Thread by @althecat

Question is what are these @StateDept emissaries here to discuss?

Ethiopians will be wary about @paytonknopf being part of this delegation. Payton is well known in Ethiopia from his involvement in the USIP Horn of Africa policy paper. Unlocking his twitter account might help.

https://twitter.com/USEmbassyAddis/status/1514117825316728834

@StateDept @paytonknopf The USIP policy paper is here >> usip.org/programs/red-s…

It appears that #S3199 has been rewritten >> govtrack.us/congress/bills… but it remains inherently imperialist in nature, giving Congress significant leverage over the future of Ethiopia via legislated sanctions powers.

Meanwhile yesterday @SecBlinken made a point of mentioning Ethiopia in his brief remarks to launch the 2022 @StateDept country reports. Ethiopia's report can be found here >> state.gov/reports/2021-c…

Full report as PDF >> state.gov/wp-content/upl…

See video of @SecBlinken's remarks here >>
And a full transcript here >> state.gov/secretary-anto…

His remarks were brief but significant (see next tweet) but there were no questions asked about Ethiopia.

@SecBlinken "In Ethiopia, all parties to the country’s conflict, as well as Eritrean forces, have committed atrocities, and thousands of Ethiopians are being unjustly detained in life-threatening conditions." - @SecBlinken 12 April 2022

The significance of his remarks relates to context.

Specifically where they come in his statement. In a section which begins:

"So with that context, let me highlight some of the most alarming findings of the report, which I want to emphasize covers the events of 2021."

In this passage Ethiopia is mentioned along side (effectively in the same breath) as:
- Iran
- Syria
- Belarus
- Cuba
- Russia
- Benin
- Egypt
- China
& Afghanistan

A rogues gallery of sorts. And Ethiopia's mention comes last in this passage.

When parsed closely you will see that this passage breaks the "rogues" into three groups:
- "reaching across borders to attack critics"
- "locking up critics at home"
& "arbitrarily detaining individuals [for] leverage in bilateral relationships, to use them as human pawns.

And Ethiopia is in the final "Using Human Pawns" group alongside China and Afghanistan. Which makes in policy terms for some interesting company in terms of association.

There is an element of "reading the tea leaves" in trying to understand what Washington DC is up to - but the combination of timing, related events and personnel suggests Satterfield and Knopf are here to pressure the Ethiopian Govt, yet again.

And just as we have seen for the past 18 months, they come armed with "fake facts" in the form of the contents of this report and the recent @HRW / @Amnesty report findings for which a Twitter Space was held yesterday.

https://twitter.com/althecat/status/1513881425552027658?s=20&t=LPi4nWhGMEiw2Gs1prSX6w

When it comes to Ethiopia and the @StateDept, I have grown increasingly skeptical about coincidences.

Taken together this looks orchestrated. With the purpose of putting pressure on the Govt of Ethiopia about something - probably something that TPLF is seeking.

I'd appreciate some assistance to unpack the substance in all of this in policy terms - the Country Report for Ethiopia which was released yesterday and which can be found here >> state.gov/wp-content/upl…

1st four pages of 47 below: Replies and DMS are solicited wrt insights.

/Ends

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