Ethiopian troops enter S. Sudan’s Pibor to rescue abducted children

May 23, 2016 (BOR/JUBA) – Thousands of Ethiopian troops who have crossed into South Sudan have entered Pibor county of the newly created Buma state in search of abducted children from the Ethiopian Nuer community by the South Sudan’s Murle ethnic group.

A top Ethiopian diplomat, Ambassador Fesseha Shawel Gebre, has revealed that the troops will continue to pursue the Murle criminals until all the children abducted have been recovered and returned to their parents back in Ethiopia.

Last month, thousands of armed members of the Murle ethnic group crossed into Ethiopia and simultaneously attacked 13 villages belong to the Nuer community in Ethiopia, killing at least 200 people, abducting over 100 kids and took away also with over 2,000 heads of cattle.

Ethiopia responded by deploying troops to rescue the children, threatening to attack suspected targets within South Sudan should the Murle community not hand over all the kids.

Ambassador Gebre said the deployment of the Ethiopian troops inside South Sudan has been approved by the South Sudanese government, stressing that the move was important in order not to strain relations between the two neighbouring countries.

He said no order has been issued by the Ethiopian government to begin the attack as two governors of Gambella region in Ethiopia, Gatluak Tut Khot, and governor of Boma state in South Sudan, Baba Bedan, have been peacefully trying to recover the children.

“The Ethiopian troops are in the soil of South Sudan with the permission of the government of South Sudan to facilitate work for the governors on the two sides," Ambassador Gebre told a local newspaper on Monday in Juba.

He said the Ethiopian troops may shoulder the operations as South Sudanese troops were not capable for the joint operations given the difficulty of the terrain in Boma state.

"That area is very remote and access is difficult including crossing the rivers. It is the army of Ethiopia that is best placed and equipped with the infrastructure to rescue the children,” he said.

56 children have been rescued and returned to Ethiopia so far. That is about half of the number of people abducted following the raid.

But Ambassador Gebre said the raiders should be brought to books. He said Ethiopia expected "cooperation from Juba" to avoid the cross border military incursion.

PUNISH THE CRIMINALS

Meanwhile, Boma state administration announced a plan to persecute the raiders, and child abductors belonging to the Murle ethnic group, saying at least 50 criminals have been identified and awaiting prosecution.

Boma state governor, Baba Medan, made the remarks after he visited the Ethiopian region of Gambella to normalize security tensions between his state and Gambella region.

“On the 15th of April, a group of criminals from my state went and attacked people of Gambella. According to the reports, over 100 children were abducted and 2,000 cattle stolen,” he said.

“We, the government of South Sudan and government of Boma state are committed to bring these children. The directive from the president [Salva Kiir] was very clear that we have to work out this issue of children so that we hand them over to their parents,” he said.

Governor Bedan revealed that he had asked the governor of Gambella region, Gatluak Tut Khot, to give him time to recover all the abducted kids.

“I went to meet the President of Gambella region to give us another time for us to collect cattle and the remaining children. I hope very soon, we will be able to collect and hand over these children to their government,” he said.

Although no arrest has been made, possible majors of bringing them to justice would be drafted after Ethiopian children and cattle have all been returned.

“These criminals made a mistake to cross the border and steal cattle and children from Ethiopia. It is our mistake; we will ask the criminal to pay these numbers of cattle according to the report. Even if the number of cattle is 1,000 and they are claiming for 2,000 heads of cattle, we have to collect two 2,000 from these criminals,” lamented the governor.

The Ethiopian troops had again entered Raat, seeking approval from Boma state to allow them to pass through to Lamurnyang state, pursuing the cattle.

According to Medan, he denied to grant passage of Ethiopian troops to former Eastern Equartoria state, particularly the current Namurnyang state in an attempt to pursue their stolen heads of cattle.

However, the Ethiopian troops may act unilaterally should there be no cooperation or success in recovering all the human and animals raided from their country.

