Ethiopian National Defense Forces Kill 6 Civilians, including US citizen in the Gambella region of Ethiopia

Ethiopian National Defense Forces Kill 6 Civilians, including US citizen in the Gambella region of Ethiopia On March 2, 2013, seventeen Anuak men were ambushed by Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), as they were sitting under a tree near Gilo river in a rural area in the Gambella region of southwestern Ethiopia. Six men were killed. Among those killed was a 33-year old American citizen, Omot Ojulu Odol, [B.D. 2/2/1978] who came to the U.S. as a teenager more than fifteen years ago. Mr. Odol had been visiting his homeland.    read... October 9, 2012 Request for Inspection to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development On September 24, 2012, the Inspection Panel (the "Panel") received a Request for Inspection (the "Request") related to "the World Bank-financed Ethiopia Protection of Basic Services Project"1 in support of the Government's Promoting Basic Services Program (hereinafter referred to as the "PBS Program" or "PBS").Z The Request was submitted by "two local representatives" on behalf of 26 Anuak people from the Gambella region of Ethiopia (the "Requesters"). The representatives have been authorized by two groups of Anuak living in different locations to submit the Request. The representatives and the Requesters have asked the Panel to keep their identities confidential "due to grave concerns about our personal security and that of our relatives ."   read... (pdf)

Anuak refugees waiting for water    Photo: Obang Metho The Anuak Justice Council, a 501(c)(3) organization, is a representative voice for the Anuak community worldwide. Our mission is to advocate peacefully for the rights and security of the Anuak wherever they live. The Anuak are a small minority group in Ethiopia and Sudan, residing mainly in the Gambella region of southwestern Ethiopia. They have been the predominant landowners in the region for several generations, enjoying relative peace and coexisting with other minority groups, although tensions with the Ethiopian government over land ownership have existed for decades. The current regime in Ethiopia has not acted favorably toward the Anuak and over the last decade has become an increasingly oppressive reality for the Anuak. On December 13, 2003, members of the Ethiopian military and other ethnic groups massacred more than 400 people in the town of Gambella. Since that time, the Anuak have continued to suffer genocide and other on-going crimes against humanity. In the months following the December 2003 massacre, many Anuak expatriates felt scattered and powerless in their efforts to raise awareness of the oppression against their people and to help family members in immediate danger. Compounding this frustration was the lack of coverage of this tragedy by the international press. As the atrocities continued, the urgent need for an organized voice for the Anuak became apparent, and in response to that need the Anuak Justice Council was formed. Representatives from the AJC have presented testimony to governmental bodies in the UN, the US, Canada and the European Union. The AJC has also formed partnerships with international law groups to bring legal pressure to bear against the current Ethiopian regime in international court, and through contacts with other human rights organizations has been instrumental in initiating extensive investigations into the alleged crimes of genocide. Noteworthy among those investigations is the report by Human Rights Watch, a report that strongly implicates the Ethiopian government as a perpetrator of genocide. The hope of the Anuak Justice Council is that with the help of pressure from the international community, a process of negotiation with the Ethiopian government can begin that would lead to a peaceful solution to the violence in Gambella, and ultimately to a safe and secure homeland to which the scattered Anuak can return.