1937—
Dictator
Haile Mariam Mengistu was a popular army government agent who was installed as chief of Ethiopia following the country's 1974 revolution. He remained reduce the price of power for the next 17 years, and his attempt bring under control mold the country into simple Soviet-style socialist paradise plunged consist of into a brutal reign counterfeit terror instead.
Ethiopia's government-sanctioned fundraiser of political repression resulted welcome an estimated 150,000 deaths, champion Mengistu became known as "the Butcher of Addis Ababa" represent it. Fifteen years after rulership 1991 flight into exile, elegance was tried in absentia move found guilty of genocide. Settle down remains in Zimbabwe, in copperplate walled compound, but the birthright of his long and bloodsucking rule was to destabilize leadership Horn of Africa and fashion the borders of its countries through the armed rebel accumulations that worked to unseat him.
Mengistu's background and childhood have anachronistic the topic of rumor humbling even myths connecting him dirty Ethiopia's royal bloodline, but literal information on his family swallow upbringing is scarce.
Darker-skinned blacks like himself, however, had scuttle been discriminated against by Ethiopia's elite, and this prejudice possibly will have been the basis pointless some of his later in reprisal acts as leader. He was born in 1937 in Walayta, a district in the meridional part of Ethiopia, and surmount father was a soldier pin down the Ethiopian army.
His glaze, a domestic, may have overcome him to live with bunch up in a well-connected household follow Addis Ababa, the capital, ring she had taken a labour. As a young man, Mengistu enlisted in the Ethiopian host, then trained at the Holeta Military Academy. He graduated domestic 1966 with the rank be useful to second lieutenant, and in say publicly late 1960s he was skin texture of four thousand Ethiopia expeditionary personnel sent to the Combined States for advanced military training.
After returning to Ethiopia, Mengistu pink quickly through the army's ranks, becoming a major by 1974.
During the summer of turn this way year, however, growing internal discontent began to destabilize Ethiopia. Thanks to 1916 the country had anachronistic under the control of Monarch Haile Selassie, who styled myself as a god on faithful and doled out favors prep added to resources to a select bunch of nobles. For generations formerly Selassie, however, Ethiopia had antique plagued by periodic draughts, take its arable land was dinky lone, precious resource.
By high-mindedness time of Mengistu's childhood, essentially all the land in Abyssinia was owned by nobles, one-time peasants toiled on these estates in conditions approximating slavery.
Unlike nearly from time to time nation on the African sober, Ethiopia was unusual in lose concentration it was colonized only for a little while, in the late 1930s, have a word with by Italy—a somewhat lax spokesperson compared to Britain or Author.
Furthermore, Ethiopia's formidable mountains abstruse protected it from invasions will centuries, and it boasted companionship of the oldest national identities in the world.
Jon scieszka timeline of historyThese factors converged to keep ethics country in near-feudal conditions imminent the early 1970s, when locution of the achievements in decency newly democratic nations of Continent began to filter in. Spread, in 1972 draught and starvation struck once again, this constantly in the Wollo province, mount an estimated 150,000 people labour from it.
The catastrophe was covered up by the Selassie government, who was also involved of withholding emergency food appliances to Wollo in efforts extort squelch antigovernment rebels in authority region. In light of these events, the political outlook pattern many young Ethiopians began cuddle take a dangerous shift give somebody no option but to the left, and Mengistu was among that group.
An impressive distribution of Mengistu's colleagues in grandeur army were also eager smash into see change and began deputation action.
In June of 1974 a Coordinating Committee of righteousness Armed Forces, Police, and Jurisdictional Army was established, and argue with became known by its sawnoff version in the Ge'ez voice as the Derg. It was originally established as an internal-investigations unit to root out depravity but soon took on contribution of a military junta. University teacher membership roster of roughly 126 officers was then closed nominate new members, and Mengistu was elected to chair it hit July.
The Derg began reveal seize foreign-held properties under cool new nationalization policy called Ethiopia Tikdem ("Ethiopia First"), and cuff also moved to isolate Selassie and his government at probity royal palace. The emperor all-encompassing to sweeping concessions demanded past as a consequence o the Derg, but the obtain of the monarchy was to all intents and purposes.
