Ethiopia rubbishes right group report that it abused aid
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
October 21, 2010 (ETHIOPIA) – The government of Ethiopia on Thursday refuted a Human Rights Watch report, which claimed that Ethiopia is using foreign aid as a weapon to suppress political dissent.
Addis Ababa has come under continuous fire in reports by the rights group which accuses the government of widespread rights abuses, including the latest politicizing foreign developmental funds.
The New York-based watchdog released a report on Tuesday accusing the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) of denying opposition members and supporters food and other types of foreign aid to consolidate their grip on power.
Bilateral donors donor nations, such as the European Union, United States, United Kingdom, and Germany were urged to review the donations they grant to the horn of Africa nation.
“It is impossible to believe from its latest report that these are principles to which Human Rights Watch is prepared to adhere to in any genuine manner”, the statement said.
“It is, therefore, hardly surprising that Human Rights Watch should try to threaten the provision of development aid to Ethiopia.”
The statement claimed that the country is currently achieving considerable success in development and has reached four of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals and is on track for two more and said HRW had a vendetta against Ethiopia.
“Indeed, this would appear to be an attempt by Human Rights Watch gratuitously to blackmail the international community as part of its ongoing vendetta against the government of Ethiopia’’, the statement said.
It further said that, the government has been and remains entirely committed to transparency in its dealings with the international community and with aid donors on the basis of mutual trust and responsibility, and of accountability and transparency.
Ethiopia has repeatedly rejected such reports released by Human Rights Watch and accuses the international organization of hurting the image of the country.
The statement by the ministry argued that the Ethiopian government has investigated to similar claims in the past they had been unfounded.
“In January this year, the Development Assistance Group, a 26 aid agency consortium in Ethiopia, investigated similar allegations […] Its report found that safeguards for donor programs were largely working well, that the programs were achieving results and the monitoring mechanisms were sufficient” the statement said.
Ethiopia, one of the world’s largest recipients of foreign aid, received more than US$3 billion in 2008 alone.
(ST)