A new bill “to reaffirm United States objectives in Ethiopia and encourage critical democratic and humanitarian principles and practices, and for other purposes” was introduced in U.S. Senate by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI) with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) as a co-sponsor on August 5, 2010. Sen. Feingold is the chairman of the Senate Sub-Committee on African Affairs.
The bill (number: S.3757 of the 111th Congress) has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. A similar bill, S.3457 of the 110th Congress, was killed by lobbyists heavily paid by the government of dictator Meles Zenawi in 2008; as much as $4.4-million was paid to Washington-DC lobbyists by the poor country of Ethiopia under the Zenawi dictatorship – according to a Foreign Policy publication of June 2009.
Below is the latest full text of the “Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2010.”
S.3757 — Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2010 (Introduced in Senate – IS)
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Fikru : He Distanced Himself From The Fake Protest
An increasing number of Ethiopians who took part in the TPLF’s scam and sham demonstration in Washington DC on August 5, 2010 are asking for removal of their names and pictures from the “Name and Shame” website which shows photographs of the ralliers. These Ethiopians explained that they took part because they were misled about the objective of the demonstration. They thought it was solely about genuine national concerns such as the international distribution of the Nile water. When showing up, they found out that the demonstration organisers actually wanted to take advantage of the ralliers to pretend that the TPLF’s attacks against Human Rights Watch, and generally the government’s repression in Ethiopia, had the backing of diaspora members.
A participant of the TPLF rally, called Fikru and residing in the DC area, expressed his regret for being a part of the demonstration that was intended to mislead the American public, the Obama administration, and the Ethiopian population. Expressing his apology to the people of Ethiopia and Ethiopians in the Diaspora, Fikru asked March 4 Freedom to remove his picture from the Name and Shame website and confirmed that he would go on the air at Addis Dimits Radio to expose the TPLF’s demonstration scam. Fikru also stated that the contents of the demonstration did not reflect his beliefs about democracy in Ethiopia and added that he is not in any way affiliated with repressive regime.
We have therefore removed his photograph and name from the Name and Shame website.
