Unilateral economic sanctions as a tool for human rights accountability : the case of Ethiopia’s suspension from African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference program

Abstract

The study examines the effectiveness of Ethiopia’s suspension from AGOA to address the human rights violations in the country. The study adopts a qualitative research method. Data and other literature sources are collected through desk research and analysed using content analysis technique to inform findings and conclusions.

The study argues that the US unilateral sanction measure of suspending the country’s benefits under AGOA has been largely ineffectual and, more alarmingly, may have done more harm than good. The Ethiopian suspension from AGOA has impacted the rights and well-being of on the Ethiopian civilian population by deteriorating their living conditions through suspension-induced unemployment and a decline in households’ income for up to a million people who depended on AGOA for their livelihoods. The suspension also rendered debt-financed industry parks ineffective and substantially reduced government revenues and foreign currency earnings. Consequently, the government’s ability to repay the debts accrued to finance the industry parks infrastructure was affected which led the government to seek debt-restructure deals with its creditors. In order to secure the debt restructure deal, the government was forced to take measures such as reduction of fuel subsidies and spending cuts on new infrastructure development. These measures coupled with the economic hardship inflicted by the suspension significantly hampers the country’s capacity to create conditions for the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights.

The study recommends an immediate review of US unilateral sanctions policy against Ethiopia because, despite its negative impacts on the rights and well-being of Ethiopian people, the measures have failed to produce significant change. It also recommends that the US should provide incentive for a change of behaviour by setting clear benchmarks that the Ethiopian government can meet and be prepared to restore the benefits once progress has been made towards those benchmarks.