Novemtber 18, 1998
VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE MALEE ETHNIC GROUP
IN SOUTH OMO
THE GOVERNMENT OF Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is reportedly violating the basic rights of the members of the Malee ethnic group living in the Southern Omo region of Gamo Gofa. The Malee people, who are living in the Hamer Beni district of Southern Omo, have been arbitrarily told that their area is going to be incorporated into the Northern Omo region henceforth. The Malee people firmly objected to this decision and expressed their grievances peacefully to the local zonal authorities and to the regional government of the South itself. Denied any response, the representatives of the Malee people were forced to travel the long distance to Addis Abeba and to present their case to the Federal Parliament (specifically to the spokeswoman Woizero Almaz Meko). On their return from Addis Abeba, these representatives were beaten and some of them jailed in a clear violation of their rights and due process of law.
A second delegation has now went to Addis Ababa to present the case of the Malee who did not want to be separated from the people and areas they have lived with in the past and to be incorporated into a new region. The government cadres are adamantly refusing to heed the plea of the people. Such arbitrary actions led to the armed clashes between the Yem and Oromo people in Jimma, and between the Gedeo and Guji Oromos in the South. The latter led to the loss of 3000 lives and the internal displacement of some 167,000 people. The second delegation of the Malee to the Addis Ababa Federal parliament has not up to now received any official reply. The ones imprisoned have not also been released. There are genuine fears that the situation may degenerate and lead to the Gedeo-Guji type of armed conflict and bloodshed.
SOCEPP calls on the EPRDF government :
- to stop the violation of the rights of the Malee people and to desist from its arbitrary regional/Kilil arrangements which are leading to armed conflicts and bloodshed;
- to release the imprisoned representatives of the Malee people;
- to report truthfully on the Gedeo-Guji armed conflict and to mobilize support for the thousands of those displaced or affected by the war there.
SOCEPP
