Kinijit for Unity and Democracy

Washington Update

October 29, 2007

1. The top priority in Washington is getting HR 2003 introduced in, and then passed by the Senate. Meetings with Senate staff indicate that there is not much awareness of the issue, even among Senators who have strong interests in international relations issues. The Meles regime has been very active in Congress, spreading disinformation and fear. It is essential that Ethiopian-Americans work to educate their Senators about the dismal human rights and democracy situation in Ethiopia and express their support for HR 2003. To counter the false messages that the Ethiopian embassy’s lobbyists are spreading, it is important to counter the idea that supporting human rights in Ethiopia will erode support for the war on terrorism. Tell your Senator that the Ethiopian regime is watering the seeds of terrorism by repressing its own people, by terrorizing its own people, and by creating economic and social situations that are leading millions of Ethiopians to lose hope in peaceful, democratic change. Ethiopian-American groups from around the country should work to ensure that Senators and Senate staff know that there are many Ethiopians in who are passionately interested in seeing the U.S. support human rights and democracy in Ethiopia. For example, Fairfax County, Virginia Ethiopian-Americans have recently briefed their state delegations on the issues. Ethiopian-Americans should contact their Senator’s staff, both in their home state and in Washington. To get the contact information, visit

http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

2. To coordinate congressional communications efforts, three liaison groups have been created to coordinate for the East, Midwest and West. Individuals interested in communicating with Senators representing eastern states should contact Mesfin Mekonen, mmekonen@aol.com The Midwest contact is Ato Tamerat Mengesha, Nassiryemam@MSN.COM The West coast contact is Ato Eskender Berhanu, EEBKS@AOL.COM

3. For those Ethiopians who have expressed concern, Engineer Hailu Shawel, President of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) in Ethiopia, is doing very well.

4. Rep. Chris Smith’s speech and press conference on HR 2003 continue to attract media attention. The Epoch Times wrote an excellent piece today. (http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-10-29/61318.html).

Today’s issue of the National Press Club Record also includes a piece about Rep.

Smith’s newsmaker event (http://www.press.org/about/record/2007/Record10-29.pdf).

Mesfin Mekonen, KIC