Top 10: EVIL Dictators

By Jonathan Miltimore

“Every time a dictator dies, or an atrocity is perpetrated, or details of the torture endured by those who lived through one regime or another escapes to the outside world, invariably the cry goes up that this must never be allowed to happen again. The unsavory fact is, however, that it does happen again, over and over, from one continent to another.”-Shelley Klein, author of The Most Evil Dictators in History

10.Genghis Khan

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Born Temujin, Genghis Khan set out at the age of 20 to unite all Mongol tribes under his rule with brutal and merciless military tactics. To avenge his father’s murder by the Tatar Army, Temujin ordered the killing of ever Tatar male taller than 3 feet. After defeating the Taichi’ut tribe, the chiefs were boiled alive. By 1206, Temujin had defeated the powerful Naiman tribe, giving him control of central and eastern Mongolia. After major victories over other Mongol tribes, leaders made peace with Temujin, who became Genghis Khan, meaning “universal ruler