Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012 .
Since
the massacre of the Anuak
in December of 2003 by the TPLF/EPRDF security forces, most all of the
horror, pain and suffering that the Anuak have been enduring has been
coming from the Gambella region of Ethiopia. Now, we are dismayed to
hear how the stretching reach of the Meles regime has crossed an
international border to become deeply involved in the affairs of South
Sudan. Southern Sudanese should take this as a threat to their national
security.
From our sources, the AJC has learned about a plan,
allegedly supported by the Ethiopian Embassy in Juba, which involved
bribing some public officials within South Sudan so as to allow the
Meles regime to fly a small private jet to Pochalla County in Jonglei
State to pick up seventeen Anuak at the refugee camp, fifteen who have
been accused of being rebels in Ethiopia and two who are believed to be
TPLF/EPRDF security officers.
These men were flown to Juba and
placed in detention on the weekend. After UNHCR in Juba was alerted, it
was planned that they would be questioned this coming Thursday, May 24,
2012, to determine whether they were really refugees or not; however,
before that could take place, an Ethiopian air force helicopter arrived
at the airport in Juba and the men were rounded up and taken from the
maximum security center where they had been held without going through
the proper channels.
As arrangements were made very quickly to
expedite their departure for Ethiopia, the AJC received word from
sources on the ground that the men had already been loaded onto the
Ethiopian Air Force cargo plane and had been chained. Before the Air
Force cargo plane could leave, the information was shared with
authorities at UNHCR who were shocked that these clandestine
arrangements had been made behind the scenes. UNHCR contacted the South
Sudanese authorities to put a hold on the flight.
Ethiopian Air Force cargo plane
remained
on the tarmac for more than six hours while negotiations were going on.
According to sources, those involved included South Sudan security,
Ethiopian security, the Ethiopian Embassy and UNHCR. Finally, after no
agreement was reached, it was ordered that the seventeen Anuak should be
returned to detention until today May 23, when continued discussions
would take place.
Above is the picture of Ethiopian Air Force cargo plane at Juba airport in South Sudan
The
TPLF/EPRDF regime reportedly paid for the small private jet that
originally picked up the seventeen Anuak in the Alari Refugee Camp and
brought them to Juba. Had they not been stopped because of leaked
information to UNHCR and Upper Southern Sudanese leadership, these
detainees would have been returned without any discussion.
How
could a foreign government get away with doing this in another country?
This is worth investigating and anyone found to be complicit with this
should be punished.
The Meles regime, a regime known
for its corruption—11.3 billion disappeared since 2000 due to bribes,
money laundering and export mispricing—should not bring their corruption
to South Sudan. On what or whose authority was this plan executed?
Southern Sudanese officials on the top, like President Salva Kiir, may
not have known what was transpiring on the ground, with the assistance
of the Ethiopian Embassy, until the plan was nearly executed.
Jonglei
State, especially Pochalla County, where most Southern Sudanese Anuak
live, is becoming the unmonitored playground for TPLF intelligence.
Already, there are accusations that these TPLF regime representatives
bribed the local people. The TPLF regime’s motive is their fear that
Anuak rebels are hiding out in Sudan and launching attacks against the
TPLF/EPRDF troops or interests in Gambella where they have been forcibly
evicted from their land. Those who have spoken out or resisted have
become victims of violence or other punitive repercussions.
The
government of South Sudan should be very wary of the actions of the
TPLF/EPRDF regime due to their actions against their own people as well
as their disregard for international laws. Numerous reports, including
this one, indicate that TPLF troops and/or intelligence officers are
entering into South Sudan carrying guns across an international boundary
line without permission and with an arrogance that has already
undermined the national integrity of South Sudan. This should be
investigated as such actions are a clear violation of sovereignty.
According
to our sources, last week an incident occurred when the TPLF sent two
pro-government security intelligence officers of Anuak ethnicity to the
Alari Refugee camp to assess the situation. This camp still is home to
thousands refugees who remain there following the genocide of 2003 in
Gambella. Now, these security agents have entered into South Sudan with
no papers, with weapons and with the distinct goal of interfering with
internal South Sudan policy matters and violating international refugee
asylum laws.
Two days after they arrived, there were incidents of
shooting between the South Sudan police and some of the accused Anuak
insurgents. The details are not yet clear, but we know there was
fighting between the two groups, including the TPLF agents, and that
four Anuak were killed in the skirmish. Four others were arrested along
with the two Anuak security officers sent by the Ethiopian regime.
Together, these six men were transported to Juba on Saturday by the
afore-mentioned chartered jet, paid for by the Ethiopian Embassy in
Juba. On Saturday, in Boma in another part of South Sudan, eleven other
suspected Anuak insurgents were arrested. Again, a private charter jet
funded by the Ethiopian Embassy brought them to Juba. This information
reached to the Anuak Justice Council on Saturday at which time we began
to monitor the situation.
