Reported International situation (as per 31 March)
https://martinplaut.com/2021/04/01/situ ... eQ0rk84WyQ
– The US Congressional committee on Foreign Affairs is increasing pressure on the Biden administration to take more forceful action over the pressing humanitarian situation in the Tigray region. It is urging the administration to use targeted sanctions immediately on all involved parties, including Ethiopia.
– The move came through a bipartisan letter from Gregory Meeks, Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and ranking Republicain Michael McCaul was sent to US Secretary of State A. Blinken and Sec. of Treasury Janet Yellen.
– The letter says: “We urge the [Biden] administration to utilise all available tools, including Global Magnitsky authorities and other targeted sanctions, to hold parties accountable for their actions and bring an end to this crisis.”
– The letter implicates all sides in such abuses and stresses that additional targeted accountability measures cannot wait. It also says that the conflict threatens problems for the future of US-Ethiopia bilateral relation if the situation does not improve. “While we remain committed to the important bilateral relationship between the US and Ethiopia, this conflict jeopardises shared political, economic and security priorities,” Mr Meeks & Mr McCaul wrote.
– The US state department has released its annual reports on human rights around the world. It indicated that there has been a dramatic increase in ethnic tensions and resulting violence.
– It finds that millions of Ethiopians have been displaced in recent years, most of them due to violence.
– It also concludes that the Ethiopian government, Eritrea, TPLF, regional militias, and other armed forces have committed human rights abuses, extrajudicial killings, sexual assaults, and others.
– Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Africa Centre, argued that Washington is following a gradual approach in ratcheting up the pressure on Ethiopia.
– “We [the US] have already suspended our development assistance and our security assistance. Those moves seem to have very little impact in changing [Addis Ababa’s] approach to the conflict in Tigray. The next level of pressure is clearly going to be direct punitive measures,” added Mr Hudson.
– Mr Hudson states the letter addressed to Mr Blinken and copied to Ms Yellen, is an indication of potential sanctions by the departments of State and Treasury. “This likely will translate into sanctions unless Washington starts to see greater movement on the key issues it is asking for changes on, namely the withdrawal of Eritrean and Amhara forces, the launch of the international human rights investigation, unhindered humanitarian access and some sort of domestic political dialogue,” Mr Hudson said.
– On the role of Treasury specifically, Mr Hudson said: “The Treasury does two big things that affect US policy on Ethiopia: It administers US sanctions and it controls the US vote at the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) … The US has leverage in denying or delaying Ethiopia multilateral financing and assistance and not just bilateral assistance.”