ENA/ The HR 6600 draft bill passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee is draconian and imbalanced, Ethiopian American Civic Council (EACC) Chairman Deacon Yoseph Tafari said.
“If we just put aside the interests of Ethiopia, is this really a document that would further enhance the interests of the United States? The answer is no because it does not constitute and bring the fundamental factor. It does not address the crisis in Ethiopia. It is imbalanced and skewed to one side,
The so-called Ethiopia Stabilization, Peace and Democracy Act (HR 6600), which calls for hostile US intervention in the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia, was introduced by US Representatives Tom Malinowski and Young Kim last week.
EACC Chairman Deacon Yoseph Tafari told ENA that although the resolution calls for the stabilization and democracy in Ethiopia, it aims to put pressure on Ethiopia.
“If we just put aside the interests of Ethiopia, is this really a document that would further enhance the interests of the United States? The answer is no because it does not constitute and bring the fundamental factor. It does not address the crisis in Ethiopia. It is imbalanced and skewed to one side,” he said.
According to the chairman, it is a more or less an indictment document that basically accuses only one party over the other and glosses over as well as does not refer what the other party or any crimes that the other party has done. It only peaks on the Ethiopian government for all alleged faults that they have come about.
“As a result, if you take that as your basis to formulate a policy that means your interest vis-a-vis Ethiopia would be completely contaminated by such a resolution and that would be used as forming a general policy to deal with a country like Ethiopia,” Yoseph elaborated.
Moreover, he stated that this comes at the time when we have seen early signs of a policy shift in the United States regarding the Government of Ethiopia.
“This policy shift, at least from our sources that we come to understand has to do with, aside from the state department — other branch of the United States government having serious question marks and the way that the United States have conducted itself in dealing with Ethiopia.”
Now bring HR 6600 into the picture, the chairman said, and asked “does it help these early signs of policy shift that we have seen? The answer is no. It harms all, at least the principle of constructive engagement that everybody now starts to talk about.
Deacon Yoseph said, “You don’t bring a resolution that is so draconian, imbalanced, and untimely when you are trying to diplomatically reach out to the Ethiopian government that reciprocated and is willing to engage in a constructive manner without infringing its sovereignty.”
He stressed that the draft bill does not help the interests of the United States. “I’m pretty sure that the National Security Council would follow this issue very closely.”