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{{Important}}
{{Important}}
{{Villain_Infobox
{{Villain_Infobox
|Image =Mengistu_Haile_Mariam_3.jpg
|Image =Mengistu Haile Mariam 3.jpg
|fullname = Mengistu Haile Mariam
|fullname = Mengistu Haile Mariam
|alias = Black Stalin
|alias = The Butcher of Addis Ababa<br>Black Stalin
|origin = Kaffa Province, Italian East Africa
|origin = Kaffa Province, Italian East Africa
|occupation = Chairman of the [[Derg]] (1977 - 1987)<br>President of Ethiopia (1987 - 1991)<br>General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (1984 - 1991)
|occupation = Chairman of the [[Derg]] (1977 - 1987)<br>President of Ethiopia (1987 - 1991)<br>General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (1984 - 1991)
|hobby = N/A
|hobby = N/A
|goals = Remain in power (failed)<br>Prevent Eritrea from becoming independent (failed)
|goals = Remain in power (failed)<br>Prevent Eritrea from becoming independent (failed)
|crimes = [[Genocide]]<br>[[Ethnic cleansing]]<br>[[War crimes]]<br>Mass [[murder]]<br>[[Torture]]<br>Oppression
|crimes = [[Genocide]]<br>[[Ethnic cleansing]]<br>[[War crimes]]<br>[[Mass murder]]<br>[[Torture]]<br>Oppression<br>[[Americophobia]]
|type of villain = Tyrant
|type of villain = Communist Tyrant}}
}}
{{Quote|In this country some aristocratic families automatically categorize people with dark skin, thick lips and kinky hair as 'Barias'... Let it be clear to everybody that I shall make these ignoramuses stoop and grind corn!|Mengistu Haile Mariam}}
{{Quote|In this country some aristocratic families automatically categorize people with dark skin, thick lips and kinky hair as 'Barias'... Let it be clear to everybody that I shall make these ignoramuses stoop and grind corn!|Mengistu Haile Mariam}}
'''Mengistu Haile Mariam''' (May 21st, 1937 - ) is an Ethiopian politician who was the most prominent officer of the [[Derg]], the Communist military junta that governed Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987, and President of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1987 to 1991.
'''Mengistu Haile Mariam''' (May 21st, 1937 - ) is an Ethiopian politician who was the most prominent officer of the [[Derg]], the Communist military junta that governed Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987, and President of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1987 to 1991.
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Col. Mengistu gave a dramatic send-off to his campaign of terror. In a public speech in 1976, he shouted "Death to counterrevolutionaries! Death to the EPRP!" and then produced three bottles of what appeared to be blood and smashed them to the ground to show what the revolution would do to its enemies. Thousands of young men and women turned up dead in the streets of the capital and other cities in the following two years. They were systematically murdered mainly by militia attached to the "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebele Kebeles]," the neighborhood watch committees which served during Mengistu's reign as the lowest level local government and security surveillance units. Families had to pay the Kebeles a tax known as "the wasted bullet" to obtain the bodies of their loved ones.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-15 [15]]</sup> In May 1977 the Swedish general secretary of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_the_Children Save the Children Fund] stated that "1,000 children have been killed, and their bodies are left in the streets and are being eaten by wild [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_hyena hyenas] . You can see the heaped-up bodies of murdered children, most of them aged eleven to thirteen, lying in the gutter, as you drive out of Addis Ababa."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-16 [16]]</sup>
Col. Mengistu gave a dramatic send-off to his campaign of terror. In a public speech in 1976, he shouted "Death to counterrevolutionaries! Death to the EPRP!" and then produced three bottles of what appeared to be blood and smashed them to the ground to show what the revolution would do to its enemies. Thousands of young men and women turned up dead in the streets of the capital and other cities in the following two years. They were systematically murdered mainly by militia attached to the "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebele Kebeles]," the neighborhood watch committees which served during Mengistu's reign as the lowest level local government and security surveillance units. Families had to pay the Kebeles a tax known as "the wasted bullet" to obtain the bodies of their loved ones.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-15 [15]]</sup> In May 1977 the Swedish general secretary of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_the_Children Save the Children Fund] stated that "1,000 children have been killed, and their bodies are left in the streets and are being eaten by wild [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_hyena hyenas] . You can see the heaped-up bodies of murdered children, most of them aged eleven to thirteen, lying in the gutter, as you drive out of Addis Ababa."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-16 [16]]</sup>


