December 21, 2006
Snapping the Derg
Things are slowly getting back to normal after a successful trip to South Omo and an incredibly frustratingly aborted trip to Somali region. More on South Omo later.
In the meantime, I'm catching up on the story of the fornight - the conviction of Mengistu and his Derg cronies. Fortune made the best use of irony and photography. Here is the intro to their story The moment of truth:
Many of them were in the same room where they once discussed how to command and plan Ethiopia's economy. The finger print of the past is still left untouched on the ceiling; a bronze circle plaque depicting the Ethiopian map (which includes Eritrea) with hammer and sickle reads, “We shall put nature under control as we did the reactionaries!”
The bottom picture in the story shows "Corporal Begashaw Gurmiessa, one of the original Derg members but kicked out from the junta latter on, enjoying the moment of truth, with his daughter, while his wife Aregash Engeda and his son were crying with joy in the back. After languishing for almost 16 years in jail, Corporal Begashaw was acquitted from the charges of genocide and crimes against humanity where his prison fellows were found guilty..."
Imagine waiting 16 years in prison to be cleared.
Posted by aheavens at December 21, 2006 11:20 AM
Comments
Oh, the sweetness of Ethiopian justice, you are guilty until proven innocent.
Posted by: Mamitu at December 21, 2006 7:14 PM