A/HRC/4/9/Add.3 page 10 25. Targeted attacks against particular communities can result in high loss of life and have a devastating social impact, including on the continuing livelihood and residence of particular groups in localities where attacks have been perpetrated. One example is the situation of the Anuak and other communities in Gambella region. Case study of Gambella State 26. Recognizing that different social, economic and ethno-religious conditions prevail in different regions of Ethiopia, the independent expert nevertheless considers that Gambella, as an ethnically diverse, historically marginalized and underdeveloped region, illuminates minority issues common to other regions. Focusing on Gambella allows an examination of the effectiveness of the ethnically-based federal model, the challenges encountered, and the degree to which it facilitates the identification of solutions by regional and federal authorities. 27. Five officially recognized nations, nationalities and peoples are considered native to Gambella State. The Anuak and the Nuer constitute the largest ethnic groups, while Komo, Majangir and Opo are smaller groups. Relocation of some 60,000 people referred to as “highlanders” (i.e. those of other ethnicity from highland regions of Ethiopia, including Amhara, Oromo and Tigrayans) to the region under the Derg Government, following severe droughts, has impacted significantly on the demographic make-up of the region, and caused tensions since settlements were established on land claimed by the Anuak. The border with Sudan means that some communities such as the Nuer have historical ethnic connections with groups in Sudan. Serious conflicts have emerged in the region over the period of the present Government. 28. Elders of the Anuak and Nuer communities described to the independent expert historic harmony between the pastoralist Nuer and the settled agriculturalist Anuak. Land, water and resource sharing arrangements were traditionally negotiated peacefully, and when specific incidents of violence, ethnic tension, or low-level conflicts emerged, traditional and customary processes of conflict resolution and reconciliation were implemented to prevent confrontation and resolve such issues. 29. Elders described deterioration in this traditional harmony over the period of the current Government, culminating in what some have called genocide, when in December 2003, according to local sources and international human rights investigators, 424 Anuak were killed in Gambella town by federal military forces and other ethnic groups. The Government has claimed that 65 Anuak were killed. The killings followed an attack on a convoy of local United Nations workers, blamed on Anuak rebels but without a full investigation being carried out at the time.6 The events of December 2003 were the low point in ongoing ethnic clashes which have seen victims amongst all groups and a serious deterioration in security generally. An Anuak community elder in Gambella town stated that: “When the Anuak are killed, that is called ‘development’ by some people.” 6 The subsequent final report of a commission of inquiry established by the Government to look into the Gambella massacre differed from the facts as described by elders, community leaders, and international NGOs.