Revolutionary Terror Campaigns in Addis Ababa, 1976-1978

370 Pages·2015·1.77 MB·English

by  Jacob Wiebel

Revolutionary Terror Campaigns in Addis Ababa, 1976-1978
Jacob Wiebel
St Cross College
Doctor of Philosophy in History
University of Oxford
Trinity Term 2014
Abstract
Between 1976 and 1978, urban Ethiopia became a site of collective violence. Rival
campaigns of revolutionary terror were fought out, most notably in the capital city of
Addis Ababa. Opposition forces launched targeted assassinations against the military
regime and its collaborators, prompting the latter to widen early campaigns of
repression into one of the most brutal reigns of state terror in modern Africa. Tens of
thousands of Ethiopians, most of them young and many educated, lost their lives.
Thousands more were systematically tortured or otherwise abused. Many escaped to the
countryside or fled abroad, invigorating rural insurgencies and generating the country's
first permanent diaspora. The Terror effected deep changes in Ethiopian state and
society, as well as in relations between them. This thesis analyses the social and
political history of this revolutionary violence. It brings materials familiar to scholars of
modern Ethiopia together with new sources, from oral interviews to international
archives. On the basis of these sources, the dynamics and aftereffects of the Ethiopian
Terror are examined. Urban Ethiopia's revolutionary violence is shown to have been
jointly produced by supralocal decision makers and by local actors, shaped by centrally
imposed structures as much as by locally moulded operational cultures. Geo-political
alliances in the context of the global Cold War had profound effects on the mode of
violence on the ground. Underpinning this violence were evolving social processes and
narratives that legitimised terror campaigns and depersonalised opponents. Unveiling
these dynamics of violence, this thesis traces the changes in the Terror’s forms and
agents. The mode of state-instigated violence shifted significantly: it transitioned from
unsystematic repression before February 1977 to a phase of decentralisation that lasted
until July 1977, during which the means of state violence were devolved to local actors.
It culminated in a centrally coordinated campaign of terror in late 1977 and early '78,
which inscribed institutional structures and practices of collective violence into the state
bureaucracy. Opposition violence, meanwhile, moved into the opposite direction,
becoming increasingly localised and less subject to centralised control. Having
surveyed these defining dynamics of revolutionary violence, the thesis traces their
subsequent trajectories, highlighting the enduring repercussions of the Terror's legacies
and of its contested memorialisation process for Ethiopian politics and society.
Acknowledgements
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has provided generous funding for
this thesis. Its support has also facilitated an enjoyable and productive summer of
research at the Library of Congress's Kluge Center in Washington, DC. My Oxford
college, St Cross, has similarly provided financial assistance for research visits to
Ethiopia and for private Amharic tutorials.
This thesis could not have been completed without the support, generosity and
kindness of more people than can be suitably thanked and acknowledged here. Some,
however, must be mentioned. First is my supervisor, Professor David Anderson, who
has been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. His guidance, suggestions
and gentle corrections have been indispensable in navigating the difficult terrain of
research on collective violence. In caring for the person as much as the project, and in
going an extra mile to open new doors and horizons for me, he has embodied the very
best an academic supervisor and mentor can be.
A number of persons have provided invaluable assistance in gaining access to
sources and in evaluating them. Estifanos Terefe has given vital support in translating
and interpreting difficult and lengthy Amharic texts. This journey began in his homey
kitchen in Montreal, and his reflections and assistance have fortified my research
consistently since. Hirut Abebe-Jiri has been unfaltering in her dedication to the
memorialisation of the Ethiopian Terror. Through the Ethiopian Red Terror
Documentation and Research Center, she has made great efforts to facilitate access to
important documents and to introduce me to prominent contemporary witnesses. In
Washington DC, Fentahun Tiruneh shared not only the considerable collection of
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sources he has brought together at the Library of Congress, but also many an amiable
hour over lunch and coffee, remembering his experiences of the Terror and discussing
its history and meanings.
In Oxford, friends and fellow researchers have introduced me to new approaches,
tools and ways of thinking, and thereby helped to shape this thesis. Toni Weis has been
a cherished companion on many shared paths over the past years. Without his
introductions and input, the development of this research would have been severely
stunted. Meanwhile, conversations with Aidan Russell taught an undisciplined
interdisciplinary mind how to think historically about collective violence. He will find
the fruits of seeds he planted throughout this dissertation.
During our shared struggles with the challenges of doctoral life (and with newly
disclosed Mau Mau files), Daniel Ostendorff has not only become a great friend but
also an indispensable counsellor on all things software-related. Also in Oxford, I am
indebted to the generosity of Ed and Liubov Brooks, whose hospitality I have so greatly
benefited from. Countless shared morning runs with Ed were as foundational to many
of the thoughts and perspectives developed in this thesis as they were to victory in the
Cross Country Blues Varsity Match.
In Ethiopia, Dori Ayele and Hiruy Gossaye have been among those who have
generously opened their homes to me for lengthy stays. Hiruy has also provided helpful
comments and corrections to early drafts of chapters in this thesis. The growing family
of the late Berhanu Disasa and Hirut Terefe provided a home away from home each
Sunday in Addis Ababa. Berhanu will be dearly missed, but the fruits of his life and
love remain evident to all who know the family.
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I owe a great debt of gratitude to my oral informants. Based in five different
countries, each sacrificed time from busy schedules in order to confront and share
deeply personal and painful memories. It is my hope that the narratives and syntheses of
this study begin to do justice to their recollections of experiences and perspectives.
Closer to home, Feleke Bojia and Meheret Terefe have truly been as parents to me.
They have been encouraging and nurturing, and have also helped this research by
sharing recollections and suggestions.
I owe more than I know or can express to the devotion and support of my mother,
Beatrice. Through her own life and struggles, she has taught me the importance of
dignity, humility and perseverance - qualities without which no one dare approach a
history of collective violence.
Last but certainly not least, my wonderful wife Rediet has been a constant source of
joy and support. She not only provided a sounding board and constant feedback to my
thoughts and writing, but ensured I maintain my sanity throughout this research by
surrounding me with her love and beauty.
S.D.G.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 1
Table of Contents 4
Glossary 7
Note on Ethiopian names, words and dates 8
Chapter 1 - Theory and Contexts: Approaching the Ethiopian Terror 9

