1 violations of press laws in Ethiopia. Dozens of jour2 nalists have fled the country, and some are currently 

3 in exile fearing prosecution or harassment. 

4 (9) In June 2005, more than 35 demonstrators 

5 were killed by Ethiopian Government security per6 sonnel and in November 2005 at least 42 protesters 

7 and 7 police officers were killed, according to reports 

8 from international human rights organizations. The 

9 violence against these victims occurred after pro-op10 position groups went to the streets of the capital to 

11 protest government actions in handling the election 

12 results of May 2005. Tens of thousands of people 

13 suspected of being opposition supporters were de14 tained over the past months; many of these detain15 ees were released. Government security forces con16 tinue to abuse opposition leaders, supporters, and 

17 family members. 

18 (10) An estimated 112 political leaders, human 

19 rights activists, community leaders, and journalists, 

20 including the chairman of the CUD (Hailu Shawel), 

21 the newly elected Mayor of Addis Ababa (Berhanu 

22 Nega), and the founder of the Ethiopian Human 

23 Rights Council (Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam), 

24 were imprisoned and charged with treason and geno25 cide. These measures were deliberately taken to stimstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 fle and criminalize opposition party activity in the 

2 country. The measures also were intended to intimi3 date and silence independent press and civil society, 

4 raising serious questions about the Ethiopian Gov5 ernment’s commitment to democracy and good gov6 ernance. 

7 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN ETHIOPIA. 

8 The Secretary of State shall— 

9 (1) establish a mechanism to provide financial 

10 support to local and national human rights groups 

11 and other relevant civil society organizations to help 

12 strengthen human rights monitoring and regular re13 porting on human rights conditions in Ethiopia; 

14 (2) establish a program to provide legal support 

15 for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience 

16 and to assist local groups or groups from outside 

17 Ethiopia that are active in monitoring the status of 

18 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in 

19 Ethiopia; 

20 (3) seek to increase the independence of the 

21 Ethiopian judiciary through facilitation of joint dis22 cussions for court personnel, officials from the Ethi23 opian Ministry of Justice, relevant members of the 

24 legislature, and civil society representatives on inter25 national human rights standards; 

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1 (4) create and support a judicial monitoring 

2 process, consisting of local and international groups, 

3 to monitor judicial proceedings throughout Ethiopia, 

4 with special focus on unwarranted government inter5 vention in strictly judicial matters, and to inves6 tigate and report on actions to strengthen an inde7 pendent judiciary; 

8 (5) establish a program to strengthen private 

9 media in Ethiopia, provide support for training pur10 poses, offer technical and other types of support as 

11 necessary, and expand programming by the Voice of 

12 America to Ethiopia; and 

13 (6) establish a mechanism to— 

14 (A) identify and extradite members of the 

15 Mengistu Haile Mariam regime and the current 

16 government who reside in the United States 

17 and who were engaged in gross human rights 

18 violations; and 

19 (B) work with other governments to iden20 tify and extradite such persons, including 

21 Mengistu Haile Mariam. 

22 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIZATION IN ETHIOPIA. 

23 (a) STRENGTHENING LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND NA24 TIONAL DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES.—The Secretary of 

25 State shall— 

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1 (1) provide assistance to strengthen local, re2 gional, and national parliaments and governments in 

3 Ethiopia through training in consultation with gov4 ernment authorities, political parties, and civil soci5 ety groups; 

6 (2) establish a program focused on reconcili7 ation efforts between the Government of Ethiopia 

8 and peaceful political and civil society groups, in9 cluding in minority communities, in preparation for 

10 negotiation and for participation in the political 

11 process; 

12 (3) strengthen training for political parties in 

13 Ethiopia in areas such as organization building and 

14 campaign management; 

15 (4) provide training for civil society groups in 

16 election monitoring in Ethiopia; and 

17 (5) facilitate ongoing communications between 

18 ruling and opposition political parties through the 

19 National Election Board (NEB) in order to address 

20 issues such as delimitation of constituencies, voter 

21 registration, political party registration, candidate 

22 registration, and related matters to enhance the 

23 credibility of the next elections in Ethiopia. 

