Abstract:
This thesis is concerned with a history of "Red Terror" in Jimma town between 1976 and 1978.
It discusses from the background of the 1974 revolution to that of the final verdict of the court in
the trial of "Red Terror" in 2008. Confidential court and government archives of the event are
used in writing this paper.
The socialist ideology of Derg was designed to get relief from the massive popular opposition.
Some of the socialist reforms of Derg resolved age old questions of the masses and the urban
intelligentsia. But Derg also began to eliminate those, who demanded more revolutionary
reforms. EPRP also agitated socialism, but profoundly opposed the Derg's way. Each of them
claims that, their side was the correct for the development of the nation and prosperity of its
citizens. But the gain of the nation and its people was the "Reign of Terror". In 1991 EPRDF
formed a new government, both Derg and EPRP stand before the law, the yield of the trial was
"Victor's Justice"
This study attempted to fill some gaps by elucidating the main events of "Red Terror" in Jimma.
My research is seen by many people as active political issue, so my attempt to obtain archival
source raised suspicion and unwillingness even to discuss about the "Red Terror". Thus, I am
forced to build privacy confidentiality with some of my informants to get archival sources.
Courts of the country have been cooperative more than the archival centers I used to visit while
writing this paper. To find out the historical accounts of the event as much as possible, I relied on
primary sources.
This paper is only prelude to study about the "Red Terror". The study and documentation of the
event in Ethiopia in general and Jimma town in particular is still requires more thorough
investigation.
