The Ethiopian government has dropped death sentences against 23 senior officials in the Derg, which was the military junta that governed the country between the overthrow of Haile Selassie in 1974 to its own dissolution in 1987 and the overthrow of its leader, Mengistu Haile Mariam, in 1991. The Derg officials were tried and convicted on charges of genocide, mass murder, torture, and other crimes. According to press reports, the pardon does not include former president Mengistu, who is in exile in Zimbabwe and was tried and convicted in abstentia.
It is, of course, increasingly the norm to try and prosecute former undemocratic regime leaders for crimes committed on their watch. This trial appears to be a little unusual because it was so long running (1994 to convictions in December 2006) and because it ended in the death penalty for Mengistu and other officials. Mengistu is unlikely ever to be extradited by Zimbabwe as he is extremely close to the ZANU-PF regime and is said to live in luxury. Mengistu originally received a life sentence, but this was heightened to death on appeal.
The article is available here, and one about Mengistu's conviction from several years ago is here.
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