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 Cali-
fornia, 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ethiopia Freedom, De-
mocracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to— 
(1) support the advancement of human rights, 
democracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom of 
the press, peacekeeping, capacity building, and eco-
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nomic development in the Federal Democratic Re-
public of Ethiopia; 
(2) collaborate with Ethiopia in the Global War 
on Terror; 
(3) seek the unconditional release of all political 
prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia; 
(4) foster stability, democracy, and economic 
development in the region; and 
(5) strengthen United States-Ethiopian rela-
tions based on the policy objectives specified in para-
graphs (1) through (4). 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The people of Ethiopia have suffered for 
decades due to military conflicts, natural disasters, 
poverty and diseases, regional instability, and the 
brutal dictatorship of the military junta under 
Mengistu Haile Mariam. Hundreds of thousands of 
civilians were brutally murdered by the Mengistu re-
gime, including women and children. Many more 
sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom, respect for 
human rights, and to bring an end to the brutal dic-
tatorship of the Mengistu regime. Members of that 
murderous regime are currently living in Europe, the 
United States, and Africa. 
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(2) In May 1991, the brutal dictatorship of the 
Mengistu regime came to an abrupt end when the 
Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front 
(EPRDF) defeated the Mengistu army. In July 
1991, the EPRDF and a coalition of other political 
groups established a transitional government in 
Ethiopia. A number of liberation movements joined 
the transitional government in a spirit of a new start 
and the building of a democratic Ethiopia. These 
groups included the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), 
the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), and 
many others. 
(3) Since the ouster of the Mengistu regime in 
1991, the EPRDF-led government instituted a 
multiparty system and organized three regional and 
national elections and a number of local elections. 
The 1995 and 2000 elections were largely boycotted 
and judged to be neither free nor fair. Some opposi-
tion groups participated in the 2000 elections, giving 
such groups 12 seats in the 546-seat parliament. 
(4) The May 2005 pre-election period and the 
conduct of the elections in Ethiopia were seen by ob-
servers to be transparent, competitive, and relatively 
free and fair, although there were a number of prob-
lems reported. More than 90 percent of registered 
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voters participated and dozens of political parties 
took part in the elections. Moreover, some inter-
national groups observed the elections, unprece-
dented access to the mass media was given to the 
opposition, and there were televised debates between 
the government and the opposition. Some political 
parties and armed political groups boycotted the 
2005 elections. However, trained local groups were 
barred from observing the elections. 
(5) The May 15, 2005, elections were seen by 
observers as questionable. The opposition accused 
the Government of Ethiopia of stealing the elections 
and called for civil disobedience, which resulted in 
the killing of demonstrators and detention of opposi-
tion leaders and thousands of their followers, includ-
ing 11 elected members of parliament and the elect-
ed mayor of Addis Ababa. 
(6) The Coalition for Unity and Democracy 
(CUD), the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces 
(UEDF), and the ruling EPRDF reached an agree-
ment to resolve disputed election results peacefully 
with the help of the National Electoral Board 
(NEB). The NEB investigated more than 299 com-
plaints and later agreed to hold reruns in 31 con-
stituencies. In late August 2005, the NEB held re-
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runs in the 31 constituencies as well as in all 23 
constituencies in the Somali region, where elections 
had been postponed due to insecurity. 
(7) Election results show that opposition parties 
won 170 seats in the national parliament, a signifi-
cant increase from the 12 seats they won in the 
2000 elections. Opposition parties also won the city 
council in Addis Ababa, giving them control over the 
capital. An estimated 150 of the 170 opposition 
members of parliament have taken their seats. In 
early May 2006, the Government of Ethiopia ap-
pointed a caretaker government in the capital. Mem-
bers of parliament from the CUD walked out of par-
liament in protest. The CUD won the city, but the 
designated mayor has been in detention since No-
vember 2005. 
