"Free at last: charges against indigenous land rights defender & former World Bank inspection panel translator dropped"

On 3 April 2018, charges against Pastor Omot Agwa, an indigenous land rights defender from the Gambella region of Ethiopia, were finally dropped by an Ethiopian court. In March 2015, Pastor Omot was arrested in Addis Ababa while attempting to travel to Kenya to attend a food security conference. For six months, he was detained without charge, denied access to legal representation, and endured torture and solitary confinement. Then, in September 2015, Pastor Omot was charged as a terrorist on the preposterous claim that the food security workshop he was trying to attend – which was organized by Anywaa Survival Organization (ASO) with support from the international organizations Bread for All and GRAIN – was a “terrorist group meeting.”

Pastor Omot is a dedicated advocate for land rights in Ethiopia’s Gambella region. In 2014, he worked as an interpreter for the World Bank Inspection Panel’s investigation into the forced displacement of indigenous Anuak during the Bank’s Promoting Basic Services (PBS) program. Just one week after the Inspection Panel’s scathing report was released, Pastor Omot notified international colleagues that he was facing threats and increasing pressure from Ethiopian security officials because of his participation in the investigation. Very shortly thereafter, he was arrested...

“Today, as we celebrate Pastor Omot’s release, we also recognize the many courageous indigenous leaders, journalists and land rights activists who are still under attack in Ethiopia,” said Nyikaw Ochalla, Director of Anywaa Survival Organisation. “We call on the World Bank and its donors to stop writing blank checks to oppressive governments and funding destructive projects that displace people, and start standing up for those who risk their lives and liberty in the defense of justice and human rights.“