ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Reuters) — An Ethiopian court spared former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam from the death penalty on Thursday, sentencing him to life in prison for genocide during his brutal 17-year reign.
Mengistu, now nearing 70, is unlikely to serve any prison time because he is exiled in Zimbabwe and the government there said it would not extradite him.
After a 12-year trial, Mengistu was found guilty in absentia last month of killing thousands of people during his years in power, which began with ousting Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and included war, brutal purges and famine.
“Considering the age of the accused … and the state of their health … the court has rejected the prosecution’s call for the death penalty and passed life imprisonment,” a panel of judges told the court in Addis Ababa.
“The court also decided that passing the death sentence on people who are aged and suffering from sickness could not be considered as jurisprudence but rather as a vendetta.”
Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 after he was toppled by guerrillas led by now Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Zimbabwe’s acting Minister of Information and Publicity Paul Mangwana said the sentence “does not change anything”.
“He still remains our guest. We do not have any request for extradition as far as I know,” he added.
Some in Ethiopia criticized the sentence.
“As a Christian, I forgive, but as an Ethiopian and a victim of the Derg’s nightmarish rule, I will never forget it,” said Mulugeta Asrat, whose father was a top official killed by Mengistu’s junta, the Derg.
“Today’s sentence makes a mockery of justice. Mengistu no doubt will be opening a bottle in Zimbabwe.”
Torture, executions
Seventy three others stood trial in Addis Ababa in the case with Mengistu, including former Prime Minister Fikre Selassie Wogderesse and former Vice-President Fissiha Desta. All were found guilty, except for one in the trial that begun in 1994.
Fourteen of the accused have died since proceedings began in 1992, while 25, including Mengistu, are in exile.
The gray-haired, mainly former military officers smiled when the sentences, ranging from 25 years to life, were passed.
In the 1977-78 “Red Terror” campaign, the most notorious of Mengistu’s purges, suspected opponents were executed by garroting or shooting. Bodies were tossed into the streets.
Mengistu’s most prominent alleged victim was Emperor Haile Selassie, said to have been strangled in bed and secretly buried under a latrine in his palace.
According to the Ethiopian court ruling, Mengistu’s government directly killed more than 2,000 people, including 60 top officials, ministers and royal family members executed by firing squad. About 2,400 people were tortured, the court said.
Witnesses told the court family members who went to morgues to collect bodies of loved ones were asked to pay for bullets that killed them. One said soldiers who killed his father cut his head off and offered it for auction at a market.
An Argentine forensic expert said some remains exhumed from mass graves showed victims were killed by garroting. Evidence at the trial included signed execution orders and videos of torture sessions.
Ethiopia defines genocide as intent to wipe out political and not just ethnic groups.
For months in 1984, Mengistu denied that famine was ravaging Ethiopia’s north and aid workers have recalled how he flew in planeloads of whisky to celebrate the anniversary of his revolution. One million people starved to death.
—
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
