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Military Personnel - The Derg - 1974-1991

Because its members in effect represented the entire military establishment, the Derg could henceforth claim to exercise real power and could mobilize troops on its own, thereby depriving the emperor's government of the ultimate means to govern. In keeping with its declared socialist path, the Derg announced in March 1975 that all royal titles were revoked and that the proposed constitutional monarchy was to be abandoned. In August Haile Selassie died under questionable circumstances and was secretly buried.

Assembling an Army of poorly armed and trained conscripts, in May 1976 the Derg launched an offensive in the Asmara area and Ak’ordat corridor, and against the ELF in southern Eritrea. Expecting that the rebels would flee when these units marched into northern Tigray, without surprise, their rag-tag “army” fell apart when attacked by the Eritreans, and – stalled at Humera – the Derg called off the campaign.

Personnel in 1977 were army 44,000 regulars, 20,000 plus commando-trained flame troops; navy 1,350; air force 2,100, emergency police 9,000; and people's militia 100,000 plus. Although volunteers made up a large part of the regular army, the government had to rely increasingly on conscripts to fill the lower ranks. In mid- 1991 approximately 6 million Ethiopian males aged eighteen to thirty-two were eligible for military service. This number constituted an adequate source of personnel for the country's defense needs and in fact was more than the country could support logistically or train effectively.

Under the National Military Service Proclamation of May 1983, all Ethiopians aged eighteen to thirty were required to undergo six months' military training followed by two years' active service and assignment to reserve status until age fifty. In reality, the national call-up, which was administered by regional military commissars, was selective rather than universal. According to the conscription law, each peasant association or kebele was required to forward lists of eligible recruits to the Ministry of Internal Affairs military commissariat. The ministry then would issue call-up orders, after which the peasant associations were required to ensure that conscripts reported for duty.

The first two national call-ups occurred in May 1984 and January 1985. Each raised about 60,000 recruits. The armed forces used the first group mainly for back-up duties and the second for duty in Eritrea. The EPLF captured many soldiers belonging to the second group around the Nakfa front. The third national call-up, which sought to recruit 120,000 men, took place in December 1985. Growing public disaffection with the wars in northern Ethiopia manifested itself in popular resistance to the call-up. Many young men moved in with relatives outside the kebeles where they were registered. To prevent desertions, the government sent conscripts from Addis Ababa to training camps in outlying regions such as Kefa and Welega and transported Eritrean and Tigrayan recruits by air to Addis Ababa.

After the November 1986 national call-up, which also prompted widespread opposition, the Mengistu regime increasingly had to resort to force to satisfy military manpower requirements. In mid- 1989, for example, armed press gangs often roamed the streets of Addis Ababa and other major cities looking for males as young as thirteen years old, or they held families at the local kebele office and then inducted their sons when family members went to the authorities to report their relatives missing. Parents who could afford to do so sent their sons abroad or to remote areas in Ethiopia where chances of escaping the call-up were greater.

A number of debilitating conditions, such as dietary deficiencies, endemic diseases, and illiteracy, often affected the quality of the available manpower. Despite these factors, the average soldier, with proper training and guidance, appeared capable of using modern equipment. The ratio of officers to enlisted personnel was approximately one to twenty. Officers generally were committed to active service until they retired or were released from duty because of incapacity. Retiremet benefits were modest, but officers received many perquisites, particularly in housing and transportation.

The Ethiopian military on the eve of the revolution was riven by factionalism; the emperor promoted such division to prevent any person or group from becoming too powerful. Factions included the Imperial Bodyguard, which had been rebuilt since the 1960 coup attempt; the Territorial Army (Ethiopia's national ground force), which was broken into many factions but which was dominated by a group of senior officers called "The Exiles" because they had fled with Haile Selassie in 1936 after the Italian invasion; and the air force. The officer graduates of the Harer Military Academy also formed a distinct group in opposition to the Holeta Military Training Center graduates.

At the time of the 1974 overthrow of Haile Selassie, a generational cleavage existed between older, conservative field- grade officers and younger, better-trained, and increasingly radical officers who had joined the military in the 1950s and 1960s. Another factor in these differences was the variety of countries in which Ethiopian officers had been trained.

