Dutch Court Sentences Ethiopian to Life in Prison for War Crimes<br />This is also the day for us to forgive." An Ethiopian court had sentenced Mr. Alemu to death in absentia in 2007 for his role in what became known<br />as the "red terror," a campaign conducted by Mr. Mengistu’s military junta after the Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, was ousted in 1974.<br />15, 2017<br />THE HAGUE — A court in the Netherlands on Friday convicted an aide to a former Ethiopian dictator<br />and sentenced him to life in prison for war crimes carried out during Ethiopia’s "red terror" purges of the 1970s, including the execution of 75 prisoners.<br />In the hearings held under Dutch universal jurisdiction, Mr. Alemu, a former regional representative under the country’s leader at the time, Mengistu<br />Haile Mariam, was convicted of all charges brought by prosecutors, including arbitrary detention, inhumane treatment, torture and mass murder.<br />The Netherlands is one of the European countries that has established an international crimes prosecution unit to prosecute<br />people accused of war criminals who are residing in the Netherlands even if their crimes were committed abroad.<br />Mariette Renckens said that The fact that the majority of victims were children younger than 18 makes the crimes all the more cruel,<br />Mr. Mengistu was found guilty in absentia of genocide in the same trial in 2007, where he<br />and top members of his military government were accused of killing thousands during his 17-year rule.<br />Jirko Patist said that Today’s verdict shows perpetrators that the Netherlands will not be a safe haven,