Source: http://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article59062

ወደ ደቡብ ሱዳን ገብቶ የነበረው የኢትዮጵያ ጦር አካባቢውን ለቆ መውጣቱ ተነገረ

ኢሳት (ግንቦት 10 ፥ 2008)
በቅርቡ ከጋምቤላ ክልል ታፍነው የተወሰዱ ህጻናትን ለማስለቀቅ ወደ ደቡብ ሱዳን ገብተው የነበሩ ወደ ሶስት ሺ የኢትዮጵያ ወታደሮች ከሃገሪቱ መውጣታቸውን የደቡብ ሱዳን ባለስልጣናት አስታወቁ።
ወታደሮቹ ከጋምቤላ ክልል በቅርብ ርቀት ላይ በሚገኘው የፖቻላ ግዛት አካባቢ ሰፍረው የነበረ ሲሆን፣ በድርድር የተቀቁ ህጻናትን ሲቀበሉ መቆየታቸው ይታወሳል።
ይሁንና፣ ወታደሮቹ ሰፍረው በነበረበት አካባቢ የታፈኑ ህጻናት ባለመኖራቸው ምክንያት ወታደሮቹ ከሰፈሩበት ቦታ ለቀው መውጣታቸውን ስማቸውን መግለጽ ያልፈለጉ የደቡብ ሱዳን ወታደራዊ ባለስልጣናት ለሃገሪቱ መገናኛ ብዙሃን አስረድተዋል።
እስከ ሃሙስ ድረስም ታፍነው ከተወሰዱት ከ100 በላይ ህጻናት መካከል 53ቱ በድርድር የተለቀቁ ሲሆን፣ የቀሪዎቹ ህጻናት ሁኔታ ግን አልታወቀም።
የደቡብ ሱዳን ባለስልጣናት ህጻናቱን ለማስለቀቅ ከሙርሌ ጎሳ ታጣቂዎች ጋር ድርድር መካሄዱን ቢገልጹም ድርድሩ በምን ጉዳዮች ዙሪያ ያተኮረ እንደሆነ ግን የሰጡት ዝርዝር መረጃ የለም።
የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የታፈኑ ህጻናትን ለማስለቀቅ በሚል በርካታ ታንኮችና ወታደሮችን ወደ ደቡብ ሱዳን ቢያሰማራ ልጆቹን ለማስለቀቅ የወሰደው እርምጃ አለመኖሩን የደቡብ ሱዳን ወታደራዊ ሃላፊዎች ለሱዳን ትሪቢዩን ጋዜጣ ገልጸዋል።
የሃገሪቱ ጦር ሰራዊት ተወካይ የሆኑት ብርጋዴር ጄኔራል አቲም ኦት ከሙርሌ ጎሳ ታጣቂዎች ጋር የሚካሄደው ድርድር እንደሚቀጥል አስታውቀዋል።
ከሁለት ሳምንት በፊት በጋምቤላ ክልል በተፈጸመው ጥቃት ከ200 በላይ የሚሆኑ ሰዎች መገደላቸው የሚታወስ ሲሆን፣ ከ100 የሚበልጡ ህጻናትም ታፍነው ተወስደዋል።
በዚሁ ጥቃት ከ20ሺ የሚበልጡ ነዋሪዎችም ከመኖሪያ ቀያቸው ተፈናቅለው በመጠለያ ጣቢያዎች ውስጥ እንደሚገኙ ታውቋል።

Source: http://amharic.ethsat.com/%e1%8b%88%e1%8b%b0-%e1%8b%b0%e1%89%a1%e1%89%a5-%e1%88%b1%e1%8b%b3%e1%8a%95-%e1%8c%88%e1%89%a5%e1%89%b6-%e1%8b%a8%e1%8a%90%e1%89%a0%e1%88%a8%e1%8b%8d-%e1%8b%a8%e1%8a%a2%e1%89%b5%e1%8b%ae%e1%8c%b5/

