Mengistu Haile Mariam

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Mengistu Haile Mariam

Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937 ) is a Communist politician who was the President of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. During much of this period, the country was led by the Mengistu -allied Workers' Party of Ethiopia. In December 2006, he was convicted by an Ethiopian court of genocide in absentia for his role in a domestic terrorism campaign known as the Red Terror (1977-1978). In January 2007 he was sentenced to life imprisonment

Family history

On his mother's side, Mengistu is said to be a direct descendant of Empress Zewditu's maid and Dejazmach Kebede Tesemma, an aristocrat known for his involvement in a series of court intrigues. Kebede was Zewditu's butler in the 1920s, and a confidante of the Regent, Ras Tafari Makonnen, later Emperor Haile Selassie

Kebede met Mengistu's grandmother, while she was an umbrella bearer to Zewditu. In defiance of court custom, he made her pregnant, and Mengistu's mother was born. Kebede's uncle prostrated himself before the queen and took the blame. Zewditu ordered Totit to leave the palace. The child was brought up at Kebede's home.

Zewditu died mysteriously in her palace on the same day her Gondare husband, Ras Gugsa Wole, was killed in battle. Swiss doctor, Aner was suspected of carrying out an assassination. It is uncertain whether or not Kebede knew of the doctor's mission.

Mengistu's grandmother was still alive when he seized power, and had become a nun of the Ethiopian Orthodox faith. On the special orders of her grandson, the nationalization of land did not apply to her. She continued to own the land near the Holotta Military School just 30 miles from Addis Ababa, which Zewditu had granted her for services prior to her expulsion from the palace in 1928.

Mengistu's father was a former slave who was bought by an aristocratic sub-provincial governor, the Shoan landowner Afenegus Eshete Geda. Eshete encountered Mengistu's father, Haile Mariam, while he was on a hunting expedition at the administrative district of Gimira and Maji, (in Southern Ethiopia) then under the governorship of Dejazmach Taye Gulilat.

Early life

As a child, Mengistu endured derogatory comments about his appearance, rooted in the Konso background on his father's side. As a result, he grew to distrust all light-colored Ethiopians When he took power, and attended the meeting of Derg members at the 4th Division headquarters in Addis Ababa, Mengistu exclaimed with emotion:

In this country, some aristocratic families automatically categorize persons with dark skin, thick lips, and kinky hair as "Barias"... (Amharic for slave); let it be clear to everybody that I shall soon make these ignoramuses stoop and grind corn!

The rise of the Derg

Mengistu was one of a committee of low ranking officers and enlisted soldiers known as the Derg who in 1974 overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie. Selassie's regime had lost public confidence within Ethiopia following a famine in Wollo province, a famine that was highlighted for the outside world in a BBC-produced documentary by Jonathan Dimbleby. The Derg were able to undermine the imperial regime owing to the Emperor's advanced age, the failure of local officials to notify him of the situation, the demands of radical students for reform, and the economic stress caused by the 1973 OPEC oil embargo.

Selassie died the following year. It has been rumoured that he was strangled on orders from Mengistu himself, or perhaps even by Mengistu in person, though Mengistu has denied these reports. Though several groups were involved in the overthrow, the Derg succeeded to power.

Leadership in Ethiopia

Mengistu formally assumed power as head of state and Derg chairman in 1977, although he had wielded power behind the scenes long before. The transition of power resulted in the execution of two of Mengistu's predecessors as head of state. Under Mengistu, Ethiopia received aid from the Soviet Union, other members of the Warsaw Pact, and Cuba.

Civil Conflict & Red Terror

From 1977 through 1978, a rebellion against the government ensued. In response to guerrilla attacks from the anti-Mengistu Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP), Mengistu declared that the EPRP had begun a campaign of White Terror. Anti-Mengistu forces, however, accused Mengistu's Workers Party of waging a campaign of "Red Terror."

The EPRP's efforts to discredit and undermine the Derg and its MEISON collaborators escalated in the fall of 1976. It targeted public buildings and other symbols of state authority for bombings and assassinated numerous Abyot Seded and MEISON members, as well as public officials at all levels. The Derg, which countered with its own counter-terrorism campaign, labeled the EPRP's tactics the White Terror. Mengistu asserted that all progressives were given "freedom of action" in helping root out the revolution's enemies, and his wrath was particularly directed toward the EPRP. Peasants, workers, public officials, and even students thought to be loyal to the Mengistu regime were provided with arms to accomplish this task. [3]

Mengistu's decision resulted in fratricidal chaos. Many civilians he armed were EPRP sympathizers rather than supporters of MEISON or the Derg. Between early 1977 and late 1978, it has been estimated that roughly 5,000 people were killed. In the process, the Derg became estranged from civilian groups, including MEISON. [4] From 1975-1978, Mengistu Haile Mariam was alleged to be responsible for the 7th worst genocide in world history. Around 1,500,000 Ethiopians were claimed to be the victims of the Derg genocide.

