Exiled Anuak confront Ethiopian official in Minn.
Only five questions were allowed, but in the end that was enough for exiled members of Ethiopia's Anuak minority to put Omot Obang Olom in a tough spot.
Omot came to the community meeting Saturday hosted by a local Anuak organization in Minneapolis, to urge Anuak emigrants to return home and help develop the Gambella region, where he heads the regional government.
But most of the 125 Anuak community members who turned out had a more pressing issue on their minds: the Dec. 13, 2003, massacre that human rights groups say killed more than 400 of their kin.
"We are supposed to talk about peace before we talk about development," said Ojoye Akane, a 31-year-old Anuak student who clutched an open notebook during his turn at the microphone. "You can't talk about development before you talk about peace."
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Ojoye said his sister's 15-year-old son was shot and killed shortly before the massacre, and the government has done nothing to help his sister. He and others listened intently as Omot responded to their questions and accusations.
Omot didn't do so immediately - first he let another member of his government delegation speak while he jotted notes. When he took the microphone, he spoke first in Amharic, Ethiopia's official language, before repeating his remarks in Anuak. Like most of the audience members, Omot is Anuak.
"We could not stop those killings," Omot said, according to translator Magn Nyang, a 33-year-old Anuak who lives in Spring Lake Park, Minn., and was openly skeptical of much of what Omot said.
Omot blamed the killings on weak regional leadership in Gambella at the time, and said he - then the chief of security - tried to stop the bloodletting. He said allegations that he gave up the names of Anuak to be targeted were an unfounded rumor.
Omot appealed to the Anuak diaspora to return to Gambella. He said conditions in southwestern Ethiopia region have improved.
Some Anuak community members boycotted the event because they say Omot should be brought to justice, and they did not expect an open dialogue at the meeting.