Ethiopia’s EPDRF and the massacre of Anyuaks in December 2003
The Success of Current Ethiopia Government in its Divide and Rule Policy and What Led to the Massacre of Anyuaks on December 13, 2005.
By Magn Nyang*
Where did we originate from? When and how did we become Ethiopians? Most of Ethiopians are in limbo when it comes to answering the above questions. And some Ethiopians who try to answer the above questions tend to base their answers on myths. For example, I have heard one myth over and over again from my fellow Ethiopians about when and how Gambella became part of Ethiopia. According to this myth, modern Gambella became part of Ethiopia in 1956 after it was traded for Kassala by Haile Sellassie. Ethiopians who believe in this myth proudly discuss that Kassala was given to Sudan and in return, Gambella was given to Ethiopia. And when ask to explain the benefits or Haile Sellassie’s motivation for the trade; none of them seems to possess any reasonable response. The fact of the matter is that before 1902, Gambella was never part of Sudan or Ethiopia.
HISTORY OF GAMBELLA
The word “Gambella” came from Anyuak language, meaning “catching a male tiger with bare hands.” “Gam” means to catch and “bella” means male tiger. Gambella state (Anyuak country) was situated between Southwestern Ethiopia to Pibor River and to the West up to Nyium the present day Nasir in Sudan.
The Anyuak country (land) was divided by four main Rivers- the Akobo, Openo, Alworo, and Gillo. The Anyuaks had seven administration states- Adongo, Ciro, Nyikaani, Lul, Tier Naam, and Openo under one Nyeya (king) rule. Each state had it own autonomous administration. They had rights to choose from the two Anyuak’s political systems Nyech (kingship) or Kwar (headman-ship).
According to Dr. Robert O. Collins’ 1983 book, titled “ Shadows in the Grass: Britain in the Southern Sudan, 1918-1956,” the integrity of Anyuak land came to end when it came under nominal British control from 17th to the 18th century followed by Ethiopia invasion. On May 15, 1902, after complicated and prolonged negotiations, Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia signed the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement that established his Western frontier with the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. This treaty divided the Anyuak land in two, portioned it amongst the bordering countries Sudan and Ethiopia, without the consent of its leaders. The Southwestern part remained under British control as part of Sudan and the Eastern part became part of Ethiopia under name Gambella.
LABELING OF THE ANYUAKS AS RACIST BY THE ETHIOPIA PEOPLE REVOLUTIONARY DEMOCRATIC FRONT (EPDRF)/TIGRAY PEOPLE LIBERATION FRONT (TPLF) REGIME.
Modern Gambella is inhabited by Anyuak, Mezenger, Opuo, Kommo, Nuer, Olam, Dhwok, Bula and Maw. The Mezenger ethnic group is located in Northwestern part of the region and occupied mountainous regions. Komo and Opwo are found in Northwest part of the region bordering Sudan. Bula, Dhwok, Maw, and Olam are located in the Southern part of the region. Nuer is found in the West part of the region bordering Sudan. Anyuak is found in most regions, especially, the central, west and east parts of the region.
Anyuak, Komo, Opwo, Bula, Dhwok, Olam, Maw, and Mezenger are all natives of the region. Nuers are Sudanese and they infiltrated Gambella mostly starting in 1950s as a result of civil wars in Sudan.
In 1983 some Anyuak students from Addis Ababa University, Wingate, and Yekatet 12 political school, met around Piassa area of Addis Ababa city and founded Gambella People Liberation Movement (GPLM). They dropped out of schools. Some of them went to Gambella region to recruit fighters and the others left for Sudan to sit-up bases. The goal of GPLM was to liberate Gambellans from the oppression of the communist regime led by Mengistu H/Merriam.
Of nine ethnic groups in Gambella region, only one ethnic group, the Anyuaks supported the GPLM causes. The other eight ethnic groups were either politically ignorant or did not want to fight for Gambellans causes because they did not see themselves as natives (as in the Nuers case).
