Reuter's, The Trial Of The Derg, 2007
This video is a Reuter's report focused on the conviction of Mengitsu Mariam, the Marxist leader of Ethiopia. This video shows the point of view of a man whose father was killed and his entire family imprisoned during the Derg's rule. The man wanted a death sentence for Mengitsu, despite being convicted in absentia, yet the court ruled that a death sentence would be inhumane to an old and sick man, which is very ironic. Mengitsu didn't give a lot of people a humane chance, yet the court has allowed Mengitsu to live, if he was in Ethiopia. In my opinion, Mengitsu should have received the death penalty, regardless of age of health.
The second part of the video described the Red Terror and how Mengitsu led a campaign against all political opponents between 1977-1978, killing as much as 500,000 Ethiopians. Reuter's showed a clip of Mengitsu's fiery speech calling for Mengitsu's followers to protect the Derg from evil counterrevolutionaries and smashing six bottles of blood to demonstrate the need for action. The third part of the video shows an Ethiopian movie made in 2001 based off the horrors of the Red Terror. The director basically said in his interview he didn't want the horrors of the Red Terror to be forgotten, even though they were terrible. The movie seems to climax when a Derg officer tells the protagonist to shoot himself or shoot his best friend, or both will be shot. These types of mental torture and vile psychology are very, very difficult for a person when they love the other person but don't want to die themselves.
The Ethiopian Civil War was a topic that I knew very little about but know I am happy to be educated about it and the events that happened. It is hard for me to picture how many men the red terror killed but never the less the image of lines of people on the street being eaten by dogs is a scary and incredibly sad one! i think you did a good job conveying the cruel reality of what some people are capable of doing. Good Job Taylor!
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