454:, who although himself a former prisoner was dedicated to removing traces of the former dictatorships, while the Chinese government offered the AU a gift of a new headquarters on the site. The memorial plans were rejected, and Alem Bekagn was demolished within one day in 2007. Nothing remains of the prison, but the new
230:
principles, with 57 cells – each designed for 10 to 20 prisoners – arranged in two tiers around an octagonal courtyard. As the prison population swelled into the thousands, additional huts were constructed around the outside. The site also included a church and a visitation area in the form of two
248:. Its widely used title of Alem Bekagn, variously translated as "farewell to the world", "end of the world" or "I have given up on the world", likely came about as a result of its courtyard structure, which blocked out everything but the sky.
407:
or the
Ethiopian Red Terror. Many of those arrested in these purges were held at Alem Bekagn, and as many as 10,000 were killed on the site, while overcrowding and unsanitary conditions led to the deaths of more through
331:
was founded in 1963, its headquarters were located next door to Alem Bekagn. The inner courtyard was visible from the windows of the OAU headquarters, but due to the OAU's policy of
335:, the organisation never condemned the torture and killings at the prison and it would return escapees who claimed refuge in the building. The killings included the
214:
entered Addis Ababa on 28 May 1991, after which it became a normal prison. The prison was closed in 2004 and demolished in 2007 to allow the construction of the
425:
211:
800:
795:
443:
that year, plans were presented to the
African Union to convert the site into a memorial to human rights abuses. These plans were supported by the
297:
785:
765:
704:
455:
215:
292:. Graziani's revenge was swift, and over one thousand people were incarcerated at Alem Bekagn, with many tortured and killed by
790:
638:
231:
fences placed 4 feet (1.2 m) apart. The prison held both men and women, with the two divided by corrugated iron sheeting.
730:
433:
58:
618:
403:
took control of the Derg in 1977, and cemented his position with a campaign of imprisonment and execution known as
17:
687:
285:
328:
775:
760:
428:
into Addis Ababa on 28 May 1991. The prison guards fled, and the captives – at that point, mostly
Eritrean
51:
379:
179:
432:– freed themselves. The bodies of the Sixty were exhumed from the prison grounds and reburied outside
533:
770:
296:. The prison remained in use throughout the Italian occupation, and still contained prisoners when
571:
500:
Under the
Fascist occupation, Addis Ababa had a second prison also known as Akaki, which was a
266:
182:
as the site where
Ethiopian intellectuals were detained and killed by Italian Fascists in the
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375:
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207:
203:
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and the imperial government and held them at Alem Bekagn. Many of these were killed in the
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293:
424:, which had been running since the rise of the Derg, came to a head with the entry of the
8:
780:
421:
332:
321:
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The construction date of the prison is not known, but it likely began under the
Empress
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on 5 May 1936, and the prison was quickly taken over by the
Fascist regime to house
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429:
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returned to the country. Almost immediately, Selassie faced an uprising in the
309:
187:
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467:
447:
73:
60:
234:
The prison was sometimes known as Akaki Prison, as it sat on the banks of a
470:, Ethiopia's central prison post-Derg, also the site of human rights abuses
394:
343:
regime, who were lined up against a wall in full view of the OAU building.
242:, or Kerchele Prison, a phonetic rendering of the Italian term for prison,
202:
regime that followed, the prison was the site of another mass killing, the
174:, the prison possibly existed as early as 1923, under the reign of Empress
244:
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43:
404:
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227:
183:
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The prison was closed in 2004, and on the 10th anniversary of the
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With so many political prisoners enclosed together, Alem Bekagn
166:, "Farewell to the World"), or 'Kerchele Prison', was a central
409:
317:
167:
667:. Vol. 3–4. Life & Peace Institute. 1991. p. 15.
210:. The prison remained a site of human rights abuses until the
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has a small memorial to Alem Bekagn in its northern corner.
135:
705:"Human Rights and the African Union: Memory and Forgetting"
367:
340:
199:
206:, and of the torture and execution of rival groups in the
256:
588:
303:
320:, were imprisoned at Alem Bekagn, and following the
426:Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front
212:Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front
752:
611:The Addis Ababa Massacre: Italy's National Shame
639:"An Accidental Monument to African Ambivalence"
284:), two Eritreans attempted to assassinate the
613:. Oxford University Press. pp. 230–231.
415:
801:Buildings and structures demolished in 2007
578:. Vol. 34, no. 2. pp. 16–18.
450:. However, Oqubay was replaced as mayor by
324:they were joined by Eritrean nationalists.