By 1987, GPLM had become a formidable force to reckon with. Its fighters were attacking government’s positions around Gambella region at will and it was around this time that the GPLM leadership got an invitation for a meeting from the TPLF leadership. At the meeting these two forces agreed to fight their common enemy side by side. And the GPLM (Anyuak force) and the TPLF (Tigre force) fought side by side, shoulder by shoulder until they overthrew the communist regime in May 1991.
ARRIVING IN GAMBELLA BY TWO FORCES.
In May 1991, GPLM and TPLF arrived in Gambella region. At that time all the government’s soldiers had melted away. However, the Sudanese People Liberation Army (SPLA) was there to fight them. After days of fighting, GPLM and TPLF forces managed to drive SPLA soldiers to their liberated areas of the South Sudan.
After liberating the whole Gambella region, the GPLM and TPLF sat-up their bases in Gambella City. While the GPLM force occupied former Sudanese consulate compound located in downtown Gambella city as its base, the TPLF stationed its force in two areas. There was a force stationed in the base formerly used by Mengistu regime’s soldiers located at about five miles outside of Gambella city and another force stationed in the newly built housing project locating in the neighborhood of Owolinga in Gambella city.
At first, these two Forces enjoyed a very warm relationship, having achieved their common goal of getting rid of the communist regime. Eventually, these two forces started to compete over who should take control of Gambella city and because of that their relationship started to sour. The deterioration of their relationship came on the night of August 20, 1992. On this night, some TPLF fighters had went to Terkidi neighborhood of Gambella city and while there they shot dead one GPLM fighter. The response from the GPLM fighters was overwhelming. I, myself, am a living witness for what took place that night. I was in a local bar in the city that night enjoying my hot tea when I heard the first shot. And after that a good two to three hours gun fight erupted between GPLM fighters and TPLF fighters. The city was turned upside down by the sounds of artilleries and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs). When it was all over, one GPLM fighter, and twelve TPLF fighters laid dead and the death toll on the civilians who got caught in the cross-fire was even greater. From that point on, these two forces looked at each others suspiciously.
Some time in November 1992, like the rest of Ethiopian, Gambellans went to election polls and elected their regional government leaders. As expected, Gambella’s regional government fall under control of the GPLM political wing. Now you have a regional government and a military force (GPLM) that was dominated and led by Anyuaks. This scenario did not sit well with TPLF and the highlanders (Amhara, Guragie, Oromo, Tigre, and so on–).
Both the TPLF and the highlanders did not trust the Anyuak led government and its military wing. For example, anytime a highlander has grievances such as being denied a job by an Anyuak manager, he/she ran to TPLF to voice his/ her compliant instead of running to the regional labor department office led by another Anyuak. The highlanders would run to the TPLF and complain about the Anyuaks being racist for not giving them jobs. The TPLF would in return pressure the Anyuaks to offer jobs to highlanders regardless of what was said in the regional labor department’s guide.
The guide said that “in hiring for regional jobs, priority must be given to candidates with Gambella region high school diplomas.” This meant new comer highlanders, including myself; with high school diplomas from other regions would not get jobs before Gambella’s region high schools diploma holders. My own high school diploma was from Addis Ababa and when I arrived in Gambella in early 1992, I had difficulties landing an employment even though I am from Anyuak. I remember, on some occasions, I was interviewed by managers who new me personally since I was a little boy. They also new my parents, but after the interview, they would tell me how sorry they were for not being able to offer me the job because my high school diploma was from another region. Was I to call these Anyuak managers racist for not giving me an employment? The answer was no. These people were following the regional employment guide and are doing their jobs correctly. They deserved praises and awards instead of being called racist by highlanders and the EPDRF/TPLF.
The EPDRF tried very hard to impose its will on Gambella’s regional governancey through its military wing, the TPLF. But, the harder it tried, the harder the resistance it faced from the Anyuak led government and its military wing, the GPLM. These two forces, EPDRF/TPLF and GPLM political wing/GPLM military wing, engaged in power struggle over control of Gambella region until about sometime in late 1994 or early 1995.
