This Butcher of Uganda Committed Unbelievable Crimes Against Humanity

11 reasons why Idi Amin was history’s worst despot.

No one earns the “Butcher of Uganda” title without committing some of the most heinous crimes against humanity.

Idi Amin did commit unimaginable atrocities on a large scale during his regime in Uganda. Amin became the president of Uganda in 1971, and his draconian regime lasted eight years.

His regime is characterized by the most heinous crimes against humanity and blatant infringements on human rights: ethnic cleansing, severe torture, extrajudicial killings, and one of the most unbearable political repressions.

He was finally outed in 1978 when the Ugandan nationalists formed their government.

Despite all the crimes he had committed, Amin managed to get out of Uganda safely and spent his later life in exile in Saudi Arabia, where he died of various organ failures in 2003.

Here are some details of his crime:

1. Amin’s Claims of Being a Cannibal

Rumour has it that Amin kept the bodies of his victims in his refrigerator and ate their flesh.

His health minister, Henry Kyemba, has said that Amin proudly told him about eating the flesh of his victims. Amin is also known to have once commented that he had tried human flesh and found it too salty for his taste.

2. An Underground Prison with a Torture Chamber and an Electrified Moat

Amin hired the Israelis in the 1970s to build a prison and torture chamber, which was apparently designed as an armory.

The cement caves in the armory were supposed to store gunpowder, but it ended up storing his victims.

The entrance, as well as the water surrounding the chamber, was electrified. The prison was always filled with blood, vomit, and human feces, which often led to suffocation and killed most prisoners.

Those who survived the conditions died by throwing themselves into the electrified water.

3. His Violence Shifted From Dissidents to Civilians

Amin’s oppression was not limited to his political rivals, as he killed civilians as well. His victims included farmers, students, and religious leaders.

He had the archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Janani Luwum, killed. Amin’s men would shoot the victims or beat them with sledgehammers. Sometimes they forced the victims to club each other to death.

4. He Displaced Around 80,000 Asians and Made them Unemployed

Amin decided to cleanse the South Asians from Uganda in 1972. Around 80,000 South Asians were given 90 days to leave Uganda or face violent oppression.

These Asians left everything they had. Their shops and businesses were given to Amin’s men.

5. He was Whimsical and Took Out the Members of His Government Without Even an Excuse

Amin was known for his violent mood swings that ended with killing any of his employees or government members who displeased him.

According to a Telegraph report, one of Amin’s former employees found out about his death on radio as Amin had decided to kill him.

6. He Executed People Without Proof

Amin was obsessed with his rivals plotting against him and ordered executions through firing squads without even finding out if some was plotting against him.

These executions were so frequent that the bodies dumped in the Nile would clog a dam on Victoria Lake and cause power outages.

7. Amin Wanted to Annihilate the Educated

Amin had no formal education as he had studied beyond the fourth grade. He felt particularly threatened by the educated. Therefore, he took a particular interest in exterminating the intellectual class of the country.

8. He was Fond of Adolf Hitler

Besides his love for genocide and ethnic cleansing, Amin was actually a fan of Adolf Hitler, and he made no secret of this. He publicly stated his admiration for the Fuhrer.

9. He is Believed to be Behind the Murder of a 74-years old Woman

Dora Bloch, a 74-years older woman, was aboard an Air France plane bound for Paris, which was hijacked in 1976 by Palestinian terrorists.

The plane landed in Uganda, where the Israelis conducted a rescue mission and saved the hostages.

It is believed that Amin got Bloch killed by his secret service, who threw the body near a sugar plantation out of embarrassment.

The face of the body was burned to make identification difficult. Amin denied the accusations, but it is believed that he was responsible for Bloch’s death.

10. He Was A Polygamist And Killed His Fourth Wife

Amin had six wives and fathered more than 30 children. His fourth wife, Kay Amin, was disloyal to him and was divorced in 1973.

One year after the divorce, her mutilated body was found. She was three to fourth months pregnant with another man’s child at that time.

11. He Admired Himself Despite Everything

Leaders around the world called Amin a “buffoon” and a “madman.”

However, he had a long title for himself:

His Excellency, President of Uganda, President for Life, Field Marshal Al-Hadji, Doctor Idi Amin, VC, Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross, Lord of All the Beasts of Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and in Uganda in Particular.

Interesting.

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