In the early 1970s about 65 percent of officers at the rank of lieutenant colonel and above were Amhara, whereas 20 percent were Oromo, the latter proportion having nearly doubled during the previous decade. Below lieutenant colonel, the percentage who were Amhara was 60 percent, while 30 percent were Oromo. Estimates published in the late 1970s suggested that 50 percent of the officer corps was Amhara, 20 percent Tigray, and 30 percent Oromo and Eritrean.

The officer corps was composed largely of volunteers and included many who had risen from the enlisted ranks. Since the early 1950s, however, a significant proportion of officer candidates had been conscripted into military service for life (or until retired or physically incapacitated) from the upper levels of secondary school graduating classes and from among the most promising first-year university students. Not all of those selected in this manner were suited for military life, and many resented not being allowed to pursue civilian careers. Prior to 1974, an estimated 10 percent of all Ethiopians educated beyond secondary school level were members of the armed forces.

The officers who were among the Derg's original members came largely from the junior-grade ranks. Although many subsequently received promotions to mid-level grades, rank alone did not necessarily indicate an officer's importance. Many lieutenants and captains, for example, received assignments to important government posts. Mengistu himself became a lieutenant colonel only in 1976. In early 1977, be became chairman of the Derg.

By 1989 the problem of factionalism had diminished, as an increasing number of officers had the shared experience of being trained by Soviet, East German, or Cuban military advisers. However, opposition to Mengistu and the wars in northern Ethiopia continued to cause cleavages throughout the armed forces.

Mengistu's army was one of the largest in Africa with about 400,000 on active duty by the end of the war. It was also one of the most severely affected by war: according to one source, about 300,000 soldiers died in battle from 1974 to the end of 1990, and an additional 230,000 in the period from January to May 1991. Almost all non-commissioned soldiers were conscripted, and by the end of the war most foot soldiers were 13 to 15 years old.

In May 1991, the brutal Mengistu Haile Mariam government was overthrown. Mengistu's defeated army was treated brutally by the Eritrean EPLF. Officers who had fled Eritrea for Sudan and were returned to the EPRDF in late July 1991 by the Sudanese government reported that around 2,000 soldiers had been killed by the EPLF after surrendering near Asmara. The EPLF allegedly killed another 2,000 near the Sudanese border. The EPLF has denied these allegations. The EPLF summarily expelled about 250,000 Ethiopians, most of them soldiers and their families, to the internal border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Among those expelled were soldiers who were wounded, some severely. The EPLF made no provisions for feeding the soldiers or transporting them to their home regions, and most walked home in various stages of malnourishment. International relief agencies did provide some aid once alerted to the situation.

Most former conscripts of the Mengistu army spent about 3 months or less in "rehabilitation" camps before being sent home. Those who have a certificate from a re-education center are eligible to vote and to participate freely in the political process. The main concern about ex-conscripts is that few provisions have been made to find them employment or land to farm. The Transitional Government made some effort to provide them with seeds and tools, or job training, but its resources are severely limited. Dismissed soldiers were given the equivalent of $65 and food from the Red Cross which lasted a few months, and most had to walk to their home villages. The easy availability of weapons, and the general lack of training, education or opportunities for this group, leaves the real threat that they may resorted to violence, either banditry or joining armies opposed to the EPRDF.

Nearly half of the Mengistu army was detained for up to six months in about 24 camps throughout Ethiopia, but officers and career soldiers were held in detention longer than conscripts, for "re--education." There were reports in October 1991 that 65,000 were freed, and other reports of releases at various times. As with conscripts, those who have gone through the camps and are released have the right to vote, hold office and other civil rights denied to many former WPE officials.

There is no exact figure available on the number of officers still in detention, but the estimate of the total number of detainees from the Mengistu era, both civilian and military, is over 2,000. According to most sources, those still being held in detention are being held in poor conditions, with insufficient food, and no shelter from sun and rain. Although they have been detained for well over a year without being charged with a specific crime, there have been no reports of torture or other deliberate cruelty toward the detainees.