Addis Ababa is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. In the 2007 census, the city's population was estimated to be 2,739,551 inhabitants. Addis Ababa is a highly developed and important cultural, artistic, financial and administrative center of Ethiopia. It is widely known as one of Africa's major capitals.
Mengistu Haile Mariam is an Ethiopian former politician and former military officer who was the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 and General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Ethiopia from 1984 to 1991. He was the chairman of the Derg, the Marxist-Leninist military junta that governed Ethiopia, from 1977 to 1987, and the president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) from 1987 to 1991.
Mekelle, or Mek'ele, is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around 780 kilometres (480 mi) north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, with an elevation of 2,254 metres (7,395 ft) above sea level. Administratively, Mekelle is considered a Special Zone, which is divided into seven sub-cities. It is the economic, cultural, and political hub of northern Ethiopia.
Abune Paulos was the fifth Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church from 1992 to his death in 2012. His full title was "His Holiness Abuna Paulos, Fifth Patriarch of the Orthodox Tewahido Church of Ethiopia, Ichege of the see of Saint Tekle Haymanot, Archbishop of Axum and one of the seven serving Presidents of the World Council of Churches."
The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991.
The Ethiopian Red Terror, also known as the Qey Shibir, was a violent political repression campaign of the Derg against other competing Marxist-Leninist groups in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea from 1976 to 1978. The Qey Shibir was an attempt to consolidate Derg rule during the political instability after their overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and the subsequent Ethiopian Civil War. The Qey Shibir was based on the Red Terror of the Russian Civil War, and most visibly took place after Mengistu Haile Mariam became chairman of the Derg on 3 February 1977. It is estimated that 10,000 to 980,000 people were killed over the course of the Qey Shibir.
Meskel Square is a public square in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is often a site for Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church gatherings or for demonstrations and festivals, notably, the Meskel Festival from which it takes its name.
The Yekatit 12 monument is a memorial in Addis Ababa commemorating the Yekatit 12 pogrom, an Italian war crime in Ethiopia. The pogrom took place from 19 to 21 February 1937 and is known as Yekatit 12 after the start date in the Ethiopian calendar. The memorial is an obelisk in the centre of the roundabout of Sidist Kilo Square, also called "Yekatit 12 Square".
Abune Merkorios was an Ethiopian bishop and the fourth Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, elected after the death of Abuna Takla Haymanot in May 1988. Merkorios remained Patriarch for three years until 1991, when the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) overthrew the Communist military junta known as Derg in Addis Ababa. After spending almost three decades living in exile, he was allowed to return to Addis Ababa and be recognized as Patriarch alongside Abune Mathias.
Alemu Abebe is an Ethiopian politician. He served as mayor of Addis Ababa during the years of Red Terror.
Andargachew Tsege, also known as Andy Tsige or Andy Tsege, is an Ethiopian politician. He is the chief executive officer of ESAT, a nonprofit independent media outlet in Ethiopia. He previously served as the secretary-general of Ginbot 7, a political party that was labeled as a terrorist group by the Ethiopian government until 2018. On 23 June 2014, he was abducted by Ethiopian security forces while in transit in Yemen's Sana'a International Airport and held at an unknown location in Ethiopia. On 29 May 2018, he was freed by the Ethiopian government following political reform by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Alem Bekagn, or 'Kerchele Prison', was a central prison in Ethiopia until 2004. Located in Addis Ababa, the prison possibly existed as early as 1923, under the reign of Empress Zewditu, but became notorious after Second Italo-Ethiopian War as the site where Ethiopian intellectuals were detained and killed by Italian Fascists in the Yekatit 12 massacre. After the restoration of Emperor Haile Selassie, the prison remained in use to house Eritrean nationalists and those involved in the Woyane rebellion. Under the Communist Derg regime that followed, the prison was the site of another mass killing, the Massacre of the Sixty, and of the torture and execution of rival groups in the Red Terror. The prison remained a site of human rights abuses until the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front entered Addis Ababa on 28 May 1991, after which it became a normal prison. The prison was closed in 2004 and demolished in 2007 to allow the construction of the headquarters of the African Union.
The fallof the Derg was a military campaign that resulted in the defeat of the ruling Marxist–Leninist military junta, the Derg, by the rebel coalition Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) on 28 May 1991 in Addis Ababa, ending the Ethiopian Civil War. The Derg took power after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie and the Solomonic dynasty, an imperial dynasty of Ethiopia that began in 1270. The Derg suffered from insurgency with different factions, and separatist rebel groups since their early rule, beginning with the Ethiopian Civil War. The 1983–1985 famine, the Red Terror, and resettlement and villagization made the Derg unpopular with the majority of Ethiopians tending to support insurgent groups like the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).
On 12 December 2006, the Federal Supreme Court found guilty 77 top Derg officials accused by the government of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) over the Red Terror (1976–1978). The head of the Derg, Mengistu Haile Mariam, who fled to Zimbabwe, and other 22 Derg members were sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment on 11 January 2007.
The Downfall of the Derg is a national holiday in Ethiopia celebrated on 28 May in commemoration of the fall of communist military junta Derg by the rebel coalition Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991. The day also pay homage to victims of the Ethiopian Civil War casualties and the Red Terror. Visitors often visited memorial places in this day such as "Red Terror" Martyrs' Memorial Museum in Addis Ababa.
Crime in Ethiopia includes various techniques ranging from petty theft to homicide. Motivations of crime include high unemployment rate, lack of basic needs of life, housing and education. Rapid population growth also contributed to increase the criminal rate in Ethiopia. In Addis Ababa, crimes include robbery, pickpocketing, scamming and burglary among others are common, although the lowest rate compared to other African cities and within the country.
The History of the Red Terror refers to a political repression that was launched by the military junta Derg in Ethiopia, from 1976 to 1978. It resulted in more than 10,000 deaths.
The Ethiopian Civil War (1974–1991) has had civilian, infrastructure and agricultural impacts. It left at least 1.4 million people dead, with 1 million related to famine and the remainder from violence and conflicts, which was one-third of the population.
The 1972–1975 Wollo famine was a major famine in the Ethiopian Empire during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie. The famine widely ravaged the two provinces as well as converging areas such as Afar-inhabited arid region by early 1972. During 1972 and 1973, the famine killed between 40,000 and 80,000 people. In response, the government initiated the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), a department that aimed to reduce the famine severity and coordinate international assistance. The famine led to mobilisation of pastoralists and nomads in general, while allowing feudal landlords to force tenants to pay high rents while escorting their retinue of armed guards.
Objects in the museum
Exhibit in the museum
Entrance to the museum
