Thursday, 25^th March, 2004

Is ‘Gambella’ a Timely Alarm?

By Fitsum Getachew

A few days ago, the Federal Affairs Minister Abay Tsehaye presented to the House of Peoples Representatives a ‘report’ on the recent violence (and events, before, during, and after them) in the remote region of Gambella, where many have met their death, apparently following protracted exchange of hostilities between rival ‘entities’. (Given the vicinity of the area to the South Sudan porous border, and hence easy access to arms, inhabitants have lots of them.)The accounts of the events are not quite clear (no independent inquiry has been carried out, a perplexing matter to date, given the severity of the events!) and it has resulted very difficult to distinguish between the ‘partisan’ and ‘interest-driven’ narrations from the ones which are truly ‘neutral’. Even the reports of humanitarian or so-called human rights groups cannot be taken as totally reliable as they may get their information from biased sources, when they don’t obtain ‘first hand’ information.

Hence, with all due reservation of the case, the irrefutable truth is that there has been violence; there have been deaths; and there has been destruction. Evident. And there have been thousands of refugees fleeing to the Sudan. The very head of the regional council was reported missing, with his two body guards, giving the clue that he may be evading responsibility or has classified information he does not want to hand over. And this is enough to make us ponder carefully about what has been actually going on, not only in that remote and ‘forgotten’ region called Gambella, but also in other parts of the country (where sporadic cases of violence and clashes (albeit apparently of minor scale) among peoples of differing origins, nationalities and regions have been reported.

This cannot be the homework of the government alone, (taking for good that the problem may not originate from its very policies). Admitting that its primary role is one of a commanding position and hence with the mandate to search and find (in consultation and coordination with all stakeholders) valid and viable solutions, nevertheless, the homework should involve all citizens. And this is so to avert that things get out of hand and result in an all out conflagration! A few days ago, there were a number of private papers with cartoons depicting such scenario (a fire getting spread all over the country!), and it is not a promising prospect at all! No one would augur to our country the fate of a ‘Somalia’, ‘Liberia’, ‘Rwanda’ and the like! Even the media’s role on this critical issue must be one of restraint, and reason, instead of blowing indifferently on the fuel of intolerance and violence. It should rather exert efforts with the aim to contributing to the extinguishing of the fire.

The Gambella issue may be a difficult and complex matter that involves not only the local Anuak and Nuer communities, but also the so-called highlanders, i.e. those who went there from the northern and central parts of the country, some fleeing drought, resettling there, some employed as agents of the central bureaucracy. The immediate cause that led to the events of December 13, 2003 was sparked by the ambush perpetrated on a UN-plated vehicle driving to a refugee camp in Odier. (It is known that there are thousands of Nuer nationality refugees that come fleeing a state of unrest in South Sudan.) All eight in the vehicle were killed and their bodies badly mutilated. Such episode provoked the uncontrollable rage and sense of revenge on the alleged perpetrators. The blame was put on the Annuak nationality and such word sufficed to lead to indiscriminate reaction on the part of non-Gambella communities in the town. All activities were disrupted, offices, schools, shops were closed, services were halted, EAL flights and other means of transport suspended.

Later on, it was the Federal authorities intervention in the form of some 5000 troops that reinstated some apparent calm. But to the extent that the basic causes of the crisis were not addressed, there was not bound to be total peace. In fact, a month later, another round of hostilities erupted, in a locality called Dima, (a gold mining centre), and still dozens were reported killed. Gambella may not be new to such incidents. In the past, there have been clashes between the Anuak, (basically from Gambella proper), and the Nuer (considered nomadic tribes that largely hail from the Sudan penetrating the porous border). It is natural that as long as the situation in the South Sudan has not calmed down, there would be little wonder if thousands of refugees flee violence and conflicts (the Southern Peoples Liberation Army led by John Garang fighting versus the largely Moslem North’s Khartoum government forces for self-determination) and spill to Gambella. Such state of affairs has been going on for the last decades, and the consequent influence on the situation in the Gambella region, such as the controversy over limited resources, grazing land and the like, has been inevitable.