Military gains made by the monarchist EDU in Begemder were rolled back when that party split just as it was on the verge of capturing the old capital of Gondar. The army of the Republic of Somalia unleashed aggression upon Ethiopia in the Ogaden region, and was on the verge of capturing Harrar and Dire Dawa, when Somalia's erstwhile allies, the Soviets and the Cubans, launched an unprecedented arms and personnel airlift to come to Ethiopia's rescue. The Derg government turned back the Somali invasion, and made deep strides against the Eritrean secessionists and the TPLF as well. By the end of the seventies, Mengistu presided over the second largest army in all of sub-Saharan Africa, and a formidable airforce and navy as well.

Embracing Marxism

In the 1970s, Mengistu embraced the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism, which was increasingly popular among many nationalists and revolutionaries throughout Africa and much of the Third World at the time.

In the early 1980s, under Mengistu's direction, Ethiopia adopted a constitution modelled after that of the Soviet Union and saw the establishment of the Marxist-Leninist Worker's Party of Ethiopia (WPE), now the country's ruling party. During the period, all foreign-owned companies were nationalized without compensation in an effort to redistribute the country's wealth.

On September 10, 1987, Mengistu became a civilian president under a new constitution, and the country was renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Policies

After the overthrow of imperial rule, the provisional military government dismantled the feudal socioeconomic structure through a series of reforms that also affected educational development. By early 1975, the government had closed Haile Selassie I University and all senior secondary schools and had deployed some 60,000 students and teachers to rural areas to participate in the government's Development Through Cooperation Campaign. The campaign's purposes were to promote land reform and improve agricultural production, health, and local administration and to teach peasants about the new political and social order.

Primary school enrollment increased from about 957,300 in 1974/75 to nearly 2,450,000 in 1985/86. There were still variations among regions in the number of students enrolled and a disparity in the enrollment of boys and girls. Nevertheless, while the enrollment of boys more than doubled, that of girls more than tripled.

The number of senior secondary schools almost doubled as well, with fourfold increases in Arsi, Bale, Gojam, Gonder, and Welo. The prerevolutionary distribution of schools had shown a concentration in the urban areas of a few administrative regions. In 1974/75 about 55 percent of senior secondary schools were in Eritrea and Shewa, including Addis Ababa. In 1985/86 the figure was down to 40 percent. Although there were significantly fewer girls enrolled at the secondary level, the proportion of females in the school system at all levels and in all regions increased from about 32 percent in 1974/75 to 39 percent in 1985/86.

Among the revolutionary government's successes was the national literacy campaign. The literacy rate, under 10 percent during the imperial regime, increased to about 63 percent by 1984. In 1990/91 an adult literacy rate of just over 60 percent was still being reported in government as well as in some international reports. As with the 1984 data, it several wise to exercise caution with regard to the latest figure. Officials originally conducted the literacy training in five languages: Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya, Welamo, and Somali. The number of languages was later expanded to fifteen, which represented about 93 percent of the population.

By l974 it was clear that the archaic land tenure system was one of the major factors responsible for the backward condition of Ethiopia's agriculture and the onset of the revolution. On March 4, l975, the Derg announced its land reform program. The government nationalized rural land without compensation, abolished tenancy, forbade the hiring of wage labor on private farms, ordered all commercial farms to remain under state control, and granted each peasant family possessing rights to a plot of land not to exceed ten hectares. The land reform destroyed the feudal order; changed landowning patterns, particularly in the south, in favor of peasants and small landowners; and provided the opportunity for peasants to participate in local matters by permitting them to form associations.

In 1975 the government disestablished the church, which was a substantial landholder during the imperial era, and early the next year removed its patriarch. The PMAC declared that all religions were equal, and a number of Muslim holy days became official holidays in addition to the Christian holidays already honored.

Starting in 1975, the government embarked on the formulation of a new health policy emphasizing disease prevention and control, rural health services, and promotion of community involvement and self-reliance in health activities. The ground for the new policy was broken during the student zemecha of 1975/76, which introduced peasants to the need for improved health standards.

A number of countries were generous in helping Ethiopia meet its health care needs. Cuba, the Soviet Union, and a number of East European countries provided medical assistance. In early 1980, nearly 300 Cuban medical technicians, including more than 100 physicians, supported local efforts to resolve public health problems. Western aid for long-term development of Ethiopia's health sector was modest, averaging about US$10 million annually, the lowest per capita assistance in sub-Saharan Africa. The main Western donors included Italy and Sweden. International organizations, namely UNICEF, WHO, and the United Nations Population Fund, also extended assistance.

