In WikiLeaks-US embassy cables: US urges Ethiopia to back Copenhagen climate
accord
August 11, 2013
LONDON - On 2 February 2009, a cable from Addis Ababa reports a meeting
between the US undersecretary of state Maria Otero and the Ethiopian prime
minister, Meles Zenawi, who leads the African Union's climate change
negotiations.
The confidential cable records a blunt US threat to Zenawi: sign the accord
or discussion ends now. Zenawi responds that Ethiopia will support the
accord, but has a concern of his own: that a personal assurance from Barack
Obama on delivering the promised aid finance is not being honoured.
The failed Copenhagen climate change summit produced only a non-binding
Accord, but the agreement suits US interests as it presents more chance of
forcing China to act. US diplomats campaign hard around the world for
support for the Accord. Here, the US bluntly urges Ethiopia, whose Prime
Minister leads the African Union's climate negotiations. By November 2010,
140 nations have backed the Accord, at the upper end of the US
target.(Source: Damian Carrington; The Guardian)
The full text follows here:
1. (SBU) January 31, 2010; 4:15 p.m.; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2. (SBU) Participants:
U.S. Under Secretary Otero Assistant Secretary Carson NSC Senior Director
for African Affairs Michelle Gavin PolOff Skye Justice (notetaker)
Ethiopia Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Special Assistant Gebretensae
Gebremichael
Summary
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3. (C) Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Under Secretary for Democracy and
Global Affairs Maria Otero his government placed no restrictions on its
citizens' democratic and civil rights, only the right of foreign entities to
fund them. Foreign funding of civil society organizations (CSOs) is
antithetical to democratization, he said, as it makes civil society leaders
accountable to foreign entities rather than their own members, turning the
concept of democratic accountability on its head. Democracy in Ethiopia must
develop organically, and Ethiopians must organize and fund themselves and
defend their own rights. Meles assured U/S Otero that Ethiopia's upcoming
elections will be free, fair, transparent, and peaceful, and elaborated
steps his government has taken to ensure this. While opposition groups may
resort to violence in an attempt to discredit the election, the GoE will
enforce the recently enacted Electoral Code of Conduct and its existing
election laws without regard to party affiliation. Meles said he has warned
opposition leaders that the international community will not be able to save
them should they violate Ethiopian law, but rather if they do so they will
face the same fate as opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa, who will
"vegetate in jail forever." The U.S. delegation noted that Ethiopia's
forthcoming elections would be closely watched in the U.S., and urged Meles
to exercise wise judgment and leadership, give the opposition more political
space, and consider the release of Birtukan Midekssa.
4. (C) Meles said the GoE is not enthusiastic about Kenya's Jubaland
initiative, but is sharing intelligence with Kenya and hoping for success.
In the event the initiative is not successful, the GoE has plans in place to
limit the destabilizing impacts on Ethiopia. On climate change, Meles said
the GoE fully supports the Copenhagen accord, but is disappointed with signs
the U.S. may not support his proposed panel to monitor international
financial contributions under the accord. Meles made no substantive comment
on inquiries regarding the liberalization of banking and telecommunications
in Ethiopia. End summary.
Foreign Funding of CSOs Antithetical to Democratization
5. (C) Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told U/S Otero the development of a
strong democracy and civil society is the only way Ethiopia can ensure peace
and unity among an ethnically and religiously divided population. He noted
that the Government of Ethiopia's (GoE) commitment to democracy is directly
related to stability, adding that for Ethiopia, "democratization is a matter
of survival." Responding to U/S Otero's concern that Ethiopia's
recently-enacted CSO law threatened the role of civil society, Meles said
while the GoE welcomes foreign funding of charities, those Ethiopians who
want to engage in political activity should organize and fund themselves.
The leaders of CSOs that receive foreign funding are not accountable to
their organizations, he said, but rather to the sources of their funding,
turning the concept of democratic accountability on its head. Meles asserted
that Ethiopians were not too poor to organize themselves and establish their
own democratic traditions, recalling that within his lifetime illiterate
peasants and poor students had overthrown an ancient imperial dynasty.
6. (C) Meles said his country's inability to develop a strong democracy was
not due to insufficient understanding of democratic principles, but rather
because Ethiopians had not internalized those principles. Ethiopia should
follow the example of the U.S. and European countries, he said, where
democracy developed organically and citizens had a stake in its
establishment. When people are committed to democracy and forced to make
sacrifices for it, Meles said, "they won't let any leader take it away from
them." But "when they are spoon-fed democracy, they will give it up when
their source of funding and encouragement is removed." Referencing his own
struggle against the Derg regime, Meles said he and his compatriots received
no foreign funding, but were willing to sacrifice and die for their cause,
and Ethiopians today must take ownership of their democratic development, be
willing to sacrifice for it, and defend their own rights.
7. (C) Meles drew a clear distinction between Ethiopians' democratic and
civil rights on the one hand, and the right of foreign entities to fund
those rights on the other. There is no restriction on Ethiopians' rights, he
asserted, merely on foreign funding, adding that the U.S. has similar laws.
U/S Otero countered that while the U.S. does not allow foreign funding of
political campaigns, there is no restriction on foreign funding of NGOs. Ms.
Gavin noted the examples of foreign support for the abolitionist movement in
the U.S. and for the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa as positive
examples of foreign engagement of civil society, and expressed that aside
from the issue of foreign funding, the ability of local organizations to
legally register, operate, and contribute to democratic discourse was of
tantamount importance.
