![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.satenaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Chris-Smith.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nChristopher \u201cChris\u201d Smith Representative for New Jersey\u2019s 4th congressional district Republican<\/p>\n
The\u00a0House is set to vote next week on HR 128 (2017),\u00a0a resolution supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusive governance in Ethiopia.\u00a0 We, the Ethiopian American Council, would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey for authoring this critical resolution.\u00a0 We also would like to thank the 68 co-sponsors.
\nThe Ethiopian government is heavily lobbying Congressman Chris Smith to delay the vote on the resolution.\u00a0 The Ethiopian government claims that it is currently negotiating with the Ethiopian opposition groups and that HR 128 might impede that progress.\u00a0 The Ethiopian government\u2019s position is bogus and designed to stall HR 128.\u00a0 If the Ethiopian government is sincere in its desire to start political negotiation with the opposition groups, it has to meet the following calls outlined in HR 128:
\nend the use of excessive force by security forces;
\ninvestigate the killings and excessive use of force that took place as a result of protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions;
\nrelease dissidents, activists, and journalists who have been imprisoned for exercising their constitutional rights;
\nrespect the right to peaceful assembly and guarantee freedom of the press;
\nengage in open consultations with citizens regarding its development strategy;
\nallow a United Nations rapporteur to conduct an independent examination of the state of human rights in Ethiopia;
\naddress the grievances brought forward by representatives of registered opposition parties;
\nhold accountable those responsible for killing, torturing, and detaining innocent civilians who exercised their constitutional rights; and
\ninvestigate and report on the circumstances surrounding the September 3, 2016 shootings and fire at Qilinto Prison, the deaths of persons in attendance at the annual Irreecha festivities at Lake Hora near Bishoftu on October 2, 2016, and the ongoing killings of civilians over several years in the Somali Regional State by police.
\nThe Ethiopian American Council calls on such government to repeal proclamations that:
\ncan be used to harass or prohibit funding for organizations that investigate human rights violations, engage in peaceful political dissent, or advocate for greater political freedoms;
\nprohibit those displaced from their land from seeking judicial redress;
\npermit the detention of peaceful protesters and political opponents who legally exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association; and
\nLimit peaceful nonprofit operations in Ethiopia.
\nA genuine political negotiation between the government of Ethiopia and the opposition groups cannot take place under the current repressive political environment.
\nEthiopian-Americans Must Help
\nThough House Resolution 128 is not a law, it would inform American politicians, the rest of the U.S. population, and the entire world, how the U.S. Congress perceives the plight of the Ethiopian people and the action it would recommend to correct the present human rights and inclusive government shortcomings.
\nAll Ethiopian-American who are registered to vote are urged to contact their congressional representatives and strongly suggest that they support this significant house resolution.
\nThe passage of HR 128 will send a clear message to the Ethiopian government that the United States Congress wants to see real political reforms in Ethiopia.\u00a0 Therefore, we urge all Ethiopian Americans to call your congressional representative to vote yes on HR 128.
\nThe Ethiopian American Council
\nhttps:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/115th-congress\/house-resolution\/128<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
October 5, 2017 19:08 The Ethiopian American Council Christopher \u201cChris\u201d Smith Representative for New Jersey\u2019s 4th congressional district Republican The\u00a0House is set to vote next week on HR 128 (2017),\u00a0a resolution supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusive governance in Ethiopia.\u00a0 We, the Ethiopian American Council, would like to extend a heartfelt thank […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":60382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ethiopanorama.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Chris-Smith.jpg?fit=534%2C401&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60379"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60384,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60379\/revisions\/60384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}