(8) Human rights conditions deteriorated sig-
nificantly after the May 15, 2005, elections in Ethi-
opia and overall human rights conditions in the 
country remain poor. The Department of State, in 
its 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Prac-
tices, noted a myriad of human rights abuses by the 
Government of Ethiopia. Moreover, journalists and 
editors of the independent press have been and con-
tinue to face harassment and prosecution for alleged 
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violations of press laws in Ethiopia. Dozens of jour-
nalists have fled the country, and some are currently 
in exile fearing prosecution or harassment. 
(9) In June 2005, more than 35 demonstrators 
were killed by Ethiopian Government security per-
sonnel and in November 2005 at least 42 protesters 
and 7 police officers were killed, according to reports 
from international human rights organizations. The 
violence against these victims occurred after pro-op-
position groups went to the streets of the capital to 
protest government actions in handling the election 
results of May 2005. Tens of thousands of people 
suspected of being opposition supporters were de-
tained over the past months; many of these detain-
ees were released. Government security forces con-
tinue to abuse opposition leaders, supporters, and 
family members. 
(10) An estimated 112 political leaders, human 
rights activists, community leaders, and journalists, 
including the chairman of the CUD (Hailu Shawel), 
the newly elected Mayor of Addis Ababa (Berhanu 
Nega), and the founder of the Ethiopian Human 
Rights Council (Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam), 
were imprisoned and charged with treason and geno-
cide. These measures were deliberately taken to sti-
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fle and criminalize opposition party activity in the 
country. The measures also were intended to intimi-
date and silence independent press and civil society, 
raising serious questions about the Ethiopian Gov-
ernment’s commitment to democracy and good gov-
ernance. 
SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN ETHIOPIA. 
The Secretary of State shall— 
(1) establish a mechanism to provide financial 
support to local and national human rights groups 
and other relevant civil society organizations to help 
strengthen human rights monitoring and regular re-
porting on human rights conditions in Ethiopia; 
(2) establish a program to provide legal support 
for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience 
and to assist local groups or groups from outside 
Ethiopia that are active in monitoring the status of 
political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in 
Ethiopia; 
(3) seek to increase the independence of the 
Ethiopian judiciary through facilitation of joint dis-
cussions for court personnel, officials from the Ethi-
opian Ministry of Justice, relevant members of the 
legislature, and civil society representatives on inter-
national human rights standards; 
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(4) create and support a judicial monitoring 
process, consisting of local and international groups, 
to monitor judicial proceedings throughout Ethiopia, 
with special focus on unwarranted government inter-
vention in strictly judicial matters, and to inves-
tigate and report on actions to strengthen an inde-
pendent judiciary; 
(5) establish a program to strengthen private 
media in Ethiopia, provide support for training pur-
poses, offer technical and other types of support as 
necessary, and expand programming by the Voice of 
America to Ethiopia; and 
(6) establish a mechanism to— 
(A) identify and extradite members of the 
Mengistu Haile Mariam regime and the current 
government who reside in the United States 
and who were engaged in gross human rights 
violations; and 
(B) work with other governments to iden-
tify and extradite such persons, including 
Mengistu Haile Mariam. 
SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIZATION IN ETHIOPIA. 
(a) STRENGTHENING LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND NA-
TIONAL DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES.—The Secretary of 
State shall— 
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(1) provide assistance to strengthen local, re-
gional, and national parliaments and governments in 
Ethiopia through training in consultation with gov-
ernment authorities, political parties, and civil soci-
ety groups; 
(2) establish a program focused on reconcili-
ation efforts between the Government of Ethiopia 
and peaceful political and civil society groups, in-
cluding in minority communities, in preparation for 
negotiation and for participation in the political 
process; 
(3) strengthen training for political parties in 
Ethiopia in areas such as organization building and 
campaign management; 
(4) provide training for civil society groups in 
election monitoring in Ethiopia; and 
(5) facilitate ongoing communications between 
ruling and opposition political parties through the 
National Election Board (NEB) in order to address 
issues such as delimitation of constituencies, voter 
registration, political party registration, candidate 
registration, and related matters to enhance the 
credibility of the next elections in Ethiopia. 