Military gains made by the monarchist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Democratic_Union Ethiopian Democratic Union] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begemder Begemder] were rolled back when that party split just as it was on the verge of capturing the old capital of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondar Gondar]. The army of the Republic of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia Somalia] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War invaded Ethiopia] having overrun the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden Ogaden] region, and was on the verge of capturing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harar Harar] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_Dawa Dire Dawa], when Somalia's erstwhile allies, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union Soviets] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa sub-Saharan Africa], as well as a formidable [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Air_Force airforce] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy navy].
Military gains made by the monarchist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Democratic_Union Ethiopian Democratic Union] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begemder Begemder] were rolled back when that party split just as it was on the verge of capturing the old capital of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondar Gondar]. The army of the Republic of Somalia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War invaded Ethiopia] having overrun the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden Ogaden] region, and was on the verge of capturing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harar Harar] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_Dawa 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa sub-Saharan Africa], as well as a formidable airforce and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy navy].
[[File:Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum, Addis Ababa (26820858566).jpg|thumb|Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum, Addis Ababa ]]
[[File:Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum, Addis Ababa (26820858566).jpg|thumb|Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum, Addis Ababa ]]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International Amnesty International] estimates that up to 500,000 people were killed during the [[Ethiopian Red Terror]]<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-books.google.com_17-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-books.google.com-17 [17]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-US_admits_helping_Mengistu_escape_18-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-US_admits_helping_Mengistu_escape-18 [18]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Devil_pg_151_19-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-Devil_pg_151-19 [19]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International Amnesty International] estimates that up to 500,000 people were killed during the [[Ethiopian Red Terror]]<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-books.google.com_17-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-books.google.com-17 [17]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-US_admits_helping_Mengistu_escape_18-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-US_admits_helping_Mengistu_escape-18 [18]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Devil_pg_151_19-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-Devil_pg_151-19 [19]]</sup>
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In the mid-1970s, under Mengistu's leadership, the Derg regime began an aggressive program of changing Ethiopia's system from a mixed feudo-capitalist emergent economy to an eastern bloc style command economy. Shortly after coming to power, all rural land was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalization nationalized], stripping the Ethiopian Church, the Imperial family and the nobility of all their sizable estates and the bulk of their wealth. During this same period, all foreign-owned and locally owned companies were nationalized without compensation in an effort to redistribute the country's wealth. All undeveloped urban property and all rental property was also nationalized. Private businesses such as banks and insurance companies, large retail businesses, etc. were also taken over by the government. All this nationalized property was brought under the administration of large bureaucracies set up to administer them. Farmers who had once worked on land owned by absentee landlords were now compelled to join collective farms. All agricultural products were no longer to be offered on the free market, but were to be controlled and distributed by the government. Despite progressive agricultural reforms, under the Derg, agricultural output suffered due to [[Civil War|civil war]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famines_in_Ethiopia drought] and misguided [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Ethiopia economic policies]. There was also a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983%E2%80%931985_famine_in_Ethiopia famine in 1984], which was the 10th anniversary of the Derg.
In the mid-1970s, under Mengistu's leadership, the Derg regime began an aggressive program of changing Ethiopia's system from a mixed feudo-capitalist emergent economy to an eastern bloc style command economy. Shortly after coming to power, all rural land was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalization nationalized], stripping the Ethiopian Church, the Imperial family and the nobility of all their sizable estates and the bulk of their wealth. During this same period, all foreign-owned and locally owned companies were nationalized without compensation in an effort to redistribute the country's wealth. All undeveloped urban property and all rental property was also nationalized. Private businesses such as banks and insurance companies, large retail businesses, etc. were also taken over by the government. All this nationalized property was brought under the administration of large bureaucracies set up to administer them. Farmers who had once worked on land owned by absentee landlords were now compelled to join collective farms. All agricultural products were no longer to be offered on the free market, but were to be controlled and distributed by the government. Despite progressive agricultural reforms, under the Derg, agricultural output suffered due to [[Civil War|civil war]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famines_in_Ethiopia drought] and misguided [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Ethiopia economic policies]. There was also a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983%E2%80%931985_famine_in_Ethiopia famine in 1984], which was the 10th anniversary of the Derg.
[[File:Benti Tafari.jpg|thumb|283x283px|tafari benti was the last obstacle for mengistu|link=Special:FilePath/Benti_Tafari.jpg]]
During the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War Ogaden War], learning that after the fall of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijiga Jijiga] to units of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Somalia Somali army] (2 September 1977) Ethiopian units had started to mutiny, Mengistu flew to the front and took direct control. According to Gebru Tareke, he ordered those suspected of leading the mutiny "bayoneted as cowardly and counterrevolutionary elements", then had the soldiers regrouped and ordered to recapture Jijiga in simultaneous attacks from the west and north. The Ethiopians recaptured the city on 5 September, but Jijiga remained within range of the Somali artillery, which shelled the city the whole night long. The next day the Somalis counterattacked, "considerably strengthened and ever more determined", and before he could be encircled inside the city, Mengistu fled back to Adew on the 7th where he boarded a plane back to Addis Ababa. The Somalis broke through Ethiopian lines, recapturing Jijiga on 12 September, and managing to overrun Ethiopian positions past the Marda Pass.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-20 [20]]</sup>
During the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War Ogaden War], learning that after the fall of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijiga Jijiga] to units of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Somalia Somali army] (2 September 1977) Ethiopian units had started to mutiny, Mengistu flew to the front and took direct control. According to Gebru Tareke, he ordered those suspected of leading the mutiny "bayoneted as cowardly and counterrevolutionary elements", then had the soldiers regrouped and ordered to recapture Jijiga in simultaneous attacks from the west and north. The Ethiopians recaptured the city on 5 September, but Jijiga remained within range of the Somali artillery, which shelled the city the whole night long. The next day the Somalis counterattacked, "considerably strengthened and ever more determined", and before he could be encircled inside the city, Mengistu fled back to Adew on the 7th where he boarded a plane back to Addis Ababa. The Somalis broke through Ethiopian lines, recapturing Jijiga on 12 September, and managing to overrun Ethiopian positions past the Marda Pass.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-20 [20]]</sup>
 
