An Ethiopian court has convicted former dictator Mengistu Haile Miriam of genocide for atrocities committed during his 1974-1991 Marxist regime after a marathon 12-year trial. Mengistu, on trial in absentia, and 11 co-defendants who served on the ex-government's central committee were found guilty, of genocide, homicide, illegal imprisonment and illegal confiscation of property by Ethiopia's Federal High Court Tuesday.

"Accused numbers one to 12 are found guilty of all charges," Justice Medhin Kiros told a packed courtroom in Addis Ababa, reading from a unanimous verdict by the three-judge panel hearing the case.

Mengistu, who was ousted in 1991 and now lives in exile in Zimbabwe, was known as"defendant number one" in the case against himself and other senior members of his so-called Derg (Committee) regime.