VZCZCXRO5215
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHDS #0170/01 0230534
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230534Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4143
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE 0463
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA
RHEFDIA/DIA WASH DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 000170 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/E AND DRL 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PINR KAWC KJUS ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA SENTENCES DERGUE LEADERS TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Ethiopia's 12-year trial of former Dergue officials 
concluded on December 12, 2006, with the conviction of dictator 
Mengistu Hailemariam and 56 other members of his Communist regime on 
charges of genocide and murder.  A single defendant was acquitted. 
During their 17-year reign, the Dergue killed an estimated 50,000 
dissident students, political opponents, and members of the 
Ethiopian middle class.  The convicted defendants included only 
about half of those senior officials accused of crimes against 
humanity; 27 officials, including Mengistu, were tried in absentia; 
and 14 have died since the start of the trial in 1994.  On January 
11, the Federal High Court sentenced defendants to terms ranging 
from 23 years to life imprisonment.  More than 6,000 other 
individuals face similar charges; half must be tried in absentia, as 
they are living in exile abroad.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------- 
NEARLY 6,000 OTHERS AWAIT TRIAL 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. The Dergue officials faced charges relating to alleged atrocities 
committed during the 1977-78 "Red Terror," when tens of thousands 
were killed or disappeared as former Communist dictator Mengistu 
Hailemariam sought to turn Ethiopia into a Soviet-style workers' 
paradise.  Their trial began in 1994, following (according to the 
prosecutor) three years of evidence-gathering.  During the 12-year 
trial, the Federal High Court heard testimony from 730 witnesses and 
reviewed more than 3,000 documents placed into evidence. 
 
¶3. Ethiopia's courts have convicted 1,018 people since 1994 for 
participating in the "Red Terror".  Between 5,000-6,000 
lower-ranking ex-soldiers and communist militants face similar 
charges, in a series of slow-running and often delayed trials in 
which verdicts are sporadically announced.  More than 3,000 of them 
will have to be tried in absentia (like Mengistu), as they reside 
abroad in exile.  Several attempts by the Ethiopian government to 
extradite Mengistu Hailemariam from Zimbabwe have failed. 
¶4. The Dergue had sought to right the wrongs committed by "feudal 
predecessors" but committed atrocities, murdering thousands over 17 
years, including Emperor Haile Selassie, said to have been strangled 
in bed and secretly buried under a latrine in his palace.  Other 
victims of the Dergue include the Emperor's 60 most senior 
officials, ministers and members of the royal family killed by 
firing squad, and Ethiopian Orthodox Church Patriarch Abuna 
Tewoflos. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
LIFE IMPRISONMENT, NOT DEATH, FOR MENGISTU 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. On January 11, 2007, the Federal High Court announced sentences 
for Dergue officials found guilty of genocide crimes on December 12, 
2006 by a three-judge panel.  High-ranking military officials 
received sentences of life imprisonment, including: Colonel Mengistu 
Hailemariam (in absentia), Captain Fikreselassie Wegderes, Major 
Fisseha Desta, Colonel Kassahun Tafesse, Major Birhanu Bayeh, 
Captain Legesse Asfaw, Major Haddis Tedla, Colonel Endale Tessema, 
and Major Gesesse Wolde-Kidan.  Others received 23 years of 
"rigorous imprisonment."  The court also upheld death sentences 
announced earlier by a different court for four defendants: Eshetu 
Alemu, Getachew Tekeba, Kebede Ali and Kebede Kibret. 
 
¶6. Only 33 of 73 defendants appeared in court; the others were tried 
in absentia.  Defendants did not show any emotion when sentences 
were announced. 
 
¶7. Chief Judge Medhin Kiros dissented, stating that at least the 
nine most senior defendants (all top officials of the former 
military regime) should receive the death penalty.  Kiros had argued 
that members of the Dergue military junta had "conspired to destroy 
a political group and kill people with impunity."  He said many 
points presented by defendants in their defense did not constitute 
extenuating circumstances, and that they never showed remorse for 
crimes committed.  Kiros said it was unfair that a different court 
had sentenced more junior officials to death, while the top 
officials who gave the instructions for killings were spared. 
 
¶8. Arguing that the twelve most senior defendants were responsible 
for the deaths of 1,114 people and other crimes, the prosecutor had 
sought the death penalty for all of them.  However, the court ruled 
that the death sentence could only be imposed in the absence of 
extenuating circumstances, and rejected the prosecutor's argument. 
Following the sentencing, the chief prosecutor said he may appeal. 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00000170  002 OF 002 
 
 
Family members of victims were dissatisfied by what they 
characterized as lenient sentences, and said they would appeal. 
 
¶9. Of those convicted on December 12, some 34 were in custody (the 
remainder were tried in absentia):  Captain Fikreselassie Wegderes, 
Colonel Fisseha Desta, Colonel Kassahun Tafesse, Captain Legesse 
Asfaw, Lt. Colonel Endale Tessema, Captain Gessesse Woldekidan, 
General Wubshet Dessie, Major Kassaye Aragaw, Lieutenant Colonel 
Debela Dinsa, Captain Begashaw Atalay, Lieutenant Seleshi Mengesha, 
Major Melaku Tefera, Lieutenant Colonel Nadew Zekarias, Lieutenant 
Petros Gebre, Lieutenant Argaw Yimer, Captain Girma Admasu, 
Lieutenant Abera Aga, Major Dejene Wondimagegnehu, Lieutenant 
Tegegnework Tesfa, Demissie Kassaye, Colonel Mekuria Haile, 
Lieutenant Kebede Abegaz, Colonel Abate Mersha, Lieutenant Haile 
Gebeyehu, Corporal Begashaw Gurmesa, Colonel Belai Bitew, Colonel 
Ashebir Amare, Lieutenant Tamirat Faye, Lieutenant Desalegne Belai, 
Lieutenant Nigussie Wolde, Lieutenant Manmekitot Wondimagegne, 
Lieutenant Girma Burka and Lieutenant Aklilu Belayneh. 
 
---------------------------- 
A SINGLE DEFENDANT ACQUITTED 
---------------------------- 
 
¶10.  The court accepted the exculpatory evidence presented by 
Corporal Begashaw Gurmessa and acquitted him of all charges.  He had 
been in prison for the last twelve years.  A member of the Dergue, 
Begashaw had served as an administrator in various provinces from 
1974 to 1977, but had protested against unlawful acts of the regime 
before being dismissed for insubordination. 
 
--------------------------------- 
COMMENT: IMPETUS FOR EXTRADITION? 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶11. COMMENT:  There has been little popular reaction to the 
sentence, reflecting general indifference except among families of 
those who perished during the Communist Dergue regime's 1974-1991 
rule.  Mengistu and his closest officials had been expected to 
receive the death penalty, rather than imprisonment.  Many 
Ethiopians consider these crimes as part of a dark past that is best 
forgotten.  Initially due to end in 2004, the 12-year-long genocide 
trial suffered from numerous logistical delays as the government was 
determined to conduct a fair trial, setting it apart from the regime 
it replaced.  END COMMENT. 
 
YAMAMOTO