Sometime in late 1994 or early 1995, the EPDRF devised its best policy yet. The federal government announced that all other forces including the GPLM military wing have to be dissolved to create one unitary national army. The GPLM military wing was dissolved and its fighters joined the national army.
The Goal of EPDRF was to further weaken the Anyuaks’ power and dominance in the region so that it could experiment with what its called “ethnics’ equality”. In another word, EPDRF wanted to make Gambella region an experiment laboratory for what it called “equality of the ethnic groups.” EPDRF started to pressure the Anyuak leadership to relinquish key positions such as regional ministry of education, finance and economic ministry and even give-up their sits in the regional governance to other ethnic groups for the sake of equality.
There was nothing wrong about sharing power with other Gambellans. After all, GPLM fought for all Gambellans as its name implies, not just for the Anyuaks only. However, these other ethnic groups, except for Nuers, were illiterates. These ethnic groups were more ignored than the Anyuaks by previous leaders, they have not even heard about education let alone leading the regional ministry of education or having a sit in the regional governance.
The GPLM had a plan for these ethnic groups- opening schools and clinics in their villages to educate them first before giving them key positions in the region. But, the EPDRF accused the GPLM (the Anyuaks) of being selfish and racist. I, personally, do not know which political school the leadership of the EPDRF came from, but I came from a political school which says “ for effective forward growth to take place, put the most qualified candidates in key positions and educate the least qualified so that they catch-up.”
Instead of allowing the GPLM to follow through with it plan of educating those ethnic groups, the EPDRF armed those same ethnic groups under the pretext of village militias. But the guns were used to kill villager Anyuaks.
I do not see Meles Zenawi relinquishing his sit to another Ethiopian or a farmer from Sidama ethnic group for the sake of “ethnics’ equality.” For all I know, he is not even relinquishing his sit to those who are more qualified then he is. The EPDRF crippled the growth of Gambella region through its experiment of “ethnics’ equality.”
To me, the EPDRF did not and still does not want Gambella region to grow politically and economically. Otherwise, why else pressured the most qualified sons of the region to relinquish their positions to unqualified ones?
The 1989 Massacre of the Anyuaks and the Burning down of the Whole town of Pinyudo by South Sudanese Refugees, Particularly, the Nuers and the Dinkas.
On September 9, 1989 (Meskiram 1, 1981, Ethiopian calendar), the Anyuaks of Pinyodo like the rest of Ethiopians, were getting ready for the next day festivity, September 10,1989 (Meskiram 2, 1981), when a fist fight broke out between young Anyuak boys and some Sudanese Refugees in the biggest market in the middle of town.
The fist fight turned to stone throwing and sticks (clubs). Soon after that gun fire erupted from the refugees’ side. The Anyuak militias counter that by firing back. What was started as fist fight has now turned to gun fight. In less then six hours the poorly equipped militias were over-ran by heavily armed Sudanese refugees/ SPLA soldiers and the whole town was burnt to ashes.
More than 300 civilian Anyuaks were killed at that massacre and those who survived, including my own parents, siblings, cousins, uncles, aunt, and grandparents, became refugees themselves in towns such as Abobo, Gog, Gambella, Dima, and so on.
By the way I was born in Pinyudo town, therefore, I know a great deal about what happened there. I watched Pinyudo burnt to ashes and I watched it getting rebuilt by its sons. What surprised the Anyuaks of Pinyudo the most was that at the same time and moement there were also other attacks carried by the Sudanese Refugees/ SPLA in two Anyuak towns, Akado and Itang, hundreds of miles away. It turned out that these attacks were well planed and coordinated by Sudanese refugees/SPLA soldiers.
Through all these, the communist regime did not even try to protect the Anyuaks or even investigate to find out what had happened with the SPLA for killing the Anyuaks. As far as my knowledge goes, it was the first time in world’s history when a host country allowed its own citizens to be massacred by refugees. I guessed the Anyuaks’ lives were not worthy of disappointing the late friend, John Grang by his commerade Mangistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia. The TPLF and the GPLM came in 1991 and kicked the refugees/SPLA out of Pinyudo and the rest of Gambella region to the Anyuaks’ delight.
