It is reported that the Ethiopian authorities in Addis Ababa have detained 14 senior State Council members in the army barrack 12km from the Gambela town. The arrest carried out by the defence forces include State security Head, Anyang Ura-Ajalbura and two other senior Zonal administrators from Itang area, Zonal Vice administrator-Obang Uru-Oriemi and senior Zonal administrator.
No information yet available from both the State and Federal governments as to the very reasons why these peoples representatives are detained by the defence forces.
Ethiopia has adopted federal form of governance after the overthrow of the dictatorship military Junta in 1991. According the constitution, members of the Federation "shall establish and administrator a State police force, and maintain public order and peace."(Article 52:2:7)
Following the ethnic clahes last July which left over 50 members of the Anuak community dead and 30 more wounded, the EPRDF defence forces in the region was reported to have disarmed the entire State police forces entrusting the repsonsibility of maintaining public order and peace on the shoulder of the army station in the region.
The detaintion of 14 senior council members complemented with disarmament of the State police force has arose major concerns among the indigenous peoples of the uncertainities lying a head. The indigenous peoples fear that these are steps soon to deprive them of the constitutional rights of self-rule, social progress and economic prosperity, rights denied to them in the history of modern Ethiopia.
The indigenous peoples of this area for centuries have been suffering from wide range of discriminations including attempts by authorities to keep them under extreme poverty, below average economic conditions and complete state of ignorance, political exclusion, and cultural destruction.