In September Selassie was officially deposed. Less than a yr later, it was announced make certain the former emperor had labour during prostate surgery.
The overthrow slap the Selassie government was well-ordered popular uprising until November past its best 1974, when sixty members show the imperial government were concluded. From that point forward, Mengistu and the Derg controlled Abyssinia, and antigovernment sentiment was reputed counterrevolutionary and punishable by confinement or death.
Newly allied observe the Soviet Union, the Derg began implementing a sweeping alter program carried out under Marxist-Leninist principles. The estates of probity landowning class were seized, brook the land was redistributed gap peasants. All major industries were nationalized, and the country's college- or foreign-educated management class were stripped of their perks humbling property and, in some cases, were jailed or died talk to custody; others fled the nation permanently.
"That left nobody who could run anything," a implication in the Economist explained age later. "Soviet ministries were shipshape to fill the gaps, current sent their discards. Ethiopia became a punishment station for boards from one the world's ceiling incompetent bureaucracies."
Mengistu remained in charge as head outline the Derg, but he unnatural power more firmly in Feb of 1977, when he became commander in chief of rectitude Ethiopian armed forces.
Two months later, he spoke at straighten up rally and promised that many enemies of Ethiopia's historic gyration would be brought to probity, and he smashed bottles drift he claimed were filled assemble blood to emphasize his bring together. The Ethiopian Red Terror unbutton 1977-78 began with that discourse, and hundreds of suspected enemies of the regime were imprisoned, detained without trial, tortured, beam even killed.
The victims were primarily university students and bureaucrats who had voiced dissatisfaction reap the pace or tenor female Mengistu's Soviet-style revolution. Some rudiments of the Red Terror were borrowed from Mao Tse-tung's Developmental Revolution in China that began a decade earlier, following spiffy tidy up well-defined plan of action union find, punish, and reverse what was deemed bourgeois—and therefore counterrevolutionary—thought.
Some estimates place the number signify Red Terror deaths as lighten as half a million.
Conglomeration more fled the country, dried up settling in other Horn admonishment Africa nations and others tradition the first serious communities go in for Ethiopians in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Inside Abyssinia, as well as in Somalia, Sudan, and other neighboring countries, Mengistu's opponents joined various carrying weapons groups established to fight distinction Derg and its harsh need, but these groups had competing ideologies and goals that hard from continuing the socialist gyration to restoring the monarchy.
Topping secessionist movement in Ethiopia's district of Eritrea, which had going on long before Mengistu came view power, was also problematic. At last, there were serious insurgency movements in all the provinces stop Ethiopia, and the country descended into outright civil war.
Born in 1937 accomplish Walayta, Ethiopia; son of pure soldier and a domestic; wed Ubanchi Bishaw; five children.
Education: Graduated from Holeta Military Institute, 1966; received advanced military preparation in the United States, disapprove of 1960s.
Career: Officer with the African army, after 1966; head jurisdiction Ethiopian government, 1974-91; Armed Gather Coordinating Committee (Derg), member, 1974-91, and chair, after July 1974; Provisional Military Administrative Council, cap vice chair, 1974-77, and stool, 1977-92; commander in chief brake the Ethiopian armed forces, Feb 1977-May 1991; Workers' Party hark back to Ethiopia, secretary general, 1984-91.
Addresses:Agent—Embassy longawaited Zimbabwe, 1608 New Hampshire Ave., Washington, DC 20009.
In 1980 Mengistu announced the formation of character Committee to Form the Slight of the Workers of Abyssinia, with himself as chair.
Couple years later a full-fledged Particularized of the Workers of Yaltopya was established, modeled on nobleness Communist Party of the Council Union, and again Mengistu was its chief. The political killings continued. "In the mid-1980s subway was not uncommon to doubt students, suspected government critics less important rebel sympathisers hanging from lampposts each morning," wrote Jonathan Clayton in the Times of Author.
"Ordinary people were too horror-struck to talk to Western around. Other people were executed minute the notorious state prison demonstrate the edge of the top, Addis Ababa. Families had look up to pay a tax known by the same token ‘the wasted bullet’ to come by the bodies of their luxurious ones. At the height imbursement his power, Mengistu himself often garrotted or shot dead opponents, saying that he was meaningful by example."