24 (b) DEMOCRACY ENHANCEMENT.— 

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1 (1) ASSISTANCE.—United States technical as2 sistance for democracy promotion in Ethiopia shall 

3 be made available to the ruling party as well as to 

4 opposition parties in Ethiopia. 

5 (2) RESTRICTION.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nonessential United 

7 States assistance may not be made available to 

8 the Government of Ethiopia if the Government 

9 of Ethiopia acts to obstruct United States tech10 nical assistance to advance human rights, de11 mocracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom 

12 of the press, economic development, and eco13 nomic freedom in Ethiopia. 

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

15 term ‘‘nonessential United States assistance’’ 

16 means assistance under any provision of law, 

17 other than humanitarian assistance, assistance 

18 under emergency food programs, assistance to 

19 combat HIV/AIDS, and other health care as20 sistance. 

21 SEC. 6. ENSURING GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR HUMAN 

22 RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY, AND ECONOMIC DE23 VELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA. 

24 (a) LIMITATION ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE; TRAVEL

25 RESTRICTIONS.— 

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1 (1) LIMITATION ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE.— 

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

3 subparagraph (B), security assistance may not 

4 be provided to Ethiopia until such time as the 

5 certification described in paragraph (3) is made 

6 in accordance with such paragraph. 

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

8 not apply with respect to peacekeeping or 

9 counter-terrorism assistance. Peacekeeping or 

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

13 personnel or units accused of human rights vio14 lations against civilians. 

15 (2) TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS.—Beginning on the 

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

17 of this Act and until such time as the certification 

18 described in paragraph (3) is made in accordance 

19 with such paragraph, the President shall deny the 

20 issuance of a visa to and admission to the United 

21 States to— 

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

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1 (i) has been involved in giving orders 

2 to use lethal force against peaceful dem3 onstrators in Ethiopia; or 

4 (ii) has been accused of gross human 

5 rights violations; 

6 (B) security personnel of the Government 

7 of Ethiopia who were involved in the June 2005 

8 or November 2005 shootings of demonstrators; 

9 and 

10 (C) Ethiopian civilians who were involved 

11 in the November 2005 killings of seven police12 men in Ethiopia. 

13 (3) CERTIFICATION.—The certification de14 scribed in this paragraph is a certification by the 

15 President to Congress that the Government of Ethi16 opia is making credible, quantifiable efforts to en17 sure that— 

18 (A) all political prisoners and prisoners of 

19 conscience in Ethiopia have been released, their 

20 civil and political rights restored, and their 

21 property returned; 

22 (B) prisoners held without charge or kept 

23 in detention without fair trial in violation of the 

24 Constitution of Ethiopia are released or receive 

25 a fair and speedy trial, and prisoners whose 

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1 charges have been dismissed or acquitted and 

2 are still being held are released without delay; 

3 (C) all capital assets of United States citi4 zens and of entities not less than 50 percent 

5 beneficially owned by United States citizens 

6 that have been nationalized, expropriated, or 

7 otherwise seized by the Ethiopian government 

8 before the date of the enactment of this Act in 

9 contravention of international law are returned 

10 or a mutually agreed upon restitution agree11 ment is performed; 

12 (D) the Ethiopian judiciary is able to func13 tion independently and allowed to uphold the 

14 Ethiopian Constitution and international 

15 human rights standards; 

16 (E) the investigation of the killing of civil17 ian protesters by Ethiopian security forces is 

18 credible, transparent, and those involved in the 

19 unlawful killing are punished; 

20 (F) family members, legal counsel, and 

21 others have unfettered access to visit detainees 

22 in Ethiopian prisons; 

23 (G) print and broadcast media in Ethiopia 

24 are able to operate free from undue inter25 ference, and laws restricting media freedom, inmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 cluding sections of the Ethiopian Federal 

2 Criminal Code, are revised; 

3 (H) licensing of independent radio and tel4 evision in Ethiopia is open and transparent; 

5 (I) access in Ethiopia is provided to the 

6 Internet and the ability of citizens to freely 

7 send and receive electronic mail and otherwise 

8 obtain information is guaranteed; 

9 (J) the National Election Board (NEB) in10 cludes representatives of political parties with 

11 seats in the Ethiopian Parliament and guaran12 tees independence for the NEB in its decision13 making; 

14 (K) representatives of international human 

15 rights organizations engaged in human rights 

16 monitoring work in Ethiopia are admitted to 

17 Ethiopia without undue restriction; and 

18 (L) Ethiopian human rights organizations 

19 are able to operate in an environment free of 

20 harassment, intimidation, and persecution. 

