Mr. Omot Obang Olum, the Gambella Region Governor who was appointed to his position following his suspected collaboration with the EPRDF regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in the massacre of 424 Anuak leaders in Gambella in December of 2003, has had his visa application for entry into Canada denied by Canadian government officials late on Friday, June 6, 2008.
Mr. Olum was scheduled to speak at a meeting in Calgary to Canadian Ethiopians from the Gambella region on Saturday, June 7, but now will not make it. In an earlier meeting held in Minnesota on May 31, many attendees were dissatisfied with Olum’s emphasis on developing the region while appearing to evade questions or flatly deny his own alleged part in the human rights crimes going on in the region before, during and after the killings. Mr. Omot Olum failed to publicly take the higher ground and admit to his wrongdoing. Anuak would love to be so surprised—if it were deemed honest and sincere.
Efforts to deny his entry into the United States were unsuccessful even though we have learned from anonymous sources that United States officials had detained Olum for questioning after he arrived in the states on May 30, 2008, but that he was later released, allegedly, because he held a diplomatic visa that gave him special privileges and greater immunity against possible action.
Regardless, Canada has now taken a stand against an alleged perpetrator of genocide and human rights crimes. This is all the more significant to the family of these victims as Olum and other legitimate suspects all the way up to the federal offices in Addis Ababa, have never been held accountable for these actions within Ethiopia. Way to go, Canada! No longer do we want western countries to be used as safe havens for those who have committed gross human rights abuses.
Mr. Olum, who was the chief of security for the region at the time of the massacre, had been identified in testimony from witnesses given to human rights investigators from Genocide Watch, Survivors Rights’ International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) as the individual responsible for compiling and handing over the list of Anuak leaders who were later targeted and killed.
Mr. Olum later was appointed as governor of the Gambella region in a suspected payoff for his loyalty to the EPRDF government of Ethiopian unelected Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. To date, no one has been held accountable for the massacre of the Anuak. Neither has anyone been held accountable for the over 200 Ethiopians killed in protests following the hijacking of the Ethiopian National Election of 2005 or for the gross human rights crimes being perpetrated in the Ogaden and into Somalia as well as for the countless other human rights abuses committed throughout Ethiopia.
In a comment made to the Calgary Herald, Karen Shadd, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, was quoted in their June 6, 2008 article as saying that “the department takes public safety seriously even though she could not comment on the visa.” We now see the proof that her statement had substance to it.
Canadian government figures show that there are over 800 war criminals or human rights abusers currently living in Canada. In 2000, Canada passed a new law that the Canadian courts have jurisdiction to hear cases in court of those found to be in the country—even one related to individuals visiting on a visa who are suspected of committing a human rights crime such as Omot Olum. Should he have been allowed to enter the country, this law could have taken effect on his case.
However, the current denial of Olum’s visa is the best first step and Canadians have taken it. This is the kind of action that is needed to bring to an end the human rights abuses and the repression of freedom and democracy in Ethiopia being carried out by the regime of Meles Zenawi.
We are hoping that this action is an indication of a new level of commitment to upholding the principles of freedom and democracy in Third World countries that western countries like Canada and the United States hold so dear.
The West’s War on Terror has contributed to the willingness of donor countries such as Canada and the United States to turn a blind eye to the horrific violations of human rights and oppression in countries such as Ethiopia whose partnership in the War on Terror has given them impunity. Yet, on the home front, the prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, is terrorizing his own people.
Canada’s partnership with Meles Zenawi, also seen by many Ethiopians as complicity with a dictator, is putting Canada’s own future relationship with Ethiopians in jeopardy. If Canadians in leadership and in the media fail to acknowledge how our support of this dictator is a means to perpetuate human rights abuses, the sabotage of the democratic process and the repression of the press, we will end up compromising not only our moral principles as a free country, but we will be putting our own future national interests at greater risk as these average Ethiopians become hostile to us in the west due to our silence and self-interest. Please do something to change the course of these events!
If there is a group interested in further pursuing this, please contact us for more information.
Mr. Obang Metho,
Director of International Advocacy
Anuak Justice Council
CALGARY – Ethiopian ex-pats waiting to ask tough questions of an Ethiopian governor of the Gambella region did not get the opportunity here Saturday afternoon after the official was a no-show, having been denied entry into the country a day earlier.
Omot Obang Olom was set to appear at the First Church of the Nazarene and was expected to talk about the new economic opportunities in the Gambella region of Ethiopia.
Olom has been accused by some human rights advocates of involvement in a 2003 massacre by government troops which left 400 people of Anuak ethnicity dead. However, supporters say Omot had no involvement and he has said he tried to stop the killings.
Members of the media were told by organizers Olom would not be making an appearance after he was denied entry into Canada Friday morning.
“The Canadian government did not give us a reason and we do not know why he is not allowed in the country,” said organizer Gatkuoth Bim.
Opponents of Olom’s visit were pleased by the development.