GoE Will Hold Free and Fair Elections, Despite Opposition
8. (C) Meles assured U/S Otero that Ethiopia's upcoming electoral process
will be free, fair, transparent, and peaceful. The GoE has learned from the
violence that followed the 2005 elections, he said, and taken action to
ensure that violence is not repeated. Meles said the recently signed
Electoral Code of Conduct (CoC) was not done for the benefit of political
parties, but for the Ethiopian people. The people will ultimately judge
political actors, he said, and they must have parameters agreed to by the
parties by which they will judge those actors. After the CoC was passed,
Meles noted, the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) gathered over 1,300 of its senior leaders to discuss party strategy
and train all leaders on the CoC. The EPRDF knows violations of the CoC by
its members will hurt the party and provide a rallying cry for the
opposition. This message will flow down to all EPRDF members, he said, so
that they know what is expected of them, and know both the courts and the
party will hold them accountable to the CoC.
9. (C) Meles told U/S Otero he feared a repeat of the 2005 violence, and
that many opposition members were not interested in peaceful elections, but
would rather discredit the electoral process. As such, the EPRDF cannot give
them any excuse to resort to violence. Meles noted that in addition to
opposition political parties, the GoE had intelligence that the Oromo
Liberation Front (OLF), Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), and
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki were all directly or indirectly involved
in plots to discredit the elections. The EPRDF, he said, would "let them be"
to show the population that even though their opponents' goal is not peace,
the EPRDF will abide by the law.
10. (C) Meles recalled that in 2005, he had told opposition leaders in the
presence of the diplomatic corps that they should not believe foreign allies
would protect them if they violated the laws of Ethiopia. Opposition leaders
were right to believe the diplomatic corps would try to protect them, he
said, as evidenced by the statement they issued demanding the release of
opposition politicians upon their arrest in 2005. Today, Meles said, foreign
embassies are inadvertently conveying the same message, that they will
protest the jailing of opposition leaders and potentially take action
against Ethiopia to secure their release. However, the GoE has made clear to
both opposition and EPRDF leaders that nothing can protect them except the
laws and constitution of Ethiopia, and the GoE will clamp down on anyone who
violates those laws. "We will crush them with our full force," Meles said,
and "they will vegetate like Birtukan (Midekssa) in jail forever."
ADDIS ABAB 00000163 003 OF 003
11. (C) In an extended discussion in response to Meles' comments, U/S Otero,
A/S Carson, and Ms. Gavin noted that Ethiopia's forthcoming elections would
be closely watched in the U.S. and that the GoE's treatment of the
opposition would be subject to public criticism by the Ethiopian diaspora
and U.S. political figures. The U.S. delegation urged Meles to exercise wise
judgment and leadership, give the opposition more political space, and
consider the release of Birtukan Midekssa. A/S Carson stressed the
importance of putting Ethiopia's democracy on an upward and positive
trajectory, and not letting it atrophy or slide backward, using the suffrage
and civil rights movements in the U.S. as an illustration of challenges the
U.S. has faced as it improved its own democratic system. (Note: Three
quarters of the nearly two-hour meeting focused on democracy. End note.)
Ethiopia Not Enthusiastic About Jubaland Initiative
12. (C) Meles said he had been briefed extensively regarding Kenya's
Jubaland initiative. Because Ethiopia had previously intervened in Somalia
without seeking Kenyan approval, he said, the GoE would not presume to
analyze the Kenyans' chances for success in their own intervention. The GoE
is sharing intelligence with Kenya, but Meles expressed a lack of confidence
in Kenya's capacity to pull off a tactical success, which he feared could
have negative regional impacts. The GoE is therefore working to minimize the
likelihood of a spillover effect in Ethiopia's Somali Regional State. Noting
that Ethiopia might have underestimated Kenya, Meles said, "We are not
enthusiastic, but we are hoping for success."
GoE Prepared to Move Forward from Copenhagen
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13. (C) U/S Otero urged Meles to sign the Copenhagen accord on climate
change and explained that it is a point of departure for further discussion
and movement forward on the topic. She noted that while the agreement has
its limitations, it has the international community moving in the right
direction. Meles responded that the GoE supported the accord in Copenhagen
and would support it at the AU Summit. However, he expressed his
disappointment that despite President Obama's personal assurance to him that
finances committed in Copenhagen would be made available, he had received
word from contacts at the UN that the U.S. was not supportive of Ethiopia's
proposal for a panel to monitor financial pledges regarding climate change.
Ms. Gavin assured the Prime Minister that she would look into his concerns.
No Promises on Liberalizing Telecoms, Banking
---------------------------------------------
14. (C) U/S Otero and A/S Carson encouraged Meles to hasten steps to
liberalize the telecommunications and banking industries in Ethiopia, and
highlighted both the micro- and macroeconomic benefits of liberalization.
Meles offered no substantive response to A/S Carson's query whether any
progress had been made toward liberalizing or otherwise improving
telecommunications, joking that Americans' concept of time was much faster
than Ethiopians'. In response to U/S Otero's recognition of the important
role of private banks in microfinance projects that directly benefit the
poor, and assurance that private and state-owned banks could thrive
side-by-side, Meles said he would be happy to discuss the issue in the
future.