RETURN OF SOUTH SUDANESE REFUGEES, ESPECIALLY THE NUERS, TO PINYUDO AND ITANG IN 1993
After they were kicked out of Pinyudo and Itang in May 1991, the refugees returned less then two years later. Soon after their arrival in these two towns tensions between them and Anyuaks were renewed, especially, between the Nuers and the Anyuaks. The refugee Nuers and the Nuers in some key positions in Gmbella’s regional government had early on conspired to take Anyuaks’ land by means of force.
The so called Ethiopian Nuers in Gambella’s regional government did not want the EPDRF regime to know about their little plan of “take over Anyuaks’ land”; therefore, they delegated the dirty job to be done largely by the refugees. The Nuers started killing and even sometimes burnt down the whole villages of the Anyuaks on the Openo river bank. And every time the Anyuaks’ leadership in Gambella town asked the EPDRF/TPLF regime to disarm the Nuers, they were told that it was not possible to disarm Sudanese nationals. At times they were even told that it was the Anyuaks with their racist ideology who were initiating fights with Nuers because they do not want the Nuers to live with them; there fore no need to disarm the Nuers. The killing and seizing of the Anyuks’ land by Nuers continued for years.
Finally, the fighting reached Itang town, the largest town in the West part of Gambella region and stronghold of the Anyuaks. On the morning of July 7th, 2002, well armed Nuers backed by their SPLA cousins, attacked Itang’s police station manned by Anyuaks. In the fight that followed more than 60 Anyuaks were killed. When the News reached Gambella town where the regional government headquarter is located, the regional governor, an Anyuak, asked the EPRDF/TPLF to do something about the fight. He was shunned and his request was turned down. The governor then promised to take things in his own hands. He called a meeting that was to be attended by Anyuaks elites only. The next morning, the governor himself and more then two hundred Anyuak elites were rounded up by EPDRF regime and accused them of conspiring to kill Nuers. More then fifty of them including the governor himself, were sent to Addis Ababa federal prison and some of them died while incarcerated.
At the same time, more then 140 miles away from Itang town, the Nuers and Dankas refugees are systematically killing Anyuaks in Pinyudo town. Remember Pinyudo town was burnt to ashes by these same people in 1989? Well, the Anyuaks in Pinyudo demanded that the EPDRF regime asked the UNHCR to move its refugees some where else before it was too late. The regime ignored the Anyuaks’ demand and the killing by the refugees continued. Finally, the Anuaks got fed up with EPDRF/TPLF regime’s policy of “no protection for the Anyuaks” and on December 2, 2002 the Anyuaks decided to take things on their own hands and to teach the refugees a lesson. They picked up their guns, marched to the refugees’ camp, and opened fire, killing 33 refugees.
The EPDRF/ TPLF regime was caught of guard by the action that the Anyuaks took. The News was heard all over the world and the UNHCR in Ethiopia demanded an explanation to what had happen from the regime. The regime was both embarrassed and ashamed by the incident in front of the world’s community. The next day, on December 3rd, 2006, the regime pledged to the UNHCR that it would track down refugee camp killers. The following week, innocent Anyuaks were hunted down. Some were killed and some were put in to prison and they are still suffering in Gambella regional prison today.
The message that the Anyuaks sent to the UNHCR by killing 33 refugees was loud and clear. There fore, the UNHCR decided to move the refugees to a different site within Gambella region and the Anyuaks celabrated the News. Given its proximity to Southern Sudan border, Odier village, located at about 165 miles from Pinyudo was chosen as the new site to move the refugees to.
On December 13, 2003, the UNHCR sent eight of its workers to investigative the site. All eight were highlanders except for their driver, an Anyuak. While on their way to the site, at about 35 miles outside of Gambella town, they were ambushed and all killed, including their Anyuak driver. The News got to Gambella town and the EPDRF/TPLF soldiers rushed there. However, when they got there, the killers were long gone. They collected the bodies and brought them back with them to Gambella town. When they reached the town, however, instead of taking the bodies to town’s hospital, they paraded the bodies on open truck to gather thousands of angry highlanders.