(b) DEMOCRACY ENHANCEMENT.— 
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(1) ASSISTANCE.—United States technical as-
sistance for democracy promotion in Ethiopia shall 
be made available to the ruling party as well as to 
opposition parties in Ethiopia. 
(2) RESTRICTION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Nonessential United 
States assistance may not be made available to 
the Government of Ethiopia if the Government 
of Ethiopia acts to obstruct United States tech-
nical assistance to advance human rights, de-
mocracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom 
of the press, economic development, and eco-
nomic freedom in Ethiopia. 
(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 
term ‘‘nonessential United States assistance’’ 
means assistance under any provision of law, 
other than humanitarian assistance, assistance 
under emergency food programs, assistance to 
combat HIV/AIDS, and other health care as-
sistance. 
SEC. 6. ENSURING GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR HUMAN 
RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY, AND ECONOMIC DE-
VELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA. 
(a) LIMITATION ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE; TRAVEL 
RESTRICTIONS.— 
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(1) LIMITATION ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), security assistance may not 
be provided to Ethiopia until such time as the 
certification described in paragraph (3) is made 
in accordance with such paragraph. 
(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall 
not apply with respect to peacekeeping or 
counter-terrorism assistance. Peacekeeping or 
counter-terrorism assistance provided to Ethi-
opia may not be used for any other security-re-
lated purpose or to provide training to security 
personnel or units accused of human rights vio-
lations against civilians. 
(2) TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS.—Beginning on the 
date that is 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act and until such time as the certification 
described in paragraph (3) is made in accordance 
with such paragraph, the President shall deny the 
issuance of a visa to and admission to the United 
States to— 
(A) any official of the Government of Ethi-
opia who— 
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(i) has been involved in giving orders 
to use lethal force against peaceful dem-
onstrators in Ethiopia; or 
(ii) has been accused of gross human 
rights violations; 
(B) security personnel of the Government 
of Ethiopia who were involved in the June 2005 
or November 2005 shootings of demonstrators; 
and 
(C) Ethiopian civilians who were involved 
in the November 2005 killings of seven police-
men in Ethiopia. 
(3) 
CERTIFICATION.—The 
certification 
de-
scribed in this paragraph is a certification by the 
President to Congress that the Government of Ethi-
opia is making credible, quantifiable efforts to en-
sure that— 
(A) all political prisoners and prisoners of 
conscience in Ethiopia have been released, their 
civil and political rights restored, and their 
property returned; 
(B) prisoners held without charge or kept 
in detention without fair trial in violation of the 
Constitution of Ethiopia are released or receive 
a fair and speedy trial, and prisoners whose 
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charges have been dismissed or acquitted and 
are still being held are released without delay; 
(C) all capital assets of United States citi-
zens and of entities not less than 50 percent 
beneficially owned by United States citizens 
that have been nationalized, expropriated, or 
otherwise seized by the Ethiopian government 
before the date of the enactment of this Act in 
contravention of international law are returned 
or a mutually agreed upon restitution agree-
ment is performed; 
(D) the Ethiopian judiciary is able to func-
tion independently and allowed to uphold the 
Ethiopian 
Constitution 
and 
international 
human rights standards; 
(E) the investigation of the killing of civil-
ian protesters by Ethiopian security forces is 
credible, transparent, and those involved in the 
unlawful killing are punished; 
(F) family members, legal counsel, and 
others have unfettered access to visit detainees 
in Ethiopian prisons; 
(G) print and broadcast media in Ethiopia 
are able to operate free from undue inter-
ference, and laws restricting media freedom, in-
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cluding sections of the Ethiopian Federal 
Criminal Code, are revised; 
(H) licensing of independent radio and tel-
evision in Ethiopia is open and transparent; 
(I) access in Ethiopia is provided to the 
Internet and the ability of citizens to freely 
send and receive electronic mail and otherwise 
obtain information is guaranteed; 
(J) the National Election Board (NEB) in-
cludes representatives of political parties with 
seats in the Ethiopian Parliament and guaran-
tees independence for the NEB in its decision- 
making; 
(K) representatives of international human 
rights organizations engaged in human rights 
monitoring work in Ethiopia are admitted to 
Ethiopia without undue restriction; and 
(L) Ethiopian human rights organizations 
are able to operate in an environment free of 
harassment, intimidation, and persecution. 
