Ethiopia orders U.S. workers' expulsion

yahoo.com ^ | March 31, 2005 | ANTHONY MITCHELL

[crushelits]

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Ethiopia ordered the expulsion of three Americans who were helping prepare the Horn of Africa country for elections in May, alleging Thursday that they entered the country illegally.

But the expulsions ordered Wednesday — the Americans are still in Ethiopia and have until Friday to leave — followed a critical U.S. report about human rights in the country.

The May 15 elections in this country of 25.6 million would be only the third democratic ballot in its history. All the elections have been won by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.

As a rebel movement, the now ruling party ousted dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. The opposition said it fears the vote won't be free and fair and has accused the party of using supporters to intimidate and attack opposition backers.

The Americans from the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and IFES, which was formerly known as the International Foundation For Electoral Systems, were called to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday and told by Ethiopian authorities they had two days to leave, officials from two of the groups said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Solomon Abebe, said Thursday the workers had initially entered improperly on tourist visas, "without getting any authority or without making any agreement with the concerned bodies."

Some of the workers, though, said they believed they were being expelled in retaliation for U.S. criticism of Ethiopia's human rights record.

The most recent State Department update on human rights on every country said Ethiopia had made progress in respecting human rights in 2004, but stressed that police continued to use excessive force and freedom and freedom of the press was restricted.

The Washington-based groups were working under a $1.69 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development — part of a $10 million congressional package to promote democracy in Ethiopia through training voters, election observers and promoting cooperation between political parties.

Tesfaye Mengesha, deputy head of the National Election Board, said he did not believe the expulsions were permanent.

"As far as I am aware, they have not been asked to leave permanently. They can come back," Mengesha said.

The U.S. Embassy said it hoped the problem would soon be resolved.