Finally, they drove the bodies to the regional governor’s office. And when the Governor, an Anyuak, came outside to meet the crowed, he was told by the soldiers that Anyuaks had killed eight highlanders and therefore, they wanted him to wake them up from death. The Governor tried to say something to the soldiers and to the crowed, but the angry crowd started to throw stones at him. As soon as he was rushed back inside his office by his bodyguards, the soldiers open fire on bystander Anyuaks and right there and then, the massacre of the Anyuaks began. In twenty-four hours more then 400 Anyuaks were killed by soldiers and highlanders in Gambella town alone. The killing was very systematic- while the soldiers had the list of names and addresses of the Anyuaks to be killed; they left most of the killings to be done by the civilian highlanders who walked side by side with them to the addresses. Civilian highlanders used knives, sticks (clubs), and stones to kill the Anyuaks. The soldiers shot only when one tried to runaway. Again, on June 11, 2006, a bus traveling from Addis to Gambella was ambushed and twelve of its passengers were killed. The killing was again blamed on Anyuaks.
QUESTIONS
Why blame the Anyuaks for the killings if the killers were not seen? Why would the Anyuaks kill the UNHCR workers when their decision to move the refugees far away from Anyuak’s land was celabrated by the Anyuaks all over the region? Why would the Anyuaks kill eight UNHCR workers plus their Anyuak driver on their way to make preparation for the removal of the refugees from Anyuaks’ land (Pinyudo) when they (the Anyuaks) were the sole beneficiaries of the removal? Why would the Anyuaks kill the UNHCR workers when the only thing they did was to carry out the Anyuaks demand (that was the preparation of the removal of the refugees from Anyuaks’ land)? Was it in the Anyuaks’ best interest to kill the workers and if not which ethnic group in Gambella region stands to benefit from the killings? I leave these questions to be answered by all my readers.
CONCLUSION
The massacre of the Anyuaks on December 13, 2003 was quickly blamed on Nuers, Anyuak’s traditional enemy, by the EPDRF/TPLF leadership. The fighting, said Dr. Barnabas “was between Anyuaks and Nuers over scarce resources in the region.” In another interview, the Dr. contradicted himself and called Gambella region “a bread basket of Ethiopia with unlimited resources.” This showed how ignorant the EPDRF/TPLF leadership was and still are about Gambella region and its habitants.
We all know that the Nuers did not kill the Anyuaks on December 13, 2003. The EPDRF/ TPLF leadership was just using the Nuers to promote their divide and rule policy. In fact, the Nuers did the opposite of what they were accused of by the EPDRF/TPLF leadership. They hid and there by saving most of the Anyuaks from being killed by the TPLF and its highlanders gangs.
In its policy of divide and rule, the EPDRF/TPLF had to portray the region’s most powerful ethnic group, the Anyuak, as racists, thereby, turning all other ethnic groups in the region against it (Anyuak).
The truth of the matter is that we, the Anyuaks are not racist. One thing we do is protect what is rightfully ours by all means (i.e. Gambella’s land). And if protecting what is ours from others who try to take it from us make us racist, then call us racist and we make no apology.
The land belongs to us. And under current regime in Ethiopia, we helplessly watched 45% of our ancestral land taken from us by Nuers. All those Anyuaks who raised their complaints with the regime about the land being taken were accused of racism against Nuers and are now suffering in prisons without any charges.
I have neither heard nor seen Anyuaks going to other ethnic groups and take things or land from them. Others are always coming to Anyuaks to take things or land. The Nuers have been doing this for years and now the highlanders led by EPDRF/TPLF regime.
We (the Anyuaks) and our land were integrated into so called Ethiopia in 1902. And the integration did not mean that we give up our ancestral land to Ethiopia. Our ancestors had own this land for centuries. In fact, before there was such thing as Ethiopia, our ancestors were there owning that land.
* The writer magn nyang is a son of Gambella living in the USA. He can be reached at [email protected]