ESAT News (December 30, 2015)
White House National Security Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement today that the US is “deeply concerned by the recent arrests of other journalists in Ethiopia.” The statement further said “We urge the Ethiopian Government to release journalists and all others imprisoned for exercising their right to free expression, to refrain from using its Anti-Terrorism Proclamation as a mechanism to silence dissent, and to protect the rights of journalists, bloggers, and dissidents to write and speak freely as voices of a diverse nation.”
Close observers of Ethiopian politics and political analysts however say just expressing “deep concern” alone would not cut it. They say it is sad to see that the US is taking no action when the TPLF regime, one of the top US aid recipient in Africa is using the funds to torture and silence its citizens. They called on practical actions against the regime that is getting away with its human rights violations.
The TPLF regime, the darling of the West and considered “a bulwark” against the Islamic extremists in the horn of Africa has so far faced no consequences for the extrajudicial killings and torture it is perpetrating against its citizens.