One of the lesser-known of the 20th century's gangster-despots was Mengistu Haile Mariam, who ran Ethiopia as a Leninist-style "people's republic" from 1974 to 1991, complete with nationalization of industry and commerce, secret-police terror, mass killings of "class enemies," and famines brought on by forced collectivization of agriculture.One of the lesser-known of the 20th century's gangster-despots was Mengistu Haile Mariam Mengistu Haile Mariam (mĕnggīs`t  hī`lē mär`ēəm), 1937–, military ruler of Ethiopia (1974–91). , who ran Ethiopia as a Leninist-style
"people's republic" from 1974 to 1991, complete with
nationalization nationalization, acquisition and operation by a country of business enterprises formerly owned and operated by private individuals or corporations. State or local authorities have traditionally taken private property for such public purposes as the construction of of industry and commerce, secret-police terror, mass
killings of "class enemies," and famines brought on by forced
collectivization col·lec·tiv·ize tr.v. col·lec·tiv·ized, col·lec·tiv·iz·ing, col·lec·tiv·iz·es To organize (an economy, industry, or enterprise) on the basis of collectivism. of agriculture. It is probable that Mengistu murdered the former monarch, 83-year-old Haile Selassie. After fleeing Ethiopia following a coup in 1991, Mengistu was given asylum by Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Since then he has been living in an upscale suburb of Zimbabwe's capital city. For the past twelve years a special Ethiopian court has been trying Mengistu in absentia in absentia (in ab-sensh-ee-ah) adj. or adv. phrase. Latin for "in absence," or more fully, in one's absence. Occasionally a criminal trial is conducted without the defendant being present when he/she walks out or escapes after the trial has begun, since the accused . The court convicted him of genocide at the end of 2006. Now a sentence of life imprisonment Imprisonment See also Isolation. Alcatraz Island former federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218] Altmark, the German prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. has been pronounced on the 69-year-old ex-dictator. Whether Mengistu will have to serve any of his sentence depends on how long Mugabe, who is 82, stays in power, and what attitude Mugabe's successors take toward Leninist mass murderers. Let us hope for the best--that is, for Mengistu, the worst. |
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