The Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield and Deputy Special Envoy Payton Knopf will arrive in Ethiopia today April 13 for meetings with Ethiopian government officials.
Quoting the US State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia stated that he will also meet with representatives of humanitarian organizations, and diplomatic partners.
“Their visit continues U.S. efforts towards ceasing hostilities, unhindered humanitarian access, transparent investigations into human rights abuses and violations by all actors, and a negotiated resolution to the conflict in Ethiopia.”
It is recalled that a few weeks ago, The Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield hasvisted Ethiopia and neighbouring countries.
Following the outbreak of war in the northern part of Ethiopia between the Government of Ethiopia and Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the over a century-old diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and the United States has not been smooth.
Recently the U.S. has two major bills (HR 6600 and S3199 on the pipeline, which punishes the Government of Ethiopia for allegedly failing to bring peace in the northern part of Ethiopia and human rights violations, among others.
The Government of Ethiopia has been expressing its concern about the potential harm the two bills will cause if approved on the livelihoods of ordinary Ethiopian citizens. Ethiopians in the diaspora have also been demonstrating opposing the two bills.
It is expected that the US delegation will also discuss about the two bills and on the recent joint investigations by the Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International, which blamed the government officials in Amhara region for engaging in human rights violations against the civilians in Western part of Tigray, which amounts to ethnic cleansing.