On entering the Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum in Addis Ababa, one might mistake the brass statue of three women on the right side of the entrance for one of those exotic sculptures common in museums all over the world. It is only after reaching the lobby that one realises its significance.
The statue depicts three girls huddled together with tears streaming down their cheeks, a symbolic representation of the victims of a massacre that occurred under military ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam. It represents the victims of the period of repression known as “Red Terror,” between 1976 and 1978, in which more than 500,000 people were brutally murdered.