ሰመጉ በጋምቤላ ለጠፋው የሰው ህይወትና ለወደመው ንብረት መንግስትን ተጠያቄ አደረገ

ሚያዚያ ፲፱(አሥራ ዘጠኝ) ቀን ፳፻፰ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :- የቀድሞው የኢትዮጵያ ሰብአዊ መብቶች ጉባኤ ባወጣው ጋዜጣው መግለጫ፣ ከ200 በላይ ንጹሃን ዜጎች ለተገደሉበት ከ100 በላይ ዜጎች ለቆሰሉበትና በርካታ ህጻናትና ሴቶች ተጠልፈው ለተወሰዱበት ድርጊት ፣ መንግስትን ግንባር ቀደም ተጠያቂ አድርጓል።
ከደቡብ ሱዳን የሚመጡ ታጣቂዎች ተደጋጋሚ ግድያና ዝርፊያ እየፈጸሙ መሆኑ እየታወቀ፣ የአካባቢው ነዋሪዎች ራሳቸውንና ንብረታቸውን የሚከላከሉበትን መሳሪአ በመንግስት እንዲፈቱ መደረጉ አንድ ጥፋት መሆኑን የጠቀሰው ሰመጉ፣ የክልሉ ፖሊስና ልዩ ሃይል አባላት ትጥቅ እንዲፈቱ መደረጉ ድርጊቱን መከላከል እንዳይቻል በማድረጉ ሌላ ጥፋት ተሰርቷል ብሎአል።
ህገወጥ ድርጊቱ ከመፈጸሙ አስቀድሞ ነዋሪዎችና ባለስልጣናት የድረሱልን ጥበቃ ይደረግልን ቢሉም በመንገስት በኩል ተገቢውናነ ፈጣን ምላሽ ባለማግነታቸው አሁን ለደረሰው ከፍተኛ ጉዳት ሌላው ምክንያት መሆኑን ጠቅሷል።
ከዚህ ቀደም በኢትዮጵያ ሶማሌ ክልል ውስጥ ቁጥራቸው ከ63 በላይ ሰዎች በኦጋዴን ነጻ አውጭ ግንባር ተፈጸመ በተባለ ጥቃት ህይወታቸውን ሲያቱ፣ በትግራይና አፋር ክልሎች ጠረፋማ አካባቢዎች ዜጎች በየጊዜው እየታፈኑ ሲወሰዱ፣ መንግስት ችላ ማለቱንና ትምህርት አለመውሰዱ፣ በጋምቤላ ለደረሰው አሰቃቂ ድርጊት የበኩሉን አስተዋጽኦ አድርጓል ብሎአለ።
በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ መንግስት በኦሮሚያ ክልል የገጠመውና ለበርካታ ሰዎች መሞት ምክንያት የሆነውን ቀውስ የኦፌኮ ተቀዳሚ ም/ሊቀመንበር የሆኑትን አቶ በቀለ ገርባ ጨምሮ በ22 ተከሳሾች ላይ መለጠፉ በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ አነጋጋሪ ጉዳይ መሆኑን ዘጋቢያችን ገልጿል።
አቃቤ ህግ ትላንት ለፌዴራል ከፍተኛ ፍ/ቤት 19ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት በንባብ ባቀረበው ክስ መሰረት በኦሮሚያው ተቃውሞ ቁጥራቸው ያልታወቁ ሰዎች መሞታቸውን ፣በ122 ሰዎች ላይ ከባድና ቀላል አደጋ መድረሱን፣ 122 ነጥብ 4 ሚሊየን ብር የሚገመት ንብረት መውደሙን ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ይፋ አድርጎአል።
ጠ/ሚኒስትር ሀይለማርያም በኦሮሚያ ክልል የተፈጠረው ተቃውሞ መነሻው ራሱ ኦህዴድ/ኢህአዴግ መሆኑን በይፋ ከማመን አልፈው በጽ/ቤታቸው ተገኝተው ላነጋገሩዋቸው አባገዳዎች ለተጎዱ ወገኖች መንግስት ካሳ እንደሚሰጥ የተናገሩ ቢሆንም፣ የተቃውሞው አንቀሳቃሾች እነ አቶ በቀለ ገርባ ሆነው መቅረባቸው አነጋጋሪ ሆኖአል።
ጠ/ሚኒስትሩ “በኦሮምያ የተነሳው ተቃውሞ የመልካም አስተዳደር ችግርና ስርአጥነት የፈጠሩት ነው፣ ጥፋተኞች ነን” ብለው በአደባባይ ተናግረው ባለበት ሁኔታ ፣ ተጠያቂ ያልሆኑ ግለሰቦችን አስሮ ፣ ለደረሰው ጥፋት ሁሉ ተጠያቂዎች ናቸው ብሎ ክስ መመስረቱ፣ ተቃውሞውን ለማብረድ መንግስት የተጠቀመበት ስልት ሊሆን እንደሚችል፣ ካልሆነም የፈለገውን እየወነጀለ የሚያስር ከአቶ ሃይለማርያም ውጭ ያለ ሌላ ስልጣን ያለው አካል መኖሩን ያሳያል በማለት ዘጋቢያችን ያነጋገራቸው ሰዎች ገልጸዋል።
በኦሮሚያ ሰዎች የተገደሉት መንግስት ባሰማራቸው ታጣቂዎች እንጂ በእነበቀለ ገርባ አይደለም ያለው አንድ አስተያየት ሰጪ፣ ወንጀለኞቹ ሳይጠየቁ የተቃዋሚ ፖርቲ አባላትን ማሳደድና በእስራት ማሰቃየት እውነቱን ሊሸፍነው አይችልም ብለዋል። እነአቶ በቀለ የቀረበባቸውን የክስ መቃወሚያቸውን ግንቦት 3 እንደሚያቀርቡ ይጠበቃል።
በሌላ የፍርድ ቤት ዜና ደግሞ የቀድሞው የጋንቤላ ክልል ርዕሰ መስተዳድር የነበሩትና ከደቡብ ሱዳን ታግተው ወደ ኢትዮጵያ የተወሰዱት አቶ ኦኬሎ አኳይን ጨምሮ ሌሎች በተመሳሳይ ወንጀል የተከሰሱት ፍርድ ቤት የእስር ውሳኔ አስተላልፎባቸዋል።
ተከሳሾቹ አቶ ኦኬሎ አኳይ፣ ዴቪድ ኡጁሉ፣ ኡቻን ኦፔይ፣ ኡማን ኝክየው፣ ኡጁሉ ቻም፣ አታካ ኡዋር እና ኡባንግ ኡመድ ሲሆኑ ፍርድ ቤቱም በአንደኛ ተከሳሽ አቶ ኦኬሎ አኳይ እና ሁለተኛው ተከሳሽ አቶ ዴቪድ ኡጁሉ ላይ የ9 አመት ጽኑ እስራት ሲወስን፣ ከ3ኛ እስከ 7ኛ ያሉት ሌሎች ተከሳሾች ደግሞ እያንዳንዳቸው በሰባት አመት ጽኑ እስራት እዲቀጡ ብሎአል።
አቶ ኦኬሎ የቀረበባቸውን ክሶች በሙሉ ቢቃወሙም፣ ፍርድ ቤቱ ግን የክስ መቃወሚያቸውን ሳይቀበላቸው ቀርቷል።

