Idi Amin: "Ugandan Hitler"
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In the second half of the XNUMXth century, few people were surprised by the cruelty in Africa. Endless wars, genocides, coups, repressions and dictators seeking to outdo each other in the number of murders. But even against this background, the dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin, managed to stand out. Foreign journalists called him "Ugandan Hitler", but he also had a lot in common with another African dictator - Bokassa, whom we recently talked about in a separate article.
They were almost the same age, both advanced in the post-war years, both came to power as a result of a coup, did a lot of things, for which their compatriots who survived them still remember with a shudder. But in terms of the number of victims, Idi Amin significantly surpassed his Central African "colleague".
Soldier, athlete, officer
The date of birth of the future Ugandan dictator is not exactly known. Different sources name both 1925 and 1928. However, the latter date is more likely, since it is known that Amin began his military service in 1946. Subsequently, already in power, he will claim how bravely he fought the Japanese during the Second World War, but this is nothing more than propaganda.
Uganda at that time was a British colony, respectively, the future dictator began his service in the British army. In the early 1950s, he participated in the suppression of an uprising in neighboring Kenya, and there for the first time showed cruelty, unusual even by African standards, against the rebels and the civilians who supported them. The British turned a blind eye to such cases, because it was cruelty towards strangers, and not towards their own.
Amin faithfully serves and gradually moves up the career ladder. If in 1948 he was a corporal, then in 1952 - already a sergeant, in 1961 - a lieutenant. In those days, this was already the limit to which a black aborigine could rise in the colonial army.
In the 1950s, Amin also showed success in the sports field. Possessing almost two meters in height and weighing 120 kg, he easily defeated opponents in the boxing ring and became the champion of Uganda in his weight category.
But as far as education is concerned, here he had obvious gaps. His colleagues claimed that until the end of the 1950s, Amin was generally illiterate and, having only crossed the 30-year threshold, he could hardly learn to read and write. Probably due to the lack of his own education, he developed a persistent dislike for all highly educated people.
Rise to power
In 1962 Uganda became an independent state. Its first president was the king of one of the tribes, Edward Mutesa II, but Amin's friend Milton Obote took the prime minister's chair. As befits friends, having received power, he did not forget Amin and contributed to his rapid career advancement. If in 1962 Amin was a lieutenant, then only four years later he was already commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of Uganda.
And when in 1966 Obote came into conflict with the president, Amin and his troops turned out to be very useful: thanks to him, a coup was carried out, as a result of which Mutesa was overthrown, and Obote became the new president.
However, in the end, Amin turned out to be a bad friend. In January 1971, when Obote left for an official visit to Singapore, Amin seized power in the country without much difficulty. Fortunately, the troops obeyed only him.
Initially, he tried to make a good impression on the people. He released all political prisoners, often claimed that he was not a politician, but a soldier, and did not cling to power. However, all illusions were dispelled rather quickly.
Most of these orders Amin awarded himself, for which he specially bought them from collectors.
reign of terror
Soon mass repressions began, turning into undisguised terror. The first to be hit were the military, who resisted during the coup. Amin then kept the head of the chief of staff Suleiman Hussein for a long time in the refrigerator as a trophy and showed it to all his guests.
Then those officers who came from the same tribe as the deposed President Obote were subjected to massacres. Over 4 soldiers were killed in this way. There were so many corpses that they did not have time to bury them, and many were dumped into Lake Victoria. Their vacated positions were in most cases filled by recent cooks, drivers and privates.
When all the disloyal officers were killed, it was the turn of the civilian dissidents. Dissolving the former security service, Amin created the Bureau of State Investigation (BGR), which received exclusive rights to extrajudicial killings and used them to the fullest.
Soon mass killings were put on stream and turned into a profitable business. Random people accused of disturbing the peace were killed, after which the corpses were sold to their relatives. Since the cult of ancestors is widespread in Uganda, relatives were ready to give any money in order to be able to bury the dead.
