Exiled Anuak confront Gambella g

Exiled Anuak confront Gambella genocide suspect

By MARTIGA LOHN, Associated Press Writer | June 1, 2008

Flags from Ethiopia's western Gambella region hang over the door as members of Ethiopia's Anuak community-in-exile gather for a meeting Saturday, May 31, 2008 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

MINNEAPOLIS — Moderators made sure no one asked too many questions, but there was opportunity enough for exiled members of Ethiopia's Anuak minority to put Omot Obang Olom on the spot.

Omot went to the community meeting Saturday hosted by an Anuak organization in Minneapolis to urge emigrants to return home and help develop the Gambella region, where he heads the regional government.

But most of the 125 Anuak community members who turned out had a more pressing issue on their minds: the Dec. 13, 2003, massacre that Human Rights Watch says killed more than 400 of their kin. Omot was then in charge of security for the regional government, and many in Minnesota's Anuak exile community believe he played a role in the attack.

"We are supposed to talk about peace before we talk about development," said Ojoye Akane, a 31-year-old Anuak student who clutched an open notebook during his turn at the microphone. "You can't talk about development before you talk about peace."

Ojoye said that his sister's 15-year-old son was shot and killed shortly before the massacre, and that the government has done nothing to help his sister. He and others listened intently as Omot responded to their questions and accusations, first in Amharic, Ethiopia's official language, and then in Anuak. Like most of the audience members, Omot is Anuak.

"We could not stop those killings," Omot said, according to translator Magn Nyang, a 33-year-old Anuak who lives in Spring Lake Park and was openly skeptical of much of what Omot said.

Omot blamed the killings on weak regional leadership in Gambella at the time and said he tried to stop the bloodshed. He said allegations that he gave up names of Anuak to be targeted were an unfounded rumor.

Omot appealed to the Anuak diaspora to return to Gambella. He said conditions in southwestern Ethiopia region have improved.

Some Anuak community members boycotted the event because they say that Omot should be brought to justice, and that they did not expect an open dialogue at the meeting.

The Anuak Justice Council in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has been pushing U.S. and Canadian authorities to arrest and try Omot for war crimes. He is expected to continue on to Canada next week. But advocates haven't been able to confirm whether he's traveling on a diplomatic visa that would grant him wide-ranging immunity.

State Department spokesman Bill Strassberger confirmed that Omot received a visa, but said that because visa records are confidential, he could not discuss the application. He also declined to discuss whether Omot had a role in the 2003 killings.

A message left Saturday for officials at the Ethiopian embassy in Washington was not immediately returned.

Human Rights Watch detailed a campaign of killings, rape, torture and displacement against the Anuak by government soldiers and members of other ethnic groups, beginning with attack in Gambella in southwestern Ethiopia. Thousands fled, some to southern Sudan.

Anuak to confront Ethiopian official

By Martiga Lohn, AP writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. (Dec 31) -- Being in the same Minneapolis hotel building is about as close as Peter Omot wants to get to Omot Obang Olom, the Ethiopian official he holds responsible for the massacre of more than 400 of his ethnic kin.

Peter Omot, a 35-year-old member of the Anuak ethnic minority, says he won't enter the room where Omot, the governor of the country's western Gambella region, will speak to the local community-in-exile on Saturday.

Gov. Omot was in charge of security when, according to human rights groups, Ethiopian troops attacked the local Anuak population in December 2003.

"He prepared the ground," Peter Omot, who lives in Savage, Minn., said Friday.

The regional governor's appearance at the community meeting has set off debate in the Anuak diaspora over whether it's appropriate even to be in the same room as Omot, who is Anuak himself.

"He should not be meeting the Anuak in a town hall meeting. He should be meeting the Anuak in chambers - you know, in a court of law," said Obang Metho, an advocate with the Anuak Justice Council in Saskatoon who is boycotting the meeting.

He added: "He has blood on his hands."

State Department spokesman Bill Strassberger confirmed that Omot received a visa, but said that because visa records are confidential, he could not discuss the visa application. He also declined to discuss whether Omot had a role in the 2003 killings.

A message left Saturday for officials at the Ethiopian embassy in Washington, D.C., was not immediately returned.

Human rights groups have detailed a campaign of killings, rape, torture and displacement against the Anuak by government soldiers and members of other ethnic groups. Wholesale attacks started on Dec. 13, 2003, in Gambella town in southwestern Ethiopia. Thousands fled, some to southern Sudan.

An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Anuak live in Minnesota, in what is thought to be the largest concentration outside Africa, said Akway Cham, who heads the Minneapolis-based Anywaa Community Association in North America.

Obang, the advocate in Canada, said he expects Omot to try to get exiled Anuak to move back and help develop their region, and will say that the region has become safe and democratic.

Akway is at the center of the furor over Omot's visit because he's the facilitator of Saturday's forum. He planned to collect Omot and other Ethiopian officials at the airport Friday.

He acknowledged the stir the visit is creating but said he hopes people will come away with answers to their questions. He said the meeting will focus on the 2003 killings after a similar meeting in April with other government officials left many in the community dissatisfied.

"This guy is the governor, and he was there when the things happened, and people are expecting that he should be able to give some clear answers," he said.

Associated Press writer Fred Frommer contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
Source, Ethiomedia