http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/09/where-does-trudeau-stand-on-ethiopian-repression/
Where does Trudeau stand on Ethiopian repression?
by Yves Engler / September 6th, 2016
Last Tuesday members of the Ethiopian community in Winnipeg called
onCanada to sanction the North East African country. The protesters
are angry about the regime’s violent crackdown in the Oromiya and
Amhara regions of northern Ethiopia. Hundreds of peaceful protesters
have been killed and many more jailed since unrest began over a land
dispute 10 months ago.
As protesters called for sanctions in Winnipeg, Parliamentary
Secretary to the Minister of International Development Katrina Gould
was in Addis Ababa. During a meeting with the Foreign Minister she was
quoted saying, “Ethiopiahas managed to be a sea of stability in a
hostile region.”
Gould’s trip follows on the heels of Harjit Sajjan’s visit last month.
According to an Ethiopian News Agency summary, the defence minister
told Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn: “Canada values Ethiopia’s
contribution in trying to bring stability to Somalia and the South
Sudan.”
In 2006 50,000 Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia, which saw about 6,000
civilians killed and 300,000 flee the country. Washington prodded
Addis Ababa into intervening and the US literally fuelled the
invasion, providing gasoline, arms and strategic guidance as well as
launching air attacks.
The invasion/occupation led to the growth of al-Shabab. Since the
Ethiopia/US invasion the group has waged a violent campaign against
the foreign forces in the country and Somalia’s transitional
government. During this period al-Shabab has grown from being the
relatively small youth wing of the Islamic Courts Union to the leading
oppositional force in the country. It has also radicalized and has
turned from being a national organization towards increasing ties to
Al Qaeda.
The Stephen Harper Conservative government’s public comments on
Somalia broadly supported Ethiopian/US actions. They made no criticism
of US bombings and when prominent Somali-Canadian journalist Ali Iman
Sharmarke was assassinated in Mogadishu in August 2007 then foreign
minister Peter Mackay only condemned “the violence” in the country. He
never mentioned that the assassins were pro-government militia members
with ties to Ethiopian troops. The Conservatives backed a February
2007 UN Security Council resolution that called for an international
force in Somalia. They also endorsed the Ethiopia-installed Somali
government, which had operated in exile.
In what was perhaps the strongest signal of Canadian support for the
outside intervention, Ottawa didn’t make its aid to Ethiopia
contingent on withdrawing from Somalia. Instead they increased
assistance to this strategic US ally that borders Sudan, Eritrea and
Somalia. In 2009 Ethiopia was selected as a “country of focus” for
Canadian aid and this status was reaffirmed in 2014. As one of the top
donors, Canada has been spending over $100 million a year in the
country.
Providing aid to Ethiopia has been controversial not only because of
the invasion and occupation of its neighbor. An October 2010 Globe and
Mailheadline noted: “Ethiopia using Canadian aid as a political
weapon, rights group says.” Human Rights Watch researcher Felix Horne
claimed Ottawa contravened its Official Development Assistance
Accountability Act by continuing to pump aid into Ethiopia despite its
failure to meet international human-rights standards. In addition to
arbitrary detentions, widespread torture and attacks on political
opponents, the Ethiopian government systematically forced rural
inhabitants off their land. This “villagization” program cut many off
from food and health services.
Canadian aid to Ethiopia faced another challenge. In February 2012 the
family of a Somali-Canadian businessman sued Harper’s Conservatives to
prevent them from sending aid to Ethiopia until Bashir Makhtal was
released from prison. In January 2007 Makhtal was “rendered” illegally
from Kenya to Ethiopia, imprisoned without access to a lawyer or
consular official for 18 months and then given a life sentence. The
lawsuit was a last ditch effort by the Makhtal family to force
Ottawa’s hand.
Ottawa should take the recent protests by Ethiopian Canadian activists
seriously. It can start by reversing its near total silence about the
recent repression, which included dozens of demonstrators shot dead
three days before Sajjan’s visit. While severing aid to pressure a
government is often fraught with complications, Canada’s current
policy seems to be enabling Ethiopia’s repressive, interventionist,
policies.
“Canada’s aid to Ethiopia has been a failed experiment in turning
brutal dictators into democrats,” Ethiopian-Canadian human-rights
activist Yohannes Berhe told the Globe and Mail. Ottawa’s policy is
“tantamount to encouraging one of the most repressive regimes in
Africa.”
Yves Engler is the author of Canada in Africa: 300 years of aid and
exploitation. Read other articles by Yves.
Received on Wed Sep 07 2016 - 18:59:40 EDT