“He has no right to come to talk to Ethiopian people in Canada when he has been accused of human rights violations,” said Obang Metho, director of international advocacy with the Anuak Justice Council.
Ojulu Didumo, who travelled from Edmonton early Saturday morning to attend, said he was disappointed at the cancellation and was looking forward to asking questions about what happened in 2003.
“We have family members who have been affected by what’s going on in the country and I think we are owed some answers,” he said.
Canadian Border Services could not be reached for comment.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Great job Obang Metho and friends. You succeeded in chasing away the monstrous criminal from Canada. Shame on the U.S. Government for allowing this guy, who slaughtered hundreds of Ethiopians in cold blood, to enter the United State. It is the work of that a heartless witch,Jendayi Frazier, who is in charge of U.S. policy on Africa.
Berhanu Nega, the leader of Ginbot 7 Movement for Democracy and Justice in Ethiopia, has arrived in London today where he was warmly received by several supporters.
Dr Berhanu will speak at a public meeting tomorrow afternoon in London and heads to several other European cities to meet with Ethiopians, as well as officials of European governments.
Berhanu Nega will not face supporters only during his tour. Retired communists associated with a defunct political group named EPRP are getting organized to hold protest demonstrations against Dr Berhanu. The commies, who are led by the son-in-law of Ethiopia’s President Girma, have also started spreading misinformation through their trashy web sites that the public meeting in London Sunday has been canceled. All scheduled public meetings will go on as scheduled. If there is any change of schedule, it will be posted on ginbot7.org.
According to Ginbot 7 Press Office, Dr Berhanu’s European tour is as follows?
Sunday 08/June – London, public meeting
Thursday 12/June – The Netherlands, meeting with supporters
Friday 13/June – Nuremburg, meeting with Germany government officials
Saturday 14/June – Nuremburg, public meeting
Sunday 15/June – Frankfurt, Meeting with government officials
Monday 16/June – Norway Meeting with government officials
Thursday 19/June – Sweden, meeting with diplomats
Tuesday 24/June – Belgium, meeting with supporters
Thurs 26/June – Depart for Washington DC
CALGARY – An African human rights group is calling on Ottawa to refuse entry to an Ethiopian politician linked to a 2003 massacre.
Omot Obang Olom, governor of Gambella province in Ethiopia, is scheduled to give a speech in Calgary this weekend, encouraging expatriates from Gambella to return to the east African country.
Some human rights groups accuse him of being involved in the 2003 massacre by government troops of more than 400 people of Anuak ethnicity.
Olom’s visit is sparking a sharp rebuke from a Saskatoon-based organization, which accuses the governor of human rights abuses.
Obang Metho, director of international advocacy with the Anuak Justice Council, said Olom’s speech should be boycotted and argues Canada should refuse the governor entry to this country.
“This is a criminal,” Metho said of Olom.
Olom has denied he ever had a hand in the massacre. He reiterated his innocence in Minnesota last week, where he spoke to members of the Anuak diaspora there, saying he tried to stop the bloodshed.
At the time of the massacre, Olom was in charge of security in Gambella. He later became governor.
While he’s not accused of killing anyone, several human rights groups allege he helped draw up a list of targets.
A Human Rights Watch report says Olom, while head of security, took “an exceptionally hardline approach to stamping out the threat to regional security posed by Anuak (rebels).”
The report accuses Olom of responding to human rights complaints in 2004 with threats of more violence.
Calgarian Gatkuoth Bim is one of the organizers facilitating Olom’s visit to this city.
He believes the allegations against the governor are false rumours spread by those who want power in Ethiopia.
He also points out Olom is an ethnic Anuak, the same group targeted by the military in 2003.
“That killing happened,” Bim said. “But it does not mean (Olom) was the architect of the killing. He did not do anything, he has nothing to do with it.”
Bim said there are a “good number” of people from Gambella living in Calgary, most of whom welcome the governor’s visit.
He said Olom will speak about new economic opportunities in Gambella in an effort to convince people to return and invest in the region.
The governor is scheduled to speak Saturday at Calgary’s First Church of the Nazarene.
Meanwhile, Metho suggested Olom has been granted an entry visa to Canada and is due to fly from Washington D.C., to Ottawa Friday. He’s then scheduled to travel to Calgary.
The fact that Olom may be granted a visa to Canada is “most disturbing,” said Dan McTeague, the federal Liberal critic for Consular Services.
“I would find it of considerable concern for most Canadians to learn that Canada’s prepared to accept somebody who has a checkered past, particularly in violation of human rights, is granted open access to our country,” he said.
McTeague also points to the case of Bashir Maktal, a Canadian citizen originally from Ethiopia. The man has been held without charge in Ethiopia for 18 months.
“It’s to me ironic, and in fact contradictory, that Canada would be granting (Olom) any type of visa, when we can’t get in to see a Canadian citizen who’s been held incommunicado for almost two years,” McTeague said.
A spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada said the department takes public safety seriously.
Karen Shadd said she couldn’t say for privacy reasons if Olom had obtained an entry visa.
