Ethiopia: Remembering Mengistu · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Carpe Diem, Ethiopian blog remembers the Red Terror of former Ethiopian dictator, Mengistu……”In addition to the firing squads, security forces used other, more gruesome tactics to suppress opposition. One tool was a nylon rope, or “Mengistu necktie,” used to slowly strangle prisoners or torture them into revealing acquaintances or plots. Other officers were fond of using the bastinado, which was used to brace the feet before smashing them into stumps. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians were permanently crippled in this manner.”