The research question 10
Defining the Terror 12
Counting the victims 16
The historiography of the Terror 18
Making sense of collective violence 25
(i) Endogenous conflict dynamics 28
(ii) Collective violence and social order 37
(iii) The organisational structures of collective violence 42
Methodology and sources 47
The structure of the study 58
Chapter 2 - Radicals and Soldiers: The Emergence of Collective Violence, to
February 1977 61
Bourgeoisie, students, revolutionaries 63
(i) New urban middle classes 65
(ii) The Ethiopian student movement 67
(iii) Revolutionary uprisings 71
Contesting and defining political space 73
(i) Emerging revolutionary groups and identities 74
(ii) Developing alliances and enmities 80
(iii) Contestation on the eve of the Terror 84
The onset of the Terror 92
(i) Causes and culpabilities 93
(ii) Shaping an atrocity environment: the EPRP's assassination campaign 97
(iii) "Anti-people elements shall be liquidated": emerging state terror 105
External violence and internal divisions 113
(i) A party divided 113
(ii) A regime divided 117
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Chapter 3 - Control and Agency: The Decentralisation of Collective Violence,
February to July 1977 123

"The terror has turned": the rise of the radical Derg 125
New practices of terror 130
(i) Arming the urban population 132
(ii) Search campaigns 135
(iii) 'Mass-confession' sessions 137
The erosion of law and the politics of exclusion 140
The decentralised Terror on the ground: the case of Girma Kebede 143
The decentralisation of the EPRP's violence 151
The unheard Terror: keeping the media out 153
The May Day massacres 156
Netsa ermeja: the climax of decentralised violence 161
Foreign war and domestic repression 166
Chapter 4 - States of Exception and Normality: The Bureaucratisation of Collective
Violence, from July 1977 174
Monopolising the Terror: eliminating Meison, purging dissent 177
East German assistance and the development of the Derg's security apparatus 183
"Let the Red Terror intensify": organised mass violence as official state policy 190
Terror overt and covert 207
The end of the Terror? 210
Chapter 5 - Struggle and Sacrifice: The Experience of Collective Violence 215
Street violence 217
Violence in the home 227
Violence in the neighbourhood 235
Incarceration 239
Expatriate residents' experiences of the Terror 253
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Chapter 6 - Past and Present: The Memorialisation of Collective Violence 264

Derg narratives of the Terror 268
EPRP narratives of the Terror 274
Meison narratives of the Terror 281
The Red Terror trials 287
The 'Red Terror Martyrs' Memorial Museum' 295
Dissenting voices 300
Chapter 7 - Conclusions and Beginnings: Rethinking the Ethiopian Terror 304
Findings and Contributions 306
(i) Dynamics of collective violence in the Terror 306
(ii) Legacies of the Terror 322
(iii) Memorialisation of the Terror 326
Implications 328
Appendix: Red Terror Historical Interviews 333
Bibliography 339
Archival Sources 339
Printed Primary Sources 340
Printed Secondary Sources 345
Unpublished Theses and Papers 363
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Glossary
Abyot Tebeka Revolution Defense Squad
AETU All Ethiopia Trade Union
CELU Confederation of Ethiopian Labour Unions
E.C. Ethiopian Calendar
EPRA Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Army
EPRDF Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
EPRP Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party
ERIC Ethiopian Revolution Information Center
ERTDRC Ethiopian Red Terror Documentation and Research
Center
ESM Ethiopian Student Movement
FBIS Foreign Broadcast Information Service
FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UK)
Ichat Ethiopian Oppressed Peoples' Revolutionary Struggle*
IES Institute of Ethiopian Studies
Imaledh Union of Marxist-Leninist Organisations of Ethiopia
Kebele Urban Dweller Association; lowest administrative
structure
Keftegna 'Higher' Urban Dweller Association, the administrative
stucture above Kebeles
Malerid Marxist Leninist Revolutionary Organisation*
Meison All Ethiopia Socialist Movement*
NALE National Archives and Library of Ethiopia
NDR National Democratic Revolution
PMAC Provisional Military Administrative Council
POMOA Provision Office of Mass Organisational Affairs
Red Terror Museum Red Terror Martyr's Memorial Museum, Addis Ababa
SPO Special Prosecutor's Office
Wez League The Labour League
WSLF Western Somali Liberation Front
(*) denotes Amharic acronyms

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Note on Ethiopian names, words and dates
In keeping with custom, Ethiopians are identified by their first name and father's name.
Since they are not surnames per se, fathers' names are not privileged in footnotes or
bibliography. Amharic words are transliterated into Latin script in the main body of the
text. In footnotes and bibliography, however, they are written in Ge’ez script, except
where a word - like Kebele - has become commonplace in English writing about
Ethiopia. Translations are provided throughout. Where Ethiopian dates are cited, these
are marked 'E.C.' and followed by their equivalent date in the Gregorian calendar.
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