TPLF/EPRDF regime is known as one of the
worst perpetrators of human rights crimes in Africa, including serial
incidents of genocide, crimes against humanity and other gross human
rights abuses. Torture and other atrocities are a part of this trademark
of this regime.
We know that now that Ethiopian Air Force cargo
plane took off at 12:43PM today back to Ethiopia without the seventeen
men. We did not hear where about these men are. We hope they were not
returned or will never be return to Ethiopia where it is likely that
they will be tortured and possibly killed.
Can South
Sudan become an ally to the TPLF without carefully calculating how to
ensure this new country maintains its integrity, values and purposes?
Can the Republic of South Sudan allow the friend of South Sudan’s
previous enemy unhindered access to this new and fragile country? Omar
al Bashir is a friend to Meles. His regime is responsible for the deaths
of over two million of our Southern Sudanese people. Bashir’s
government is still a threat to South Sudan as they continue to threaten
aggression at the border. Bashir recently called the beautiful people
of South Sudan, “insects.” Meles’ government remains a threat to the
Anuak and Ethiopians throughout that country.
Meles and Omar al
Bashir just recently signed an agreement to extradite “refugees” or
“criminals” of either country to the other; yet, in Ethiopia, a
“criminal” may simply be a political opponent, an advocate for justice, a
non-party member or someone from another tribe. Additionally, for those
who are arrested or charged, the TPLF/EPRDF regime has utilized many
scapegoats and never been careful to ensure that the ones they arrest
and punish are actually the ones who committed the crimes.
In
light of this, we call on President Salva Kiir , the government of the
Republic of South Sudan, the people of this country as well as the Red
Cross and the UNHCR to follow up on the fate of these men to make sure
they are not taken to Ethiopia where they will be killed, tortured or
disappear.
The mandate of the Anuak Justice Council is to defend
and protect the rights and well being of the Anuak, wherever they are
found, but especially within their homeland which is the Jonglei State
of South Sudan and the Gambella region of Ethiopia. This new country of
South Sudan is celebrating their freedom after decades of war and
sacrifice.
We Anuak have contributed to that struggle. Even within
the Anuak Justice Council there are many of us within the organization
who have fathers, brothers or other relatives who have sacrificed and
died to bring freedom to this new country. Even the current chairman of
the Anuak Justice Council’s youngest brother fought in the SPLA and was
wounded as he paid a price for the freedom of South Sudan. How then can
South Sudan consider turning over our loved ones to an enemy regime
where they will never find justice, whether innocent or guilty.
We
Anuak did not die for this country to be handed over to another
strongman who believes he can walk into South Sudan like he has every
right to be the bully in his neighbor’s yard. We Anuak are not speaking
as outsiders, but as citizens of this country. Southern Sudan does not
border the Tigray region of Ethiopia like it does with the Anuak who
live on indigenous land in both Ethiopia and South Sudan so why should
South Sudan become the playground of the ethnic apartheid TPLF regime?
In
closing, we in the AJC call on President Salva Kiir and all others in
his government to not only provide safety to the Anuak from South Sudan,
but to defend and protect the rights of Anuak whose indigenous land
lies on both sides of the river. The Anuak of Ethiopia gave refuge to
the Southern Sudanese during the long civil war; often walking many
miles carrying water, food and clothes to greet the weary Southern
Sudanese as they were seeking refuge near us in Gambella. Do not give us
reason to doubt your allegiance to all the values of a free society.
More
specifically, do not give preference to a brutal, corrupt and
autocratic regime who divides its citizens based on ethnicity and who
has no respect for its own people. In Ethiopia, the Anuak land is being
given away to foreign investors and the people have been forced off
their land. They are being persecuted, killed and now when they want to
find a safe place for refuge, they are now being threatened, arrested
and handed over to the same regime that has been killing them. It is
appalling and unconscionable.
We ask that South Sudan launch a
thorough investigation into what has happened and who is behind it.
Those who are complicit should be punished. The AJC will do all it can
to make sure that the well being of the Anuak are protected, including
sending a delegation to South Sudan to meet with President Salva Kiir
personally to make sure that the rights of the Anuak are protected and
that the Anuak do not fall victim to continued injustice.
We hope
that your future policies will be in greater alignment with the values
of a free society because this new country of South Sudan came at great
cost and it should not be the cause of more death, pain and persecution
against the Anuak or any other people. We, Southern Sudanese fought for
something better than this and we trust that you will be an advocate for
freedom for all the people of Southern Sudan, the people of Africa and
for humanity as a whole.
May God bring justice to our land and to all our people!
For media enquiries, including more information, contact Mr. Ochala Abulla, Chairman of the
Anuak Justice Council (AJC): Phone: +1 (604) 520-6848 E-mail:
Ochala@anuakjustice.org