Survival uncovers shocking human rights abuses in Ethiopia
23 February
Survival has uncovered shocking new evidence of human rights abuses against
<
http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/omovalley> tribes in Ethiopia's
Omo Valley, as government efforts to develop lucrative sugar cane
plantations in the region intensify.
Bulldozers are flattening land near a UNESCO World Heritage Site, destroying
villages and <
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7855> forcing local
communities to give up their pastoral way of life.
Fear is growing as <
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7855>
violence becomes commonplace and reports of beatings, rapes and arrests
spread among tribes close to the Omo River.
As recently as January 2012, Survival received reports of three Bodi men
being beaten to death in an Ethiopian jail.
The government is also ordering families to sell their livestock. One man
told Survival, 'My money is my cattle. My bank account is my cattle.'
Survival has exclusive photographs of a road Ethiopia's government is
building, which cuts straight through tribal land, to improve access to land
clearance sites.
One Mursi man said, 'The government is building sugar cane plantations on my
land. When you see it you will cry - there are no bushes in the Omo Valley
now.'
Two UN bodies have already <
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7783>
asked Ethiopia to provide evidence that tribes are being consulted, and that
current developments are not damaging the area's cultural and natural
heritage. However, Ethiopia has ignored such calls.
Survival has also received disturbing reports that Ethiopia has begun the
process of forcibly resettling tribes in the Omo Valley, a tactic known as
'villagization'.
Communities have been given one year to relocate, in a programme similar to
that
<
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/16/ethiopia-forced-relocations-bring-hunger
-hardship> reported by Human Rights Watch in Ethiopia's western Gambella
region.
One Mursi man told Survival, 'It (the government) came, took our land and
told us it wants to move all the people in the Omo valley to stay in one
place like a camp.'
Survival International said today, 'The Ethiopian government is responsible
for some of the most flagrant and violent human rights abuses that Survival
has seen in years. By dressing up the theft of tribal land as 'development',
it expects to get away with such atrocities. State and private investors
will be the only ones to benefit from the Omo Valley sell-off,
<
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7518.%E2%80%99> while
self-sufficient tribes face destruction
<
http://assets.survivalinternational.org/pictures/1930/eth-omo-2012-0478_scr
een.jpg> Two Karo by Ethiopia's Omo River. It is crucial to their way of
life.
Two Karo by Ethiopia's Omo River. It is crucial to their way of life.
C Survival
Exclusive picture of a bulldozer clearing a road to sugar plantations.
C Survival
<
http://assets.survivalinternational.org/pictures/1929/comb-image_screen.jpg
> The forests and savannah of the Omo valley (L) are being cleared for
plantations (R).
The forests and savannah of the Omo valley (L) are being cleared for
plantations (R).
C Survival
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Received on Fri Feb 24 2012 - 11:15:06 EST
