Somaliland's Followup after Successful Elections

 The International Crisis Group (ICG) published on 12 August 2021 an analysis titled "Building on Somaliland's Successful Elections." 

Although long delayed, Somaliland held successful elections in May and August.  The ICG argues, however, that there must be renewed efforts to  include under-represented communities going forward.

Bipartisan House Resoulution Condemns Violence and Human Rights Abuses in Ethiopia

 Two Republicans and two Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced on 7 June 2021 a resolution "Condemning Violence and Human Rights Abuses in Ethiopia."

Representatives Gregory Meeks (Democrat of New York) and Michael McCaul (Republican of Texas), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with Karen Bass (Democrat of California) and Christopher H. Smith (Republican of New Jersey), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights, also issued a joint statement on the situation in Ethiopia.

The statement condemned in the strongest terms the continued violence in Tigray Region.  It added that humanitarian workers must be provided safe, unfettered access to the region to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable communities, called for a cease fire, and the immediate and full withdrawal of Eritrean Defense Forces from Ethiopia.

Two Key Members of Congress Condemn Atrocities in Tigray and Call for US Action

 Representatives Gregory W.  Meeks and Michael McCaul, Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent on 30 March 2021 a bipartisan letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing concern over the growing ongoing conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray Region.  

The letter condemned "in the strongest possible terms reported atrocities and gross violations of human rights committed against civilians, including rape, torture, forced displacement and disappearances, acts of ethnic cleansing, extra-judicial killings, the looting and destruction of medical facilities, and restricted access to aid."  The letter urged the Biden administration "to utilize all available tools, including Global Magnitsky authorities and other targeted sanctions, to hold parties accountable for their actions and bring an end to this crisis."  

The two members of Congress concluded "there is no military solution to the conflict."  They added that "while we remain committed to the important bilateral relationship between the United States and Ethiopia, this conflict jeopardizes shared political, economic and security priorities."

Governance in Somaliland

Somaliland Parliament, 7/24/11. Flickr/Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Africa Research Institute (ARI), an independent, non-partisan think tank based in London, published in May 2013 a paper titled "After Borama: Consensus, Representation and Parliament in Somaliland."

ARI interviewed ten prominent Somalilanders, including the three speakers of the House of Representatives, two government ministers, MPs, civil society activists and representatives of women's organizations.  The conversations focus on the way in which political stability has been secured in the two decades since the landmark 1993 Conference of Elders took place in Borama.  Controversial issues such as clan politics and the concentration of power, the campaign to secure a role for women in politics, the consequences of the lack of voter registration, the future role of the House of Elders, and the conduct of international donors are covered. 

House Hearing on China and Africa

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, is holding a hearing titled "Assessing China's Role and Influence in Africa" at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, 29 March 2012, in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building. I have been invited to join several persons who will testify. For the program, click here.