As of today, we do not yet know who really ambushed this car and killed the nine occupants. It could have been Anuak, but the government or government sympathizers could also have done it as an excuse to massacre Anuak leaders who were standing up for their regional right of self-determination — particularly in regards to the oil. No one knows for sure because no credible investigation has ever been done.

The Woyanne commander promoted the assumption that Anuak had committed the killings so that anyone who was an Anuak, was to pay the price. In midday of December 13th, Woyanne defense commanders joined together with some police and with some civilians, who had not been forced, but who had chosen to participate in a mass killing. They had a prepared list of Anuak leaders and together; they went home-to-home, killing Anuak. Within three days, more than 424 people were killed. The way they massacred the people was so unthinkable that it is heartbreaking to describe. It is something I would never have thought possible to happen in Ethiopia. This tragedy was perpetrated to people who were not only my family members and friends, but who were people who had inspired and influenced me to be the person I am today — such people as my uncle, my teachers, my church minister, my work colleagues and my best friend.

That massacre not only took away these people for whom I cared, but it took away some of my sense of my own humanity. I will never be the same person again as part of my life died together with them. Out of these 424 people who were killed, I knew most of them, not only by name, but I knew them very well. Some may not know that the killing of Anuaks did not end after those three days, but went on for the next two plus years. According to records among those who know, close to two thousand Anuak were killed during these last three years. Because no investigation has yet to be done, the numbers may in fact exceed this. Right now, over three thousand of the Anuak refugees who fled to the Sudan and unknown numbers of others who fled to Kenya, remain there.

After the killing took place, the gap between the Woyanne government and the people of Gambella, especially the Anuak, grew to be a chasm. It fueled the ethnic issues between the dark-skinned Anuak living in the low-lands of Ethiopia and the lighter-skinned highlanders, living in the higher elevations of the country. This alienation broadened as it no longer simply involved the Anuak and the government, but it now deepened the schism between the Anuak and these other groups as well.

Right after the massacre of these people, I had to make a choice whether I would speak up for them and those who were suffering. As you know, I chose to do so. This all took place before the Kinijit was formed. At the time of the massacre, thanks to the Ethiopian Human Rights Council and some other human rights organizations, they spoke out on it. In fact, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council was one of the first to arrive in Gambella to investigate. They interviewed eyewitnesses and others and looked at the evidence. Through these means, they determined that over 300 Anuak were killed and pointed the finger of responsibility at the government for instigating the killings.

From that day, outside of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, the Anuak were the only ones in all of Ethiopia crying, mourning, grieving and speaking up against their own government that committed these human rights crimes against them. Other Ethiopian groups were nowhere to be found. Instead, the massacre of the Anuak was documented by Western-based human rights organizations such as Genocide Watch, Survival Rights International, OMCT, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Despite all of this documentation, the Ethiopian government swept it under the carpet as he has been doing it in the regions of Oromia, Afar and now currently in the Ogaden. Meles wanted to suppress the facts and instead called what happened in Gambella, a fiction. The international community called for an
investigation…continued on next page >>