U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) – Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations – concluded the first leg of his three nation trip, departing Ethiopia en route to Sudan, where he will meet with government officials, SPLM leadership and visit refugee camps. During his trip to Ethiopia, Smith met with opposition party and government leaders, met with patients suffering from HIV-AIDS and visited a hospital treating women with fistula – a program Smith has championed in Congress. 

    Smith urged Prime Minster Meles to make good on his promises to hold an independent investigation of election protests turned deadly this past June, which left at least 36 dead. Election results were delayed until last week, when the National Election Board of Ethiopia said that Meles’s Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) won 318 seats in the 547 member parliament. Smith also met with members of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), and encouraged them to avoiding boycotting parliament in protest. 

    “Prime Minister Meles and his ruling party must avoid further delays and conduct an independent investigation of the post-election slaughter that took place in Ethiopia,” said Smith, who championed human freedom and rights since being elected to Congress. “As each day goes by, we become more skeptical that an honest investigation can occur."

    “Each side has the ability to move forward in the wake of the election and they must do so for the sake of the Ethiopian people,” Smith continued. “Human rights abuses are not tolerable and the majority party must respect the opposition. Likewise, opposition parties can play a very positive and effective role by actively participating in debates and other concerns of the country peacefully in parliament. That is one major benefit of a two-party system.” 

    While in Ethiopia, Smith also visited the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital which is performing surgeries to save women from fistula, a painful condition that approximately 2 million women – predominantly in Africa – are currently suffering. This horrible condition causes nearly 8% of maternal deaths each year. Smith, who recently authored legislation that will fund centers that will treat thousands of women suffering from fistula, hopes the hospital will serve as model for the future in other developing African nations.

    “Centers like the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital will provide treatment and surgery that will allow hundreds of thousands of women to be physically cured and emotionally healed from this devastating condition preventing disease, death and allowing them to return to normal life,” said Smith. 

    Smith, who arrived in Sudan on Wednesday Evening (Africa Time) will meet with Sudanese government leaders and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement to discuss continuity following the death of Vice President John Garang and continued prospects for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that created a national unity government. He will also meet with Christian and Muslim religious leaders to encourage continuation of the peace process and focus on overcoming the racial and ethnic divisions that caused the civil war.

    “The people of Sudan must progress forward on the path toward peace,” said Smith. “For much of his life, Vice President Garang worked to secure a better future for the Sudanese people. The only way forward is to ensure that his efforts to secure peace, stability and justice in the region are continued.” 

    On Friday, Smith will visit refugee camps in the Darfur region to determine whether supplies are reaching the refugees unimpeded and whether ongoing attacks on refugees have subsided. Chairman Smith is an original co-sponsor of the “Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2005,” which supports the AU mission to keep the peace in Darfur and ensure survival of Sudanese refugees. The bill also holds to account those who committed genocide in Darfur. 

    “Sadly, the tragic suffering of refugees in the Darfur region continues today,” Smith said. “We must be vigilant in assuring that humanitarian aid, healthcare and food must get to through to those in need to help mitigate the death and suffering in the region.” 

    Also on Smith’s agenda in Sudan is a meeting with the Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children, a Sudanese NGO combating trafficking in persons with funding from the Sudanese government. Smith was the original author of the “Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act,” which became law in 2000, and has introduced the “Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005” which not only reauthorizes but strengthens the law.

    “It is mind boggling that in the 21^st century people are being kidnapped and forced into slavery,” said Smith. For some time, Sudan has been the epicenter of continued chattel slavery around the world. We need to encourage and foster ways for the Sudanese government and people to work together to finally end this ancient evil.”