Timeline of the Derg

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This list details about chronological aspect of the Derg, the military junta that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987 by decade.

1970s

1974

• 12 February – Mutinies took place at the Ethiopian Air Force Base at Bishoftu.^[1]
• 25 February – Mutinies occurred in Second Division at Asmara.
• 23 March – Prime Minister Endalkachew Mekonnen formed armed forces coordinated committee which its members did not support his government.
• 28 June – a group of military officers announced the new military junta, the Derg, officially the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces.
• July – the Derg obtained key concession of the Emperor Haile Selassie that can access the power to arrest the government officials in every level; both Aklilu Habte-Wold and Endalkachew Mekonnen along with their cabinets, regional governors, many senior military officers and officials were imprisoned soon after.
• August – the Derg began dismantling the imperial government to forestall further development following a proposed constitution that offer constitutional monarchy.
• 12 September – the Derg deposed and imprisoned Emperor Haile Selassie
• 15 September – the committee renamed itself Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC) and took control of all governmental facilities.
• 23 November – 60 former imperial government of Haile Selassie were summarily executed along with Gen. Aman Adom.
• 28 November – the Derg elected Brigadier General Tafari Banti as a chairman of the Derg, while Mengistu Haile Mariam and Atnafu Abate were elected as vice-chairmen.

1975

• 18 February – the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) formed as the spearhead opposition group
• 4 March – the Derg announced a land reform with main slogan "Land for the Tiller".
• 21 March – Monarchy of the
  Marxism-Leninism
  became the new ideology of the state.
• 27 August – Haile Selassie died from mysterious circumstances while his personal physician absented. It was believed that Mengistu killed him by order or in his own.

1977

• 3 February – Mengistu elected as the chairman of the Derg with undisputed leadership.
• 17 April – the first wave of Red Terror officially declared.^[2]
• 13 July – Ogaden War began with invasion of Somalia.

1980s

1983

• 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia began in Ethiopian four provinces, Tigray, Wollo, Gojjam and Hararghe, resulted in 400,000 deaths.^[3]

1985

• July – the famine garnered international attention especially from Western community. The Oxfam and Live Aid concerted charity which ignited controversy whether NGOs in Ethiopia were under the control of Derg government or Oxfam and Live Aid coordinated to the Derg's enforced resettlement programmes, which displaced and killed between 50,000 and 100,000 people.

1987

• 22 February – the 1987 constitution adopted
• 12 September – the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was established.

1988

• 8 May – The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) created new coalition named the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)

1989

• The Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (EPDM) joined the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPDRF) to fight the Derg

1990s

• December – the Soviet Union ceased to aid the PDRE in line with the 1989 revolution in Eastern bloc.

1991

• January – EPRDF took Gondar, Bahir Dar and Dessie while the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) took all of Eritrea except Assab and Asmara in the south.
• March – the Afar Liberation Front (ALF) joined EPRDF
• April – the rebel forces crossed Shewa and Welega to Addis Ababa
• 21 May – President Mengistu managed to flee the country through Kenya border into Zimbabwe, where still lives today.
• 27 May – the rebel forces took control Jimma, Agaro and Gambela.
• 28 May – the rebel forces successfully
  seized
  Addis Ababa with nonviolence condition. Approximately 1,900 Derg officials detained thereafter.

1992

• The Special Prosecutor Office (SPO) was launched in order to investigate human rights violations committed during the Red Terror and the Derg regime as whole.

1994

• October – SPO submitted 73 Derg officials to Central Higher Court for the first time.
• 13 December – the first charge was filed.^[4]

2000s

2006

• 12 December – the Federal Supreme Court found guilty of 55 Derg officials, 22, including Mengistu, were charged in absentia.^[5]

2007

• 11 January – Detainees were sentenced to life imprisonment to 23 years rigorous punishment.^[4]

2008

• 26 May – the trial ended with most officials being sentenced to death.

2010s

2011

• 4 October – 16 Derg officials were released after serving 20 years incarceration.^[6][7]

References