30604 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS November 5, 1985 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS NICARAGUA'S STATE OF EMER­ frames, to the reported tune of some $3,500 "conditions in the resettlement areas of GENCY /CONFUSION MORE OR possibly charged on his Diners Club card, southern Ethiopia have been appalling. The LESS THAN MEETS THE EYE? that the Sandinista chief was able to dis­ peasants have lacked food, housing, tools, cover the little drafting oversight which un­ seeds, and medical facilities." HON. WM. S. BROOMFIELD intentionally suspended an accused's rights Just last week, the Associated Press re­ OF MICHIGAN to a jury, counsel, and protection from self- ported that trucks from a British relief IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES incrimination, et cetera. I suppose propo­ agency, Save the Children Fund, were com­ nents of this hypothesis will blame Contra Tuesday, November 5, 1985 mandeered by the Ethiopian local authori­ activities for the apparent low state of rev­ ties. These trucks were used along with Mr. BROOMFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I was olutionary optometry in Nicaragua which others to take about 600 people from the gratified to see press reports on October 31, caused Mr. Ortega to miss the relevant feeding camp in Ko rem to transit points indicating that the Sandinista regime in little nuance in the original decree. south. Rumors of the impending resettle­ Nicaragua restored a few of the fundamen­ Whatever the real explanation, I suppose ment prompted most of Korem's 20,000 tal civil rights it suspended in its sweeping we should be grateful for any improvement residents to flee into the surrounding state-of-emergency announcement on Octo­ in the desperately bad human rights situa­ mountains. Nonetheless, the Ethiopian ber 15, 1985. According to those reports, the tion in Nicaragua, however insubstantial it Marxist Government continues to describe rights to a jury, counsel, and protection might be in practice. the resettlement program as voluntary. And from self-incrimination were restored, as it intends to find close to 1.5 million volun­ well as a limited right to habeas corpus, 100,000 DEAD IN ETHIOPIA teers over the next several months. not including those charged under the There is a scourge of death in Ethiopia, broad and frequently invoked categories of perpetrated by the regime of Chairman national security and public order. HON. TOBY ROTH Mengistu Haile Mariam. Because of the Naturally I would like to think that this OF WISCONSIN ramification his work has for us in this laudable action, taken by the legislative as­ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Congress, I am reprinting below Jason sembly, which regrettably ratified all of the Clay's entire testimony. other suspensions of basic civil rights at Tuesday, November 5, 1985 the same time, was a response to the intro­ Mr. ROTH. Mr. Speaker, up to 100,000 PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. JASON W. CLAY, duction of House Concurrent Resolution Ethiopians have died this year as a result DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, BEFORE THE SUB­ 222 by Mr. y ATRON, Mr. LAGOMARSINO, Mr. of Ethiopia's Forced Resettlement Pro­ COMMITTEES ON AFRICA AND HUMAN RIGHTS, MURTHA, and myself 2 days before. That gram. According to evidence provided by a COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS My name is Jason Clay. I am a Doctor of legislation condemns the egregious suspen­ Harvard University research group, inter­ Social Anthropology representing Cultural sion of Nicaraguans' rights and the increas­ national relief agencies, and Western Gov­ Survival, Inc., a non-profit, human rights ing official repression of the Catholic ernment sources in Addis Ababa, thousands organization located in Cambridge, Massa­ Church by the Sandinistas. Many of us be­ of men, women, and children have died in chusetts. Cultural Survival's activities-as­ lieve that the Sandinistas' public relations transit to so-called resettlement camps. sistance projects, research and publica­ representatives in the United States closely Tens of thousands more have died from tions-address both the urgent and chronic follow U.S. public and congressional opin­ malaria contracted in the camps. problems confronting indigenous peoples ion, to include monitoring the CONGRES· The Sunday Times of London reports throughout the world. Five years ago, as Director of Research at SIONAL RECORD, and I feel certain the San­ that relief agencies refuse to publish evi­ Cultural Survival, I began to systematically dinistas were aware of House Concurrent dence of the deaths "because they fear that interview refugees from Ethiopia about the Resolution 222 soon after its introduction. Ethiopia's Marxist Government will expel persecution and discrimination that caused Of course, the Sandinistas have denied them and that such horrific news may dry them to flee the country. Cultural Surviv­ that the very limited restoration of a few up donations from the West." al's intent was to document the human