Source:http://amharic.ethsat.com/%E1%88%B0%E1%88%98%E1%8C%89-%E1%89%A0%E1%8C%8B%E1%88%9D%E1%89%A4%E1%88%8B-%E1%88%88%E1%8C%A0%E1%8D%8B%E1%8B%8D-%E1%8B%A8%E1%88%B0%E1%8B%8D-%E1%88%85%E1%8B%AD%E1%8B%88%E1%89%B5%E1%8A%93-%E1%88%88/

Okelo Akaye and et. al Sentenced Seven to Nine Years Imprisonment

Okelo Akaye and et. al Sentenced Seven to Nine Years Imprisonment

Federal high court Lideta 19 criminal bench sentenced Okelo Akaye and et. al up to nine years rigorous imprisonment. Both defendants and federal prosecutor file their mitigation and aggravation statement on April 25, 2016 and today April 27, 2016 court render the final sentencing.

Though on its aggravation statement prosecutor demanded court to apply the new punishment guideline to render judgment court declined to accept the request because the defendants was found guilty of crime which happened mostly before the implementation of the new guideline in 2013. and since there were no lives claimed or property damaged in their criminal action court dismiss prosecutors claim to aggravate the punishment.

Prosecutor also claimed that their criminal activity would have claimed many lives, damage property and they would have brought serious national security danger if they were not caught and requested the court to make the sentencing at aggravated level.  The court over ruled that too.

In the other hand court accepted the aggravating suggestion by the prosecutor saying, the court shall increase the penalty of the defendants because they acted together, form a criminal group to commit crimes.

Court accepted the defendant’s mitigation suggestion that they have never been guilty of any criminal charges before and also that they are responsible for their families.

In the other hand the court decline first defendant mitigation statement asking the court to lower punishment  because he has been serving Gambela region as well as the federation in different capacity including the region health office from 1986 to 2000 till being the regional president in 2004

As a result first defendant Okelo Akaye by being member and leader of Gambela People Libration Movement and acting on secession of the region Gambela from the federation the court sentenced him for nine years imprisonment.

Second defendant David Ujulu by being member and foreign affair of Gambela People Libraetion Movement and acting on secession of the region Gambela from the federation, the court sentenced him for nine years rigorous imprisonment.

Third to seventh defendants (Uchan Opeye, Uman Nkyew, Ujulu Chamo, Ataka Uwar and Obang Umed) by being member of the Gambela Peoples Freedom Movement and participate in different activities of the group the court sentenced them to seven years rigorous imprisonment each.

First charged by the federal prosecutor on June 2014, Okelo Akaye and et.al court order the prohibition of their public right for two years.

 source:http://ehrp.org/okelo-akaye-and-et-al-sentenced-seven-to-nine-years-imprisonment/