The total number of victims of the Amin regime has not yet been accurately calculated, figures are from 300 to 500 thousand people.
Caricature of Idi Amin by Edmund Waltman, 1977
Meanwhile, the country's economic situation was getting worse every month. The national currency has depreciated sharply, and the already poor population has now become completely poor. In order to somehow get out of this situation, it was necessary to find a new enemy who could be blamed for all the troubles. It didn’t take long to look for him - Asians were appointed to the role of the main fifth column.
Since the beginning of the XNUMXth century, several tens of thousands of immigrants from India and Pakistan have lived in Uganda. They were brought to Uganda by the British colonial authorities as skilled labor for the construction of factories, railways and other facilities.
By the beginning of the reign of Amin, there were about 80 thousand Asians in Uganda. They were mostly wealthy people, they owned banks, farms, shops, pharmacies, many were engaged in trade. The indigenous impoverished population of the country experienced hostility towards successful foreigners. It seemed to the Ugandans, who were illiterate and did not understand anything about economics, that all their troubles came because of the Asians, that they were sucking all the juice out of their country.
And in August 1972, Idi Amin issued a decree according to which all Asians were ordered to leave the country forever within 90 days. At the same time, all their property was confiscated, their bank accounts were blocked, and they were allowed to take no more than $100 with them.
Citizens deported from Uganda
Amin distributed all the property squeezed out in such a simple way to his associates - the same semi-literate warriors as himself. The results were not long in coming: all enterprises soon fell into complete decline, production decreased significantly. And as a result, the country's economy flew into an even deeper abyss.
Following the Asians, Amin took up arms against the intelligentsia he hated. In Uganda, there was then only one university in Kampala. His teachers, fearing persecution, fled the country en masse. In 1976, when Amin's men from the BGR killed one of the students, student demonstrations began under the slogan "Save us from Amin." They were brutally dispersed, some protesters simply disappeared.
Not only teachers fled the country, but also officials, ministers, their deputies, ambassadors and many others who had such an opportunity.
Foreign policy, overthrow and death
Under Amin, Uganda was a country oriented towards the socialist camp and formally part of it. Of course, there was no smell of any socialism, even barracks, in the country. Rather, feudal orders reigned there. Amin received generous help from influential friends. So, weapons and ammunition went to him from the USSR, and the Libyan regime of Gaddafi supplied Amin with money.
Amin and Gaddafi
Amin considered two countries to be his enemies - neighboring Tanzania, where President Obote, who was overthrown by him, received asylum, and Israel. His dislike of Israel led him to become friends with Palestinian terrorists. And when they seized a French passenger plane in Athens in 1976, on board of which there were many Israeli citizens, Amin allowed them to land in Uganda at the airport in Entebbe.
Entebbe Airport
The terrorists demanded the release of their comrades-in-arms from prisons, and in case of non-compliance, they threatened to start shooting the hostages. Israel's reaction was instantaneous: Israeli troops landed at Entebbe airport, shot down 7 terrorists and 45 Ugandan soldiers, freed the hostages and flew away with them. The entire operation took 53 minutes.
Upon learning of what had happened, Amin ordered the murder of a 73-year-old hostage, who had been taken from the airport to the hospital the day before.
It is quite possible that Amin would have remained in power for a very long time and would have killed more than one hundred thousand people. But the decisive role was played by his desire to organize one "small victorious war." Outward aggression killed him.
Amin speaking to the soldiers
In October 1978, the Ugandan army invaded Tanzania without declaring war. By the way, also a country of the socialist bloc. At first, the fighting went well for Amin, but then the Tanzanian army launched a counteroffensive, Amin's troops were defeated, and in April 1979 he himself abandoned his capital Kampala and fled to Libya. Soon Tanzanian troops entered Kampala and the war ended.
It is important to note that thousands of Ugandan soldiers and officers, opponents of Amin, whom he turned against himself with endless repressions, also fought in the ranks of the Tanzanian army.
A few months later, Amin moved from Libya to Saudi Arabia, where he lived until his death in 2003.
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