186:massacre. After the restoration of Emperor
308:The liberation of Addis Ababa saw Emperor
536:. The African Union Human Rights Memorial
731:"A Windy Afternoon at the African Union"
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796:Buildings and structures in Addis Ababa
728:
702:
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604:
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528:
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456:AU Conference Center and Office Complex
194:nationalists and those involved in the
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316:. The leaders of this revolution, the
190:, the prison remained in use to house
680:Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia
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632:
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565:
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559:
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370:rose to power. The Derg arrested the
355:Ethiopian revolutionaries. Following
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491:include Alem Bekagne and Alem Beqañ.
257:Early history and Italian occupation
378:on 23 November 1974, including the
304:Restoration of the Ethiopian Empire
298:Allied troops liberated Addis Ababa
170:in Ethiopia until 2004. Located in
24:
703:de Waal, Alex (28 December 2007).
637:de Waal, Alex (11 November 2011).
627:
548:
346:
226:Alem Bekagn was constructed along
27:Defunct central prison in Ethiopia
25:
812:
729:de Waal, Alex (30 January 2012).
570:de Waal, Alex (26 January 2012).
216:headquarters of the African Union
786:2004 disestablishments in Africa
766:Political repression in Ethiopia
267:Addis Ababa fell to the Italians
722:
696:
589:United States Congress (1988).
671:
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591:Human rights in Ethiopia, 1987
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494:
481:
286:Viceroy of Italian East Africa
13:
1:
791:1923 establishments in Africa
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357:a revolution in February 1974
329:Organisation of African Unity
178:, but became notorious after
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7:
461:
10:
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593:. U.S. G.P.O. p. 197.
416:Final years and demolition
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180:Second Italo-Ethiopian War
534:"The Red Terror Memorial"
337:execution of 60 ministers
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136:http://www.alembekagn.org
131:
121:
113:
105:
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504:on the city's outskirts.
678:Henze, Paul B. (2000).
665:Horn of Africa Bulletin
735:World Peace Foundation
609:Campbell, Ian (2017).
576:London Review of Books
572:"Remember Alem Bekagn"
434:Holy Trinity Cathedral
198:. Under the Communist
401:Mengistu Haile Mariam
376:Massacre of the Sixty
364:military dictatorship
322:annexation of Eritrea
276:On 19 February 1937 (
204:Massacre of the Sixty
445:Mayor of Addis Ababa
387:Endalkachew Makonnen
776:Italian East Africa
761:Prisons in Ethiopia
422:Ethiopian Civil War
333:non-interventionism
294:crushing with ropes
271:political prisoners
70: /
32:
502:concentration camp
282:Ethiopian calendar
74:9.0000°N 38.7445°E
30:
709:African Arguments
383:Aklilu Habte-Wold
300:on 6 April 1941.
265:in 1923 or 1924.
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142:Notable prisoners
16:(Redirected from
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663:"Alem Bekagne".
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489:transliterations
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441:Rwandan genocide
430:prisoners of war
361:Marxist-Leninist
290:Rodolfo Graziani
196:Woyane rebellion
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380:Prime Ministers
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347:The Derg regime
314:Tigray Province
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125:Kerchele Prison
79:9.0000; 38.7445
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18:Kerchele Prison
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620:978-8184001754
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188:Haile Selassie
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468:Kaliti Prison
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448:Arkebe Oqubay
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738:. Retrieved
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646:. Retrieved
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538:. Retrieved
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395:Asrate Kassa
372:royal family
350:
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233:
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155:
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353:radicalised
240:Akaki River
172:Addis Ababa
156:Alem Bekagn
122:Former name
77: /
52:Coordinates
44:Addis Ababa
31:Alem Bekagn
781:Yekatit 12
755:Categories
740:1 February
714:1 February
689:1850653933
648:1 February
540:1 February
512:References
405:Qey Shibir
339:under the
278:Yekatit 12
228:panopticon
208:Red Terror
184:Yekatit 12
93:Demolished
65:38°44′40″E
46:, Ethiopia
475:Footnotes
393:(Prince)
327:When the
236:tributary
148:The Sixty
62:9°00′00″N
462:See also
389:and the
192:Eritrean
40:Location
280:in the
263:Zewditu
252:History
245:carcere
238:of the
176:Zewditu
164:ዓለም በቃኝ
160:Amharic
132:Website
109:c. 1923
101:Maximum
686:
617:
487:Other
410:typhus
318:Woyane
222:Design
168:prison
114:Closed
106:Opened
90:Status
742:2018
716:2018
684:ISBN
650:2018
615:ISBN
542:2018
420:The
385:and
368:Derg
359:, a
341:Derg
200:Derg
117:2004
391:Ras
757::
733:.
707:.
641:.
629:^
599:^
574:.
550:^
519:^
436:.
412:.
397:.
288:,
273:.
218:.
162::
744:.
718:.
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652:.
623:.
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158:(
20:)
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