21 (4) WAIVER.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

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

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

25 that— 

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1 (i) to the maximum extent practicable, 

2 the Government of Ethiopia has met the 

3 requirement of paragraph (3)(A); and 

4 (ii) such a waiver is in the national in5 terests of the United States. 

6 (B) NOTIFICATION.—Prior to granting a 

7 waiver under the authority of subparagraph 

8 (A), the President shall transmit to Congress a 

9 notification that includes the reasons for the 

10 waiver. 

11 (b) TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS AND

12 PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE.— 

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

14 of State, and other relevant officials of the Govern15 ment of the United States shall call upon the Gov16 ernment of Ethiopia to immediately release all polit17 ical prisoners and prisoners of conscience, especially 

18 prisoners held without charge. 

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

20 responsibility of the Government of Ethiopia to com21 pensate the victims of unlawful imprisonment and 

22 torture and their families for their suffering and 

23 losses, the President shall provide assistance for the 

24 rehabilitation of victims of torture in Ethiopia at 

25 centers established for such purposes pursuant to 

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1 section 130 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

2 (22 U.S.C. 2152). 

3 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that the Government of the United States should— 

5 (1) encourage the Government of Ethiopia to 

6 enter into discussions with the Oromo Liberation 

7 Front to bring them into full participation in the po8 litical and economic affairs of Ethiopia, including 

9 their legalization as a political party; and 

10 (2) provide such assistance as is warranted and 

11 necessary to help achieve the goal described in para12 graph (1). 

13 SEC. 7. SUPPORT FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ETHI14 OPIA. 

15 (a) ECONOMIC POLICY ASSISTANCE.—Utilizing train16 ing and other technical assistance programs offered by the 

17 Department of the Treasury, the Office of the United 

18 States Trade Representative, and the Department of Jus19 tice, the President shall assist the Government of Ethiopia 

20 in developing policies that will address key economic obsta21 cles, including in such areas as budgeting, taxation, debt 

22 management, bank supervision, anti-money laundering, 

23 and land title security that inhibit private sector develop24 ment and limit participation in donor programs such as 

25 the United States Millennium Challenge Account. 

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1 (b) FINANCING FOR UNITED STATES-ETHIOPIAN

2 COMMERCIAL VENTURES.—Pursuant to the Government 

3 of Ethiopia’s acceptance of the reforms in subsection (a), 

4 the President shall make available adequate financing for 

5 United States and Ethiopian private commercial ventures, 

6 including programs of the United States Agency for Inter7 national Development, the Small Business Administration 

8 (including the Export Express and Export Working Cap9 ital programs), the Overseas Private Investment Corpora10 tion (including the Small Business Center and the Small 

11 and Medium Enterprise and Structural Finance pro12 grams), and the Export-Import Bank of the United States 

13 (including the Short-Term Africa Pilot Program). 

14 (c) RESOURCE POLICY ASSISTANCE.—The President, 

15 acting through the Administrator of the United States 

16 Agency for International Development, shall provide as17 sistance for sustainable development of Ethiopia’s Nile 

18 and Awash River resources, including assistance to help 

19 Ethiopia with the technology necessary for the construc20 tion of irrigation systems and hydroelectric power that 

21 might prevent future famine. 

22 SEC. 8. REPORT. 

23 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the President shall submit to Congress 

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

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1 description of a comprehensive plan to address the secu2 rity, human rights, democratization, and economic free3 dom concerns that potentially threaten the stability of 

4 Ethiopia. 

5 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro7 priated to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for each of the 

8 fiscal years 2008 and 2009. 

9 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

10 to the authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) 

11 are authorized to remain available until expended. 

Æ 

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