Atrocities in Revolutionary Ethiopia, 1974-79: Towards a Comparative Analysis

The Ethiopian revolution of 1974 resulted in the establishment of a military regime, the Derg, that oversaw and orchestrated numerous atrocities during its seventeen years in power. Some of these were part of the “Red Terror” that violently repressed all urban opposition, whereas others were associated with counter-insurgency measures against rural guerrillas. While a new generation of scholars is re-evaluating the history and legacies of the Ethiopian revolution, the period’s atrocities are yet to be adequately examined in relation to comparative and conceptual discussions on genocides and crimes against humanity. In pursuit of a greater integration of Ethiopian historiography with the field of genocide studies, this forum contribution examines three essential conditions and features of the Red Terror in critical dialogue with questions, methods, and insights developed in work on other case studies. It focuses on the dynamics of dehumanization, the role of a fear-filled “atrocity environment,” and the evolution of new violence-facilitating organizational structures, arguing the need for a global history as well as for a comparative approach. Ethiopia’s unprecedented social and political revolution of 1974 promised to dismantle much of the structural and cultural violence on which the country’s imperial order had been founded. That the revolutionary process would itself entail significant direct violence was soon understood, accepted, at times even celebrated by all revolutionary groups. The result was a network of rebellions, counter-insurgency operations, reigns of state terror and border wars that over the following seventeen years generated numerous crimes against humanity and cost hundreds of thousands of lives. The first notable massacre following the revolution occurred on the night of 22 November 1974. Members of the Derg – the fractious and embattled military junta that had claimed state power just months before – assassinated 59 prominent members of the imperial family and of the ancièn regime. This first high-profile atrocity was a harbinger