Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada Oumee was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third <a href="/facts/President_of_Uganda/19UhEJkH">president of Uganda</a> from 1971 until <a href="/facts/Uganda%25E2%2580%2593Tanzania_War/15lpCU5n">his overthrow</a> in 1979. He ruled as a <a href="/facts/Military_dictatorship/HxqRW7Jr">military dictator</a> and is considered one of the most brutal <a href="/facts/Despotism/atI1mtcJ">despots</a> in modern world history.
Amin was born to a <a href="/facts/Kakwa_people/dC5on5Tf">Kakwa</a> father and <a href="/facts/Lugbara_people/WJbAn7Su">Lugbara</a> mother. In 1946, he joined the <a href="/facts/King%2527s_African_Rifles/0jThxrq7">King's African Rifles</a> (KAR) of the <a href="/facts/British_Colonial_Army/LJr054BP">British Colonial Army</a> as a cook. He rose to the rank of <a href="/facts/Lieutenant/G9BbvD6s">lieutenant</a>, taking part in <a href="/facts/British_Empire/hrsz0j7A">British</a> actions against Somali rebels and then the <a href="/facts/Mau_Mau_rebellion/6zEzuphN">Mau Mau Uprising</a> in <a href="/facts/Kenya_Colony/59rKj8U2">Kenya</a>. <a href="/facts/Uganda/PabdegRm">Uganda</a> gained independence from the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a> in 1962, and Amin remained in the <a href="/facts/Uganda_Army_(1962%25E2%2580%25931971)/KzApGWFJ">army</a>, rising to the position of deputy army commander in 1964 and being appointed commander two years later. He became aware that Ugandan president <a href="/facts/Milton_Obote/ln8KQrX1">Milton Obote</a> was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, so he launched the <a href="/facts/1971_Ugandan_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/Kjetu64r">1971 Ugandan coup d'état</a> and declared himself president.
During his years in power, Amin shifted from being a pro-Western ruler enjoying considerable support from Israel to being backed by <a href="/facts/Libyan_Arab_Jamahiriya/vKj7t2Rt">Libya</a>'s <a href="/facts/Muammar_Gaddafi/JFp2s57J">Muammar Gaddafi</a>, <a href="/facts/Zaire/fQ4DIs0j">Zaire</a>'s <a href="/facts/Mobutu_Sese_Seko/Qq9pprJa">Mobutu Sese Seko</a>, the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a>, and <a href="/facts/East_Germany/PwI902Q6">East Germany</a>. In 1972, Amin <a href="/facts/Expulsion_of_Asians_from_Uganda/Ip3EqUpP">expelled Asians</a>, a majority of whom were <a href="/facts/Indians_in_Uganda/CGE3CdUp">Indian-Ugandans</a>, leading India to sever diplomatic relations with his regime. In 1975, Amin assumed <a href="/facts/Chairperson_of_the_Organisation_of_African_Unity/PNlNsA6n">chairmanship of</a> the <a href="/facts/Organisation_of_African_Unity/roqLjS2d">Organisation of African Unity</a> (OAU), an <a href="/facts/International_organization/6yJu9qNB">intergovernmental organization</a> designed to promote solidarity among African states (an annually rotating role). Uganda was a member of the <a href="/facts/United_Nations_Commission_on_Human_Rights/kgbrtvaF">United Nations Commission on Human Rights</a> from 1977 to 1979. The United Kingdom broke diplomatic relations with Uganda in 1977, and Amin declared that he had defeated the <a href="/facts/British_Empire/hrsz0j7A">British</a> and added <a href="/facts/Order_of_the_British_Empire/HlY9buuN">CBE</a> to his title for Conqueror of the British Empire.
As Amin's rule progressed into the late 1970s, there was increased unrest against his persecution of certain ethnic groups and political dissidents, along with Uganda's very poor international standing due to Amin's support for <a href="/facts/PFLP-EO/Nlr3Jdcd">PFLP-EO</a> and <a href="/facts/Revolutionary_Cells_(RZ)/ueDRnGTQ">RZ</a> hijackers in 1976, leading to Israel's <a href="/facts/Operation_Entebbe/Mpo0DpLt">Operation Entebbe</a>. He then attempted to annex <a href="/facts/Tanzania/MJueJ7E4">Tanzania</a>'s <a href="/facts/Kagera_Region/x9JYpcuW">Kagera Region</a> in 1978. Tanzanian President <a href="/facts/Julius_Nyerere/FPaIFfJ1">Julius Nyerere</a> ordered his troops to <a href="/facts/Uganda%25E2%2580%2593Tanzania_War/15lpCU5n">invade Uganda</a> in response. Tanzanian Army and rebel forces successfully <a href="/facts/Fall_of_Kampala/6ga683Hu">captured Kampala</a> in 1979 and ousted Amin from power. Amin went into exile, first in Libya, then <a href="/facts/Ba%2527athist_Iraq/lbHnSQBz">Iraq</a>, and finally in <a href="/facts/Saudi_Arabia/uyUpe1J2">Saudi Arabia</a>, where he lived until his death in 2003.
Amin's rule was characterized by rampant <a href="/facts/Human_rights_abuse/WMW5XCdM">human rights abuses</a> including <a href="/facts/Political_repression/aFzYy3S4">political repression</a> and <a href="/facts/Extrajudicial_killing/aXmKesUe">extrajudicial killings</a> as well as <a href="/facts/Nepotism/qAb01mob">nepotism</a>, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. International observers and <a href="/facts/Human_rights/WMW5XCdM">human rights</a> groups estimate that between 100,000 and 500,000 people were killed under his regime.

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Idi Amin