The memorial museum is the final resting place for the remains of some soldiers killed in the 1974 – 1991 war against the Derg. These remains were desecrated during the ENDF occupation of the museum (2020 – 2022) (Staff of the Tigray Martyrs Memorial Museum, July 2022).
Introduction
There are many memorial museums constructed on sites of violence, concentration camps from the Holocaust; Tuol Sleng, a school converted into a prison under Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge; prison used as sites for torture and murder under Argentina’s military rule – and many more. The Ethiopian Army’s use of the Tigrayan memorial museum as a prison and torture site is the first example we are aware of where a memorial museum, dedicated to documenting past violence, was converted into a site for new violence.
Located in the heart of Mekelle, the Tigray Martyrs Memorial Museum (TMMM) was constructed as a tribute to those who died in Ethiopia’s past conflicts, particularly people who fought with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) against Ethiopia’s military regime, the Derg, which ruled from 1974 to 1991. Dominating the exterior is a towering memorial and statues depicting the rise of the TPLF’s rise. The TMMM is mandated to preserve, promote and educate the history of the people of Tigray. Read more