Gambella may be 800 km distant from Addis, but the repercussions of what is going on there could be felt even in central Ethiopia. Most of all, the way ‘conflicting interests’ are settled there, could be symptomatic, both in the positive as well as in the negative, for the rest of the Federation. The recent discovery of oil reserves and contracts signed by an international firm may only have added some fuel to the existing tension. The Anuaks consider the region their own legitimate territory, and would not tolerate being deprived of their riches by some ‘outsider’ (or still less displaced by anyone including the Nuer who with their continuous movement and increase in number have been ‘threatening’ the control of the region, as well as the ‘highlanders’(people that have migrated to the region from other beaches). The total size of the Gambella inhabitants may not exceed two hundred thousand, (where the Nuer are the majority (40 %) the Anuak (27%) and the rest the Mezenger, Opio and Komo nationalities beside the ‘highlanders’. The region itself is so hot and moist, malaria-prone that it can’t be classified as the ideal place to live in. But it is full of green and virgin land and now the talks of oil reserves and gold discovered seemed to attract more attention!

Traditionally, the Gambella people are said to have shown exceptional commitment and conviction in being totally Ethiopian and have responded positively even during the recent Ethio-Eritrean war, fighting bravely. Such commitment has been shown by the adoption as their working language Amharic, the federal language. Hence, there have never been ‘threats’ of self-determination or secession for that matter. However, the new reformative system of administration introduced and adopted by the federal government has allegedly appeared to the Anuak a displacement of their power to the more numerous Nuer. And this has reportedly contributed to the rising tension.

The Federal Minister’s report to parliament attributes the recent clashes to the absence of ‘good governance.’ This may be a frank and appreciable admission, but by itself can hardly address the pressing issue, unless it is followed by tangible measures. Opposition MP Dr. Beyene Petros has accused the government of ‘complicity’ in the outrage committed. He focussed his attention on the military forces and settlers. The thesis sustained by Beyene seems in discrepancy with the minister’s report in which he cites as the major responsible elements for the December 13^th violence was the ‘revenge’ taken by settlers (highlanders) on the local Anuak nationalities and not the military. Civil servants, unemployed youths, general residents of the town resorted to revengeful measures, according to the minister’s report, following the massacre of the eight highlanders in the assaulted vehicle. Human rights groups however have not only put the number of casualties at much higher levels than what the minister admitted, but also called on the ‘highlanders including the police and military’ as having carried out ‘indiscriminate massacre’. A Gambella MP, Debol Malwal, also subscribed to the latter version.

As much as the whole incident is deplorable, observers say there is however a sense of impotence or perhaps lack of political will to earnestly face the issue. Both national and international human rights organizations have made their voices heard on the need to probe in to the whole dynamics of the events by a neutral body and find out who were the real perpetrators of the initial ‘slaughter’ and the ensuing ‘indiscriminate outrage’ committed against locals. The US-based Genocide Watch (GW) and Survivors' Rights International (SRI) alleged that the Annuak ethnic group was being subjected to rape, executions and torture. "The Ethiopian government continues to deny, downplay and mis-characterise the massacres as justifiable responses to the Anyuak attack," said their 23-page report. "The fact is that most of the victims have been unarmed Anyuak civilians who were hunted down and murdered," Keith Harmon Snow, the report's author, asserted. "Numerous assailants have been identified, including government officials, soldiers and civilians," he added, while also calling for an independent inquiry into the killings. "These statements from the human rights groups are not correct. The government troops are not there to kill Anyuaks, they are there to make peace. We have stated this time and again," Zemedkun Tekle, the information ministry spokesman, told IRIN

Recently, the visiting British Development minister, Hilary Benn had expressed his government’s concern over events in Gambella, while the US government and others have openly requested for a ‘transparent and independent’ probe. Critics of the government of course relate the whole issue to the total failure of the ethnic-based regional administrative system, the ‘decentralisation along ethnic/tribal lines’ which has further exacerbated the already existing but a bit subdued sense of nationalism and, chauvinism if you like, along tribal, regional, and religious classifications. The potential harm for the entire system of federation as masterminded and implemented by the incumbent coalition is blatant, and subjects it under a perplexing question mark!

The recent clashes that ensued a similar incident in the Eastern part of Ethiopia, around Miesso (where administrative/jurisdictional issues were raised following a rearrangement of the provincial council) has finished by causing some disturbance resulting in reported deaths. There are those who assert that ‘Gambella’ dates back to years and the main issue there is the traditional land rights rivalry among the Nuer and Anuak. But the recent reforms introduced by the Federal government seems to have further exacerbated the local sentiments, already suspicious of the ‘intents’ of the Federal government. There has been simmering feeling of discontent and the fact that more refugee camps have been constructed in Gambella in response to cross border clashes, and the Nuer continuing to increase in number, has ‘threatened’ the sovereignty rights of the Annuak. But there are others who prefer to view the real issue as one that pertains to the control and chauvinistic/arrogant attitude of the highlanders on the local population.

