The illusion of Gambella’s peace

By Apee Ojulu

May 30, 2008 — The Ethiopian regime and its ruling party, Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), has dispatched its point man in Gambella State, Omot Obang Olam, to the USA to counter opposition to the regime and cut off its main source of support of its victims in Gambella and neighboring states. Olam will be in Minneapolis, Minnesota between May 30 and 31st before proceeding to Omaha, Nebraska.

There are questions that the Ethiopian regime has consistently refused to address and that Olam is likely to avoid as well. Some of these questions include:

(1) Why were Anuaks massacred on December 13, 2003?
(2) Why has there been no prosecution against the perpetrators of the December 13, 2003 massacre?
(3) Why are the victims of the December 13, 2003 massacre still buried in mass graves?
(4) Why are the locations of the mass graves kept secret?
(5) Why has Olam not faced justice for his involvement in the massacre, especially as a Gambellan police commissioner during the massacre?
(6) Olam should explain his role as a Gambellan police commissioner during the massacre. What did he do to stop the massacre or did not do?
(7) Why do Gambellans continue to disappear without traces?
(8) How can Olam assure us that the Ethiopian regime will work to protect the human rights of Gambellans?
(9) What is a way forward?

Instead of sending Olam to the USA to spread false propaganda regarding the human rights violations against Gambellans, there are ways the Ethiopian regime can seek a lasting solution to the problem. For instance, Anuak traditional leaders had their own conflict resolution procedure whenever there was conflict with another community or group. The communities would sit and talk about the conflict. They would discuss the origin of the conflict, identify the aggressor and the victim. These discussions eventually ended with an establishment of Gurtong (Anuak word for agreement). Gurtong assigned the blame and set conditions that attempted to prevent future conflicts between the warring parties. The Gurtong is comparable to a treaty, justice system or agreement that has been used to end wars in the western world. The purpose treaties or an agreement is to establish conditions that ensure the rights of victims and abusers in their future relationship because at the end of the day, they all have to live together.

By engaging in false propaganda and sending loyalists to spread the same propaganda in the USA, the Ethiopian regime and its TPLF do not understand the “Gurtong/Treaty/Agreement” approach to peace. TPLF campaigns in Gambella are a continuation of the prevailing injustice against Gambellans. It is an unjust peace. Unjust peace occurs when a government or a group of people commit atrocities against others and refuse to apologize, discuss, or change the situation. The TPLF committed crimes against humanity in the region and has refused to apologize to its victims. Instead, it has started a propaganda campaign using its officials, such as Olam, to counter opposition to its policies.

The argument of advocates of unjust peace is simple: since there is no bullet flying between the aggressor and the victim, peace exists. The Ethiopian regime, through its loyalist, similarly argues that Gambella has no active war and thus Gambellans in the Diaspora should go back home and invest, take up jobs, and enter public service. The Ethiopian regime, however, refuses to guaranty the safety of Gambellans and should not expect those in the diaspora to return and suffer the same atrocities as the December 13, 2003 massacre.

The regime and TPLF should first embrace the “Gurtong/Treaty/Agreement” approach to peace and cease its false propaganda.

Fear Factor

A friend of mine intimated to me that some supporting Omot visit were seeking to benefit by having Mr. Olam guarantee their securities during future visits to Gambella in return for the visit. They, however, privately acknowledge that Olam was involved in the December 13, 2003 massacre. The organizers are also afraid of Olam’s capabilities were they to refuse to organize the trip. It is a well known fact that dictatorial regimes, such as the Ethiopian regime, often intimidate, torture, threaten or even kill their political opponents as a way of demonstrating to others that opposition invites the death sentence.

In intimidating, torturing, spying or threatening their political opponents, dictators achieve what is often describes as a might make right. Those outside their killing machine keep their mouths shut and do their daily routes without showing their true believe about events. It often sadly, this has becomes an evident in our community, a community long proud people who have faced far powerful enemies. Facts about Omot involvement in the killing or TPLF attempts to cover up the death have not change. But what unfortunately has changed in the perception about Omot is simply that people sees him as the only guy in block. He was described by one individual involved in the organizing as the most intellectual person who understands laws despite the fact one of the first Gambellan to be rewarded as a governorship for killing his own people.

TPLF has, in the past, used fear factor to achieve its objectives. For example, when it agents shot to death members of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) following the elections in 2005. As a result during the last elections in 2008, there was no meaningful opposition to the TPLF.

A way forward

The people of Gambella from all communities must stand firm and rightly insist that there is no other road to peace in the region but only by discussing the core issues that led to the December 13, 2003 genocide. This stand should start with not attending either of the public propaganda presentations planned during Olam’s trip between May 30 and 31st. Boycotting the presentations sends a message that the solution to the problems in Gambella should not lie in an unjust peace but in the “Gurtong/Treaty/Agreement” approach to peace. This is because the lack of a meaningful discussion on the origins of the problems and effective solutions has led to repetition of the same atrocities committed over the years.

The core of the problem is that the people of Gambella want to govern themselves with very limited central government interference in their affairs, yet the central government wants to rule as it has done for the last half century. These are key differences that must be addressed for peace to prevail.

The Ethiopian government’s propaganda machine should not be allowed to take the place of meaningful discussions over the way forward. The people of Gambella must not be deceived by the regime’s attempt to change the subject from political crisis to economic development through messages urging diasporans to return home and invest. Slogans such as “intellectuals do not create social problems” should not distract people from the core issues.

The writer is www.gambelatoday.com editor. He can be reached at [email protected]