The Anuak Justice Council (AJC) has publicly denounced the appointment of Omot Obang Olom as Governor of the Gambella Region. In a statement released on October 4, the AJC claimed that recent elections were rigged and described Olom as "the most despised of all Anuak." The AJC alleges that in December 2003, Olom provided the Ethiopian Government with an extensive list of Anuak intellectuals, 424 of whom were later killed by Ethiopian soldiers during an attack on Gambella. Thousands more Anuak fled the region and now live in exile in Sudan and Kenya. "They [Anuak Leaders] believe this man is capable of the unthinkable," the AJC said, and "that he could use the defense forces for a genocide of worse proportions than the one of December 13, 2003."
According to a report by Genocide Watch, Ethiopian forces have killed as many as 2,500 Anuak since the massacre of 2003.