[[File:Mengistu & Doe.jpg|thumb|Mengistu with [[Samuel Doe]] in 1980]]
He received the anti-communist dictator [[Samuel Doe]] in a friendly manner in 1980, something very ironic due to his communism.
He received the anti-communist dictator [[Samuel Doe]] in a friendly manner in 1980, something very ironic due to his communism.


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After Mengistu's conviction in December 2006, the Zimbabwean government said that he still enjoyed asylum and would not be extradited. A Zimbabwean government spokesman explained this by saying that "Mengistu and his government played a key and commendable role during our struggle for independence". According to the spokesman, Mengistu assisted his guerrilla fighters during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesian_Bush_War Rhodesian Bush War] by providing training and arms, and after the war he had provided training for Zimbabwean air force pilots; the spokesman said that "not many countries have shown such commitment to us".
After Mengistu's conviction in December 2006, the Zimbabwean government said that he still enjoyed asylum and would not be extradited. A Zimbabwean government spokesman explained this by saying that "Mengistu and his government played a key and commendable role during our struggle for independence". According to the spokesman, Mengistu assisted his guerrilla fighters during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesian_Bush_War Rhodesian Bush War] by providing training and arms, and after the war he had provided training for Zimbabwean air force pilots; the spokesman said that "not many countries have shown such commitment to us".
[[File:Hailemarian & Haile Mariam.png|thumb|462x462px|link=Special:FilePath/Hailemarian_&_Haile_Mariam.png]]
[[File:Hailemarian & Haile Mariam.png|thumb|462x462px|link=Special:FilePath/Hailemarian_&_Haile_Mariam.png]]
Following an appeal on May 26th, 2008; Mengistu was sentenced to death ''in absentia'' by Ethiopia's High Court, overturning his previous sentence of life imprisonment. Twenty-three of his most senior aides also received death sentences that were commuted on 1 June 2011. On October 4, 2011, 16 of former Mengistu officials have been released from prison on parole, due to their old age and good behavior, while they were incarcerated. However, Mengistu's sentence remains unchanged. It is not clear if a change in government in Zimbabwe will result in his extradition, though despite Robert Mugabe's resignation in 2017, the [[ZANU-PF]] still remain in firm control of the country, so this is unlikely.  
Following an appeal on May 26th, 2008; Mengistu was sentenced to death ''in absentia'' by Ethiopia's High Court, overturning his previous sentence of life imprisonment. Twenty-three of his most senior aides also received death sentences that were commuted on 1 June 2011. On October 4, 2011, 16 of former Mengistu officials have been released from prison on parole, due to their old age and good behavior, while they were incarcerated. However, Mengistu's sentence remains unchanged. It is not clear if a change in government in Zimbabwe will result in his extradition, though despite [[Robert Mugabe]]'s resignation in 2017, the [[ZANU-PF]] still remain in firm control of the country, so this is unlikely.  


Ethiopians, unlike Chad, are known to have made no effort to sit Mengistu on the bench
The Ethiopians, unlike [[Hissene Habré]]'s Chad, are known to have made no effort to sit Mengistu on the bench.


Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was criticized for publishing an image on social networks photographed with mengistu, shortly after he deleted the publication due to intense criticism, mengistu being a repudiated figure.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was criticized for publishing an image on social networks photographed with mengistu, shortly after he deleted the publication due to intense criticism, mengistu being a repudiated figure.
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[[Category:Anti-Christian]]
[[Category:Anti-Christian]]
[[Category:Anti-Catholic]]
[[Category:Anti-Catholic]]
[[Category:Anti-Semetic]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitic]]
[[Category:Islamophobes]]
[[Category:Islamophobes]]
[[Category:Mentally Ill]]
[[Category:Mentally Ill]]
[[Category:Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Modern Villains]]
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