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Verdict due for Ethiopia's ex-dictator Mengistu
From:Reuters Sunday, 21 May, 2006 By Tsegaye Tadesse ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Mengistu Haile Mariam, accused of a 17-year reign of terror in Ethiopia, faces a long-awaited genocide verdict on Tuesday in a sign of Africa's new resolve to bring ex-leaders to account for past abuses. The former Marxist ruler, now nearing 70 and living in comfortable exile in Zimbabwe, is accused of killing tens of thousands of people after toppling Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. In the most notorious purge, the Red Terror, thousands of suspected opponents were rounded up, executed by garrotting or shooting, then tossed into the streets. Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 but has been the subject of a 12-year trial in absentia in Addis Ababa. The prosecution blames the lengthy case on the complexity of the proceedings but Ethiopians hoping to close the door on a painful era indicated they weren't troubled by the delay. "I know that even if Mengistu and all his supporters are sentenced to death, there is no way I will get my son back," said Abebe Girma, 60, a pensioner whose son was accused of being an opposition supporter and executed in the 1977-78 Red Terror. "Just the same, I want justice to be done." Most of Africa's many former strongman rulers in the decades since independence have avoided facing legal charges. But activists believe the continent is finally strengthening its resolve to tackle a litany of past abuses. Liberian warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor became the first African leader last month to stand before an international court in Sierra Leone, where he awaits trial on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. And in June, an African Union summit is to decide whether to extradite former Chad President Hissene Habre to Belgium to face charges of mass murder and torture during his 1982-1990 rule. The International Criminal Court is also probing war crimes in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. "Things have changed hugely since the bipolar (Cold War) world when the only people who could deliver any justice were the people there," said Richard Dowden, head of the UK-based Royal African Society, referring to Africa's coup-laden past. WHISKY DURING FAMINE Some 40 members of Mengistu's "Dergue" junta -- ousted in 1991 by guerrilla forces led by now Prime Minister Meles Zenawi -- have also been tried and will appear at the Supreme Court. Twenty more, like him, are being tried in absentia. They could face the death penalty if found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide, which Ethiopian law defines as intent to wipe out political and not just ethnic groups. Evidence against Mengistu has included signed execution orders, videos of torture sessions and personal testimonies. Despite calls for his extradition, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is unlikely to hand over Mengistu in the event of a guilty verdict. Rights campaigners hope, however, that a post-Mugabe government may take that step. "I simply cannot believe a new government in Zimbabwe would want to protect him and I can't think of anyone else who would take him," Dowden said. Mengistu, whose army helped train Mugabe's guerrillas in their 1970's struggle for independence from white rule, lives a lavish but reclusive life in Zimbabwe. Officially, Mengistu and his family live in a government villa in a wealthy district of Harare, behind a high security wall and guarded round the clock. But diplomats believe he moves around a number of "safe" houses and owns some properties including farms. Many Ethiopians want him back now. MURDER, FAMINE "If Mengistu is found guilty, there's no reason for Zimbabwe to give sanctuary to a murderer. Mengistu must be returned home and face the verdict," said engineer Shimles Hailu. Emperor Selassie, dethroned in 1974, was his most prominent victim. He was allegedly strangled in bed a year after the revolution that ended centuries of feudal rule. Selassie was secretly buried under a latrine in the palace. About 70 of his senior officials were shot by firing squads and dumped in a mass grave. When famine struck in 1984, aid workers recalled how Mengistu flew in planeloads of whisky to celebrate the revolution anniversary while denying there was starvation. Up to 1 million people died from hunger in the famine that provoked "Live Aid", the world's most famous aid mobilisation. "It is hoped the verdict will show the world Mengistu's and his regime's brutality, and will bring peace of mind to all those who lost loved ones in his hands," said an Ethiopian lawyer, who asked not to be named. Although proceedings against Mengistu and his henchmen began in 1992, the trial formally started in 1994. The co-accused include former prime minister Fikre Selassie Wogderesse, former vice-president Fissiha Desta and others who have been in prison awaiting verdict since 1992. |
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