suspended rights was in any way a conces­ Cultural Survival, Inc., a research group rights violations that were occurring in sion to widespread criticism of the state-of. associated with Harvard University, will areas of Ethiopia where outsiders were not emergency decree. Instead, the official San­ soon publish the results of its interviews allowed free access. Restrictions on the movements of diplomats, journalists and dinista explanation is that the reinstated with 250 Ethiopian refugees who have es­ relief workers as well as the presence of gov- rights to a jury, counsel, and so forth, were caped from the resettlement camps. Jason . ernment officials or official translators has accidentally suspended due to what they Clay, director of research at Cultural Sur­ made it difficult to find out what is happen­ described as a "technical error" in the vival, Inc., recently gave members of the ing in these areas. state-of-emergency decree. Frankly, it Foreign Affairs Africa and Human Rights Since 1980, our interviews with refugees would seem a little difficult for even the Subcommittees a preview of his findings. It from each of the major ethnic groups in most gullible to accept that anyone could is the most scientifically conducted re­ Ethiopia indicate that the present govern­ inadvertently suspend the right to trial by search done by any government or private ment is attempting to systematically de­ stroy the culturally distinct groups within jury, for example. But, perhaps under the agency into the causes of the present the country. This systematic destruction ap­ Sandinista regime practically no one no­ famine. pears to be based on the goal of creating a ticed because of the marginal difference be­ Jason Clay's findings are corroborated by strong central state upon which each com­ tween being tossed in the slammer for so­ the State Department and AID in their munity is dependent. By confiscating land, called counterrevolutionary crimes by one report to Congress on Ethiopia last month. moving dissident peoples from their own Sandinista judge or by 12 Sandinista The French organization, Medicins Sans areas onto the land or even into the villages jurors. Frontieres, has described the resettlement of others and imposing, under the guise of Another hypothetical explanation is sug­ compaign, alleging that "thousands of state socialism, local organizations which destroy the ability of communities to gested by some, presumably more favorably people were forced to move by Ethiopian remain self-sufficient in food production, disposed toward Sandinista rule. That militiamen. They were herded like cattle the government is attempting to achieve theory suggested that it was not until El into trucks and buses at feeding centers their goal. As we have seen in the past year, Presidente Daniel Ortega had acquired a and villages in the north." A secret report even though the state has succeeded in premium pair of eyeglasses, with designer by the League of the Red Cross shows that making these communities dependent by re- e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by the Member of the Senate on the floor. Boldface type indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. November 5, 1985 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 30605 ducing their productive capacity, it cannot populations still in Ethiopia. Independent equipment and food from their farm within provide food for them. This is the context sources, however, have increasingly corrobo­ the past 3 years. within which Western humanitarian assist­ rated our data. Clearly, there is a need for Everyone from the contested areas indi­ ance is being used. reliable, systematically collected informa­ cated that the army attacked during periods The Ethiopian government's public state­ tion from inside Ethiopia which is independ­ of planting and harvesting. They said that ments indicate that regional variation in its ent of the government. Our data, because it this was done to reduce agricultural produc­ policies results from the different adminis­ draws into question the political purposes of tion and make the areas more dependent on trative units' relative autonomy. Our re­ many government famine programs, indi­ the central government. Delays in planting, search suggests, however, that while there cates that the collection of such informa­ for example, do not allow farmers to take is considerable difference in government tion would be a responsible course of action advantage of early rains, a critical factor policies, these differences result from the for any government or organization consid­ when rains end early as they did in 1983 and central government's assessment of which ering further famine or development assist­ 1984. Delays in planting also allow both policies are necessary to fundamentally un­ ance in the area. weeds Cstriga> and insects Carmyworms> to dermine the cohesion of the different cul­ With regard to the first question before become established in fields before crops tures in Ethiopia's many provinces. Since the subcommittees, "Is the Government of have been sprouted.