Famine and insurrections

Ethiopia had never recovered from the previous great famine of the early 1970s, which was the result of a drought that affected most of the countries of the African Sahel. The late 1970s again brought signs of intensifying drought. By the early 1980s, large numbers of people in central Eritrea, Tigray, Welo, and parts of Gonder and Shewa were beginning to feel the effects of renewed famine. [5]

A drought that began in 1969 continued as dry weather brought disaster to the Sahel and swept eastward through the Horn of Africa. By 1973 the attendant famine had threatened the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian nomads, who had to leave their home grounds and struggle into Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, and Sudan, seeking relief from starvation. By the end of 1973, famine had claimed the lives of about 300,000 peasants of Tigray and Welo, and thousands more had sought relief in Ethiopian towns and villages. [6]

The Derg's limited ability to lead development and to respond to crises was dramatically demonstrated by the government's reliance on foreign famine relief between 1984 and 1989. By 1983 armed conflict between the government and opposition movements in the north had combined with drought to contribute to mass starvation in Eritrea, Tigray, and Welo. Meanwhile, drought alone was having a devastating impact on an additional nine regions. This natural disaster far exceeded the drought of 1973-74, which had contributed to the demise of the Haile Selassie regime. By early 1985, some 7.7 million people were suffering from drought and food shortages. Of that number, 2.5 million were at immediate risk of starving. [7]

As it had in the past, in the mid-1980s the international community responded generously to Ethiopia's tragedy once the dimensions of the crisis became understood. Bilateral, multilateral, and private donations of food and other relief supplies poured into the country by late 1984. Although Mengistu and other members of the Derg were nervous about the prospect of so many Westerners flooding into the country and having access to areas where the regime was not popular, Dawit apparently was able to develop enough trust in the international aid community to bring the catastrophe under control by late 1986.[8]

In 1987 another drought threatened 5 million people in Eritrea and Tigray. This time, however, the international community was better prepared to get food to the affected areas in time to prevent starvation and massive population movements. However, insurgents belonging to the TPLF and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) attacked convoys carrying food supplies or denied them access to rebel-held areas because they believed the government would use relief convoys to cover the movement of military supplies. The consequence was more deaths and more refugees.[9]

Asylum in Zimbabwe

In May 1991, EPRDF forces advanced on Addis Ababa and Mengistu was forced to flee the country with 50 family and Derg members. He was granted asylum in Zimbabwe, as an official guest of Robert Mugabe, the president of that country. He left behind almost the entire membership of the original Derg and the WPE leadership which was promptly arrested and put on trial upon the assumption of power by the EPRDF. Mengistu feels that the takeover of his country resulted from the policies of Mikhail Gorbachev for letting the Soviet Union dissolve and hence cutting off its aid to Ethiopia.

Mengistu still resides in Zimbabwe, despite attempts by Ethiopia to seize him to face trial by the current Ethiopian authorities.

Genocide trial and conviction

Mengistu was tried in an Ethiopian court, in absentia, for his role in genocide during the Red Terror. Mengistu's charge sheet and evidence list was 8,000 pages long. The evidence against him included signed execution orders, videos of torture sessions and personal testimonies.

The trial began in 1994 and ended in 2006. Mengistu was found guilty as charged on 12 December 2006, and was sentenced to life in prison in January 2007. [10] It should be noted that Ethiopia defines genocide as intent to wipe out political and not just ethnic groups. In 2005 the Ethiopian regime massacred hundreds of students. Workers and opposition leaders were charged with "attempted genocide."

Amnesty International estimates that a total of half a million people were killed during the Red Terror of 1977 and 1978 Human Rights Watch describes the Red Terror as “one of the most systematic uses of mass murder by a state ever witnessed in Africa.” [11]. Mengistu himself often murdered opponents by garroting or shooting them, saying that he was leading by example. [12]

106 Derg officials were accused of genocide during the trials, but only 36 of them were present in the court. Several former members of the Derg have been sentenced to death. [13]

Zimbabwe has refused to respond to Ethiopia's request that Mengistu be extradited. Mengistu supported Robert Mugabe, now President of Zimbabwe, in his fight for independence from white Rhodesian rule before 1980. Zimbabwean spokesman William Nhara said:

"As a comrade of our struggle, Comrade Mengistu and his government played a key and commendable role during our struggle for independence and no one can dispute that.... Comrade Mengistu asked for asylum and he was granted that asylum. That position will not change".

Nhara pointed out there was no extradition treaty between Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.

External links

• "Mengistu defends Red Terror", BBC News, December 28, 1999.
• "Timeline of "Red Terror", U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 1989.
• "A U.S. Strategy to Foster Human Rights in Ethiopia", by Michael Johns, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder # 692, February 23, 1989.
• "Ethiopian Dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam", Human Rights Watch, November 29, 1999.

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