(4) WAIVER.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The President may 
waive the application of paragraph (1) or (2) on 
a case-by-case basis if the President determines 
that— 
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(i) to the maximum extent practicable, 
the Government of Ethiopia has met the 
requirement of paragraph (3)(A); and 
(ii) such a waiver is in the national in-
terests of the United States. 
(B) NOTIFICATION.—Prior to granting a 
waiver under the authority of subparagraph 
(A), the President shall transmit to Congress a 
notification that includes the reasons for the 
waiver. 
(b) TREATMENT
OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
AND 
PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President, the Secretary 
of State, and other relevant officials of the Govern-
ment of the United States shall call upon the Gov-
ernment of Ethiopia to immediately release all polit-
ical prisoners and prisoners of conscience, especially 
prisoners held without charge. 
(2) TORTURE VICTIM RELIEF.—While it is the 
responsibility of the Government of Ethiopia to com-
pensate the victims of unlawful imprisonment and 
torture and their families for their suffering and 
losses, the President shall provide assistance for the 
rehabilitation of victims of torture in Ethiopia at 
centers established for such purposes pursuant to 
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section 130 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
(22 U.S.C. 2152). 
(c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the Government of the United States should— 
(1) encourage the Government of Ethiopia to 
enter into discussions with the Oromo Liberation 
Front to bring them into full participation in the po-
litical and economic affairs of Ethiopia, including 
their legalization as a political party; and 
(2) provide such assistance as is warranted and 
necessary to help achieve the goal described in para-
graph (1). 
SEC. 7. SUPPORT FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ETHI-
OPIA. 
(a) ECONOMIC POLICY ASSISTANCE.—Utilizing train-
ing and other technical assistance programs offered by the 
Department of the Treasury, the Office of the United 
States Trade Representative, and the Department of Jus-
tice, the President shall assist the Government of Ethiopia 
in developing policies that will address key economic obsta-
cles, including in such areas as budgeting, taxation, debt 
management, bank supervision, anti-money laundering, 
and land title security that inhibit private sector develop-
ment and limit participation in donor programs such as 
the United States Millennium Challenge Account. 
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(b) FINANCING
FOR UNITED STATES-ETHIOPIAN 
COMMERCIAL VENTURES.—Pursuant to the Government 
of Ethiopia’s acceptance of the reforms in subsection (a), 
the President shall make available adequate financing for 
United States and Ethiopian private commercial ventures, 
including programs of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development, the Small Business Administration 
(including the Export Express and Export Working Cap-
ital programs), the Overseas Private Investment Corpora-
tion (including the Small Business Center and the Small 
and Medium Enterprise and Structural Finance pro-
grams), and the Export-Import Bank of the United States 
(including the Short-Term Africa Pilot Program). 
(c) RESOURCE POLICY ASSISTANCE.—The President, 
acting through the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development, shall provide as-
sistance for sustainable development of Ethiopia’s Nile 
and Awash River resources, including assistance to help 
Ethiopia with the technology necessary for the construc-
tion of irrigation systems and hydroelectric power that 
might prevent future famine. 
SEC. 8. REPORT. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the President shall submit to Congress 
a report on the implementation of this Act, including a 
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description of a comprehensive plan to address the secu-
rity, human rights, democratization, and economic free-
dom concerns that potentially threaten the stability of 
Ethiopia. 
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2008 and 2009. 
(b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 
to the authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) 
are authorized to remain available until expended. 
Æ 
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