Feature - Laying the past to rest

Ermias Woldeamlack is still haunted by the deaths of his three brothers more than a quarter of a century ago. Even in a crowded café, he weeps as he recounts their story. It is difficult for those sitting around him not to be drawn in by the emotional pain he so vividly recollects, even though at the time he was just entering his teens. Elias, 22, Thomas, 20 and Berhane, 18, were all killed during Ethiopia’s infamous red terror. Their bodies, like thousands of others, have never been found. Little attention is now paid to that chapter of Ethiopian history. The ongoing trials of the alleged perpetrators – now in their 10th year - solicit little interest. But that is about to change. HIGH PROFILE CASES ON TRIAL Next month, lawyers will begin presenting the defence cases for the suspected architects of perhaps the bloodiest period in Ethiopia’s history. Now greying, the men who first appeared in court in December 1994, are to re-appear before the three judges presiding over the trials – now entering the final stage. Many have died awaiting trial and most fled before capture and are being tried in absentia – including perhaps the greatest prize of all - Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam. Mengistu, the ex-Marxist president of Ethiopia who fled into exile in Zimbabwe, stands accused of unleashing the terror campaign more than 20 years ago. No one knows how many were killed in the red terror that followed Mengistu’s seizure of power in 1974 and the setting up of the Dergue - the former ruling Provisional Military Administrative Committee. But the figures are believed to be in the tens of thousands. The deaths began in 1974 with the ousting of Emperor Haile Selassie and the killing of scores of government officials and titled nobility. But upon Mengistu’s own overthrow in 1991 by rebel groups - who now lead the government - thousands of his alleged henchmen were rounded up to face trial. A year later – in 1992 - the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO) was set up to create an “historical record” of the abuses and bring the guilty to book. FLEETING REFERENCES Yet the terror campaign is rarely touched upon in Ethiopian society. Few books exist on that painful chapter of history and a couple of films have explored the episode. Newspapers – both state and private press - pay even less attention, with fleeting references appearing only when men are sentenced to death. Many are reluctant to confront the past, according to 39-year-old Ermias. Surprisingly he also questions the validity of the ongoing trials. “I believe that Ethiopia has never confronted the past and reconciled itself with this,” Ermias, who made a film in memory of his brothers, told IRIN. “I don’t think bringing the so-called perpetrators to court has helped because we still do not know why these people died. We should make sense out of their deaths." He believes a museum, detailing the history of the red terror and dedicated to the memories of those who died, could help the country come to terms with the killings. According to the latest publicly available figures, some 6,426 defendants are awaiting trial. Of these, 3,000 are outside the country. More than 1,569 decisions have been handed down - 1,017 resulting in convictions, according to published figures. ENORMOUS UNDERTAKING By any standard the trials are an enormous undertaking. But in Ethiopia, an already weak and overburdened judiciary, is bulging under the weight. While Information Minister Bereket Simon defends the trials, insisting the guilty should be punished, he admits they have gone on for far too long. “The perpetrators of that crime should be put behind bars and should face the courts, so we have no doubts about bringing them to justice,” he told IRIN. "If we are interested in avoiding genocide and massacres then the perpetrators should be punished." “But given our inefficiency in the judicial system, I fully agree that we need to revamp and overhaul our justice system," he added. “I hope the judicial reforms we have put in place will help alleviate the problems and address this particular problem.” To speed up the trials, the government began a training scheme to boost the numbers of experienced staff in the judiciary - but low pay still hampers the legal profession. Even court monitors set up by international human rights groups and local organisations to ensure fair trials have gradually slipped away over time. However, human rights groups continue to voice concern over the length of the trials. One lawyer, representing a high profile official whose defence begins in November, says Ethiopia should have adopted South African-style truth and reconciliation hearings. “We should not keep every Tom, Dick and Harry behind bars for the sake of it,” the lawyer said. “The ringleaders and those who committed murder should have been charged and prosecuted and the rest left to reconciliation committees.” Like Ermias, many are now hoping that this bloody part of the country’s history will soon be laid to rest. “We should have looked to our past to learn from it,” he says. “And make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again.”