Congressman Urges State Department to Boldly Address Ethiopian Violence

Mike Coffman

ESAT News (November 4, 2016

Representative Mike Coffman of the Colorado 6th District today sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging “bold” action to address issues associated with the Ethiopian government’s excessive use of force against anti-government protesters in the Oromo and Amhara regions of Ethiopia.

“On behalf of the Ethiopian-American community in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, we are deeply concerned over the continued violence in the Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia,” Coffman said in a letter to Kerry.

“The Ethiopian government’s excessive use of force during early protests against the government has led to a much broader response as a large number of Ethiopian citizens question their diminishing freedoms under what the State Department has indicated is an increasingly authoritarian Ethiopian government.”

The Congressman further writes “It is clearly in the best interests of the United States and the Ethiopian people to work to ensure the Ethiopian government promotes basic freedoms and does not sponsor, condone, or tolerate the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters,”

“I also urge the State Department to closely scrutinize U.S. humanitarian and economic aid provided to Ethiopia,” representative Coffman said in the letter.