by Engidu Woldie
ESAT News (April 5, 2018)
The U.S. House of Representative will hold a vote on Tuesday on House Resolution 128, a.k.a. H. Res. 128, a resolution supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusive governance in Ethiopia.
Congressman Mike Coffman, who represent Colorado’s 6th district and who works closely with the Ethiopian community on the resolution broke the news on his twitter today saying the resolution will be on the House floor this coming Tuesday.
“I’m happy to announce the #Hres128 will be on the Floor of the House of Representatives this coming Tuesday,” tweeted the Congressman.
House majority leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) said in early February that the Ethiopian regime was given an ultimatum to announce by February 28, 2018 that it would allow rapporteurs appointed by the United Nations to independently investigate the state of human rights in Ethiopia.
According to the majority leader, if the regime fails to do so, House Resolution 128, a resolution supporting human rights in Ethiopia, will be put to the floor of the House for vote.
“There is no question this resolution has had and continues to have an impact. We are committed to the shared goal that the human rights of every Ethiopian should be respected, honored, and protested,” McCarthy said in a communication with Ethiopian activist groups in early February.
The resolution, among others, also calls for sanctions against Ethiopian officials responsible for committing gross human rights violations as provided for in the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
H. Res. 128 was introduced in the House in February 2017 in response to a widespread brutal and deadly repression of the Ethiopian regime against protesters demanding political and economic freedom.
Hundreds were killed by the TPLF Agazi soldiers and tens of thousands detained and still over one million people have been displaced in the last three years of protest that simply demands the end to misrule by a Tigrayan elite and the formation of a popular government.
A parliament with 100% of seats held by the ruling EPRDF elected a new Prime Minister on Monday. Abiy Ahmed has assume his position but Ethiopians wonder if he could bring any change in a regime where political, economic and military power is under the control of a minority Tigrayan clique in power since 1991.