No wonder the minister’s report alludes to such point. Certain highlanders, civil servants, show a ‘mistaken attitude’ toward the local people, posturing themselves as the ‘enlightened’ leaders, despising the locals. During the violence, these people have committed atrocities, including the death of 60 Annuaks, the injury of 74 (beside the burning down of around 400 houses belonging to the Annuak, the report lists. The report then condemned the act and gave credit to the military for stopping the violence. The recent extraordinary meeting of the Regional Council is reported to have asked the intervention of the Federal Government as the case was beyond its capacity, and the latter has responded positively. There were reported efforts by the State Minister of Federal Affairs Gebre-Ab Barnabas to gather the elderly in the community and carry out discussions in a bid to defuse the tension.

Parliament here however was criticized for failing to accept the idea of forming a ‘neutral body’ that would make an ‘independent probe’ in the whole matter. It said the investigation underway sufficed. Critics have rejected such decision. According to them, such attitude will never exempt the government from suspicion and partisanship, even if it actually may not be implicated in the nasty event. It would not convince people from being induced to believe that the government would have some interest to a cover-up. It would lead to the inevitable suspicion that there may be the government’s ‘dirty hand’ or ‘longa manus’ in some of the events!

In any case, the Gambella case is very serious and needs to be considered as such. It is not a simple clash for land (between Annuak and Nuer). It is not a simple question of lack of good governance, and implying that things would turn to normalcy once a better administrative apparatus is installed may be a bit naive, farfetched, admitted that acceptable and genuine good governance be installed in the first place. Where on earth, in the totality of the Federation, is there good governance in operation, many could question. And if it is a rare commodity even in the core of the country (such as Addis and other major towns and regions), how would one except it to be introduced and applied in a remote and marginal region such as Gambella? Gambella may not be the only region where good governance lacks, (although effectively the situation there may be such that it has passed every limit of tolerance!). It is not only the rest of the country that needs good governance, but the entire African continent, one would say. And the whole question of democracy, the question of free press, the question of free and fair elections are but parts that cannot be disintegrated, seen isolated one from the other. The respect for the rule of law, the respect for the Constitution, the respect for human rights, all these are components of our drive towards ‘good governance’. Gambella is only a case where the exacerbation, the frustration has reached such limit that it erupted into ‘live’ violence. The fact that it is a marginal province with a very easy access to uncontrollable transfer of fire arms coming from across the border makes the situation ever more volatile, explosive. And if there are elements (as is insistently claimed by the Ethiopian government,) that are ‘fishing in troubled waters’ such as Eritrean She’abia or Oromo Liberation Forces (OLF) giving logistic and propagandistic advice to the already angry locals, no wonder that the violence catapulted.

Again, it is the proposition of all concerned bodies that the incident be exhaustively probed, scrutinized, cleared. The culprits must be identified and brought before a court of law. The damages have been enormous, not only in terms of the human waste or material devastation, but more importantly, in terms of rigging the credibility of both the local council and the Federal government; the role each had in both the causation of the crisis as well as in the way it has been handled.

What was the role of the local people? What was the role of the local administration? What was the role of the Federal authorities, including the police and the defence forces? What was the role of the local insurgents, militants allegedly aided by OLF or She’abia, or even other external forces, if any? The Horn of Africa is labelled as one of the areas in the world where a certain form of ‘terrorism’ linked with militant groups (such as al-Ithad al-Islamiya and al-Qaeda) is carried out. And there is a Horn of Africa anti-terrorist unit with the US forces involved in training and exchanging skills and intelligence with local authorities. In the wake of 9/11, the US is committed to giving aid, without winking an eye, both technical as well as financial, to ‘fight’ such ‘terrorist links and structures’ and rip them in the bud. But the anxiety of human rights groups is ‘who knows if in the name of ‘fighting terrorism’, or ‘anti-peace elements’, other doubtful or not clear measures may be adopted. That is why transparency and accountability become two fundamental concepts full of significance. In a country where the democratic structure and culture is so fragile and shaky, demanding such an exploit may have its own burden, perhaps too big to be carried, (specially in the vicinity of scheduled elections!) but little choice is in horizon if we have to go ahead in our daily lives, with more confidence and faith in the government.