Ethiopia–United States relations

Ethiopia-United States relations are bilateral relations between Ethiopia and the United States. Ethiopia is a strategic partner of the United States in the Global War on Terrorism. U.S. development assistance to Ethiopia is focused on reducing famine vulnerability, hunger, and poverty and emphasizes economic, governance, and social sector policy reforms. Some military training funds, including training in such issues as the laws of war and observance of human rights, also are provided.

U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia

Principal U.S. Officials include Ambassador Donald Y. Yamamoto and Deputy Chief of Mission Deborah Malac.

The U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia is located in Addis Ababa.

Global War on Terrorism

Ethiopia is a country that the US finds useful in counter-terrorism, but has human rights policies of which the US does not approve. Jendayi Frazer, head of US African policy as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs at the Bureau of African Affairs, spoke of “unprecedented” agreements between the Ethiopian opposition and government, which she said were “a monumental advancement in the political environment”. Examples she gave included reform of the National Electoral Board and a new code of conduct for the press. But she added that the US had raised “strong concerns” about human rights violations.

Pre-World War II

U.S.-Ethiopian relations were established in 1903 and were good throughout the period prior to the Italian occupation in 1935.

Post World War II to 1978

After World War II, these ties strengthened on the basis of a September 1951 treaty of amity and economic relations. In 1953, two agreements were signed: a mutual defense assistance agreement, under which the United States agreed to furnish military equipment and training, and an accord regularizing the operations of a U.S. communication facility at Asmara. Through fiscal year 1978, the United States provided Ethiopia with $282 million in military assistance and $366 million in economic assistance in agriculture, education, public health, and transportation. A Peace Corps program emphasized education, and U.S. Information Service educational and cultural exchanges were numerous.

Mengistu Regime

After Ethiopia's revolution, the bilateral relationship began to cool due to the Derg's linking with international communism and U.S. revulsion at the Derg's human rights abuses. The United States rebuffed Ethiopia's request for increased military assistance to intensify its fight against the Eritrean secessionist movement and to repel the Somali invasion. The International Security and Development Act of 1985 prohibited all U.S. economic assistance to Ethiopia with the exception of humanitarian disaster and emergency relief. In July 1980, the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia was recalled at the request of the Ethiopian Government, and the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Embassy in the United States were headed by Charges d'Affaires.

Post-Mengistu regime

With the downfall of the Mengistu regime, U.S.-Ethiopian relations improved dramatically. Legislative restrictions on assistance to Ethiopia other than humanitarian assistance were lifted. Diplomatic relations were upgraded to the ambassadorial level in 1992. Total U.S. government assistance, including food aid, between 1991 and 2003 was $2.3 billion. During the severe drought year of FY 2003, the U.S. provided a record $553.1 million in assistance, of which $471.7 million was food aid.

Ethiopia 2005

Because of Ethiopia's known human rights abuses such as the massacre of 193 protesters after the 2005 presidential elections, there is conflict between the strategic interest Ethiopia provides in the War on Terror and the human rights this war is allegedly addressing. The Bush Administration and Samuel Assefa, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the US are strongly opposed to the EDAA.cite web|date=3 October 2007|title=Ethiopia: U.S. Congress Acts on Human Rights|publisher=allafrica.com|author=Kennedy, Brian|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200710030073.html]

Ethiopia 2006

At the end of 2006, the US gave implicit backing to Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia, which Washington feared had become a haven for Islamist militants. As of December 2006, training for the Ethiopians is coming from the US military. [citation
journal=Stars and Stripes
title=U.S. trainers prepare Ethiopians to fight
author=Morin, Monte
date=December 30, 2006
url=http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=41429&archive=true] CIA has subsidized secular Somali militias.

Ethiopia 2007

The U.S. Congress, however, has set conditions, over the objections of the Bush Administration. In October, the House of Representatives passed the EDAA,EDAA] banning "military" aid, for other than counter-terror and peacekeeping unless Ethiopia improves its human rights record. The bill seeks to restrict U.S. military aid for any purpose other than counter-terrorism and peacekeeping purposes. If the President certifies that all political prisoners have been released and independent media can function without excessive interference, full, normal military aid can resume . The US will provide around $300 million of aid to Ethiopia this year but it is unclear how much would be affected by the bill, which also exempts humanitarian, healthcare and emergency food assistance. It would restrict security assistance and impose travel restrictions on Ethiopian officials accused of human rights violations unless Ethiopia met the conditions – although the legislation would give the president a waiver to prevent such measures from taking force. The bill still has to pass the Senate before being presented to the Administration.

Concurrent with U.S. having issues with Ethiopia regarding Ethiopia's internal human rights practices, CIA is using Ethiopia as a base for black sites to secretly interrogate undeclared prisoners in the Global War on Terrorism. [ [http://www.democracynow.org/2007/4/5/outsourced_guantanamo_fbi_cia_interrogating_detainees "‘Outsourced Guantanamo’–FBI & CIA Interrogating Detainees in Secret Ethiopian Jails, U.S. Citizen Among Those Held", Democracy Now!, April 5, 2007] ]

The Act also exempts counter-terrorism, peacekeeping operations and international military training from any funding restrictions, a reflection of Ethiopia’s military capabilities and its perceived role as a source of stability in the volatile Horn of Africa.citation|journal=The Financial Times|date=October 3, 2007|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/caca776c-71e1-11dc-8960-0000779fd2ac.html|title=Ethiopia bill faces Bush backlash|author=Jopson, Barney|coauthor=Daniel Dombey in Washington]

See also

* Foreign relations of the United States
* Foreign relations of Ethiopia
* CIA activities in Ethiopia
* [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2859.htm#relations]

References