Washington, D.C, October 04, 2007 – The US House of Representatives showed their support for a bill that would impose travel sanctions on Ethiopian officials and block military assistance to the country. The bill, which was passed on Tuesday, is a measure to force Ethiopian government to improve its track on democracy and human rights. Meanwhile, the bill was criticized by the Bush administration because Ethiopia is an important U.S. military ally in the African continent.

Legislator Donald Payne told BBC, that the bill, called the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act, "was passed because there has been a serious problem with democracy in Ethiopia."

The bill was introduced by the Congressmen as there have been many reports on the rise of human rights violence in Ethiopia. The country has reported violence after the crackdown on opposition supporters after 2005 elections.

Ethiopia is regarded as an important U.S. ally in the region to fight against its "war on terror" and the Al-Qaeda group. Last year, the U.S. had supported Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia, which increased human rights violations in its eastern Ogaden region bordering Somalia.

Additionally, U.S. troops have trained Ethiopian soldiers to protect their borders, reports say.

The bill stresses Ethiopia to bring democratic reforms in to the country, release imprisoned opposition leaders, to punish the security forces violating human rights, to form an independent judiciary system and to maintain the freedom of press. If the bill becomes law, it will also impose sanctions on the military aid of at least $1.5 million, reports BBC.

According to reports, Ethiopian government has accepted that last year its security forces killed around 200 civilians who were protesting against the controversial election.

"Two years later people are still being imprisoned. There are still problems in the Ogaden region. People are having food kept away from them. That's why we finally said we need to move forward with it, Legislator Payne told BBC.

Source: AHN

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