THE ATTACK ON CIVILIANS MUST END

Press Release from Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women(CREW) on the Gambela massacre

Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW) is a women’s human rights organization that advocates against abuses of rights perpetrated from any position of power against individuals or groups; and campaigns for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all people irrespective of creed or gender.

CREW believes that every person has the right to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights laws and standards. We believe in the sacredness of human lives and condemn its violations for any reasons.

Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women thus condemns the massacre of more than 200 unarmed citizens and the abduction of more than 100 children in the Gambela region of Western Ethiopia. The attack happened on April 15, 2016 when raiders from Murle tribe crossed the border from South Sudan into Western Ethiopian in Gambela Region and indiscriminately killed civilians including women and children mainly from the Nuer tribe and raided nearly 2000 cattle.

In the attack, the perpetrators intentionally targeted unarmed civilians including women and children, based on their ethnicity. Based on information available from local areas in the Gambela region, it is clear that the people of Nuer suffered brutal and unprecedented attacks that are unacceptable under any international law. We believe that such acts of violence and attack against civilians should be condemn by all groups.

CREW is gravely concerned by these acts of violence which has been a safety issue in the region for many years. We demand that the perpetrators of the attack to be held responsible. Therefore, we ask for immediate investigations into the attack in order to hold the perpetrators to account. CREW also urges all Ethiopians and other peace loving people throughout the world to stand together in unity and condemn the inhuman actions taken by members of the Murle tribe against the people of Nuer.

We believe that the Government of Ethiopia has the responsibility to protect all Ethiopians irrespective of their ethnicity or political affiliation. Therefore, we ask the government of Ethiopia to take immediate measure to ensure the safety of the people of Nuer and to ensure the safe return of the abducted people and their cattle. The International community also has responsibility to assist and protect the people of Nuer from further attacks and to bring the attackers to justice.

CREW would like to express its deepest condolences to the people of Nuer and to the families of the victims who were brutally and unnecessarily killed by a group of irresponsible Murle tribes from South Sudan. We would like to show our solidarity with the people of Gambela region in general and with the people of Nuer who are grieving the loss of their loved ones.

Finally, CREW would like to call upon both the Government of the Republic of South Sudan, the Ethiopian Government, the African Union and the International Community to intervene to put an end to such an attack on civilians and violations of human rights.