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1 [1] (August 19, 2014)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaafod0001 and id is 1 raw text is: $ Congressional Research Service ,~ Informing the Iegis ative debate since 1914 August 19, 2014 Ethiopia: An Overview Ethiopia is Africa's second most populous country and its oldest independent state. The United States considers the Ethiopian government to be an important development and regional security partner, but also a source of concern regarding human rights and democracy. Good relations with the United States are rooted in cooperation on efforts to counter terrorism and respond to instability in the volatile Horn of Africa region, and on shared efforts to alleviate Ethiopia's endemic poverty. The country has been plagued by frequent drought and chronic food insecurity and is one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid, primarily in the form of health, food, and humanitarian assistance. Ethiopia plays a key leadership role in the region and on the continent. It hosts the African Union (AU) and contributes significant numbers of troops to U.N. peacekeeping operations. Ethiopian peacekeepers play a critical role along the volatile Sudan-South Sudan border and in the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Ethiopia, which currently leads the East Africa regional body known as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), hosts various peace negotiations, including the ongoing dialogue between the governments of Sudan and South Sudan and talks between Sudan and its armed opposition. Ethiopia is the lead mediator between the opposing sides of South Sudan's civil war. Ethiopian forces also play a major role in efforts to counter the Al Qaeda- linked terrorist group Al Shabaab in Somalia. Background Ethiopia is one of only two African countries to have avoided colonial rule, and the diplomatic relationship between the United States and Ethiopia dates back more than one hundred years. In the past century, Ethiopia's politics have been largely dominated by three leaders. Emperor Haile Selassie ruled from 1930 to 1974, when he was deposed by a socialist military junta known as the Derg. The Derg was accused of massive human rights abuses (dubbed the Red Terror), and of ignoring a famine that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. An army officer, Mengistu Haile Mariam, became head of state at the helm of the Derg in 1977. In 1989, several ethnically-based opposition groups merged to form the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Front (EPRDF), and in 1991 they overthrew the Derg and Mengistu, who fled to Zimbabwe, where he remains in exile. The EPRDF allowed Eritreans to vote on secession, a key demand of the Eritrean faction of the anti- Derg struggle, leading to Eritrean independence in 1993. EPRDF leader Meles Zenawi served as President of Ethiopia and then as Prime Minister from 1991 until his death in 2012. He was considered a powerful figure in Ethiopian and regional politics. Meles was widely credited d11173008 with spearheading the economic reforms that have made Ethiopia one of Africa's fastest growing economies, despite its relative lack of natural resources. However, as leader of both the EPRDF, an alliance of four ethno-regional parties, and one of its components, the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF), he also was accused by critics of stifling dissent and securing the continued dominance of his minority Tigrayan ethnic group in the government. Current Political Issues Hailemariam Desalegn (deh-sah-LEEN) became Prime Minister in 2012, after Meles' death. As a Protestant, he is Ethiopia's first non-Ethiopian-Orthodox head of state, and is from one of the country's smaller ethnic groups, the Wolayta. Hailemariam was also elected chairman of the EPRDF coalition. In October 2013, the EPRDF-dominated parliament elected Mulatu Teshome Wirtu as President, a largely ceremonial post. Despite regular elections, Ethiopia's tradition of authoritarian rule continues to impede participatory democracy. The EPRDF has dominated successive elections since 1995. Elections in 2005-in which the opposition had been expected to make significant gains- were marred by violence, as the government responded to post-election protests by detaining thousands of opposition members, journalists, and civic activists. An estimated 200 people were reportedly killed by security forces during the protests, and top opposition leaders were put on trial. The disputed elections led to a broader tightening of democratic space as the EPRDF reconsolidated control. Opposition parties boycotted local and by-elections held in 2008. The most recent elections, held in 2010, were generally peaceful but the electoral environment did not meet international standards of fairness, according to U.S. and European election monitoring groups and governments. Critics contend that the EPRDF has stifled dissent through laws and electoral regulations that give the coalition a significant advantage. Two laws enacted in www.crs~gov 1 -50

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