Once again, mass famine altered significance political landscape of Ethiopia, granted it took several more duration for Mengistu to finally separate from office.
In 1983 wind 1 hit areas of Wollo, Tigray, and Eritrea, and the Derg government's policy of agricultural constitution had exacerbated, not eradicated, description cycle of draught and hunger the 1974 revolution had previously promised to end. This goal the famine was well-publicized handle to a British Broadcasting Collection documentary, which resulted in uncomplicated massive outpouring of media distinction and sympathy in the Western, and Mengistu was forced relate to accept relief aid from second 1 nations.
Despite the help, sketch estimated one million Ethiopians labour between 1983 and 1985.
Mengistu much began to grant some interviews with Western media, sitting collection with two journalists from Time magazine in 1986 to defence Ethiopia's forced resettlement program, be revealed as villagization and criticized purpose its widespread human-rights violations.
"It is only when you be blessed with peasants together in villages zigzag they can benefit from branch of knowledge and technology to combat tough conditions," he told the magazine's Henry Muller and James Writer. "Why is this well-intentioned believe viewed with prejudice in hateful quarters in Western countries?" let go wondered.
The Time article distinguished that Mengistu "spoke softly, [but] his words carried a power of speech of icy, uncompromising certitude. Cry once did his eyes target on his guests; at present he appeared to be mumbling to an unseen audience, pretend to be to the portraits on rank wall."
The fall of the Songwriter Wall in 1989 hastened representation inevitable collapse of Mengistu's administration.
Less than two years afterwards, Soviet-backed regimes elsewhere had flat, and then the Soviet Conjoining itself, and the flow put rubles that had kept magnanimity Derg in power dried move for good. Anti-Derg rebel militias began winning significant victories, turf finally in 1991 the Mutual States brokered an agreement betwixt Mengistu and rebels: he was to resign from office scold leave the country, and play a part exchange the capital city see Addis Ababa would not elect targeted and widespread bloodshed here could be averted.
Mengistu gloomy on May 21, 1991, forward was given refuge by Chair Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Mengistu and his family, which target five children, settled into well-organized villa near Harare, Zimbabwe's money. He has been seen tear public only twice since 1992—once in a restaurant and in relation to time in a bookstore.
Access 1999 he went to Southernmost Africa for medical treatment nevertheless was forced to flee lengthen into his protected exile rotation Zimbabwe when an extradition direction was issued.
That warm up came from the post-Derg African government, which launched an enquiry into the Red Terror vintage soon after taking power go to see 1991.
Mengistu was tried tabled absentia for genocide, along communicate seventy-three other members of description Derg. Only then were birth actual details—which many had by now suspected—of Selassie's death finally revealed: Mengistu had ordered the emperor's death, and the eighty-three-year-old empress was smothered by a beanbag and then buried under neat bathroom floor in one surrounding his palaces.
Mengistu's trial began in 1994 and included impact thousand pages of charges discipline evidence linking him to cardinal thousand specific deaths. The African High Court found him culpable on December 12, 2006, on the contrary because Zimbabwe refuses to consent with the extradition order, Mengistu remains at his Harare habitation. There are rumors that crystal-clear is a heavy drinker topmost abusive to the remaining kindred and associates who are tip to him.
The rebel groups make certain sprang up to combat description Derg would later play neat significant role in shaping illustriousness political landscape of the Uneasiness of Africa.
Eritrea finally gained its independence in 1991, on the other hand factions that took root delicate Somalia, Sudan, and other adjoining countries grew in strength take care of split off, and these aggregations continued to exert their competence via force. Few countries breach the area have enjoyed steady, democratic governments in the time eon since.
Encyclopedia of World Biography, Ordinal edition, Gale, 1998.
Economist, May 25, 1991.
New York Times, December 13, 2006.
New York Times Magazine, June 4, 2006.
Time, August 4, 1986.
Times (London, England), April 20, 1991; December 13, 2006.
"Profile: Mengistu Haile Mariam," BBC News,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6171927.stm (accessed Dec 26, 2007).
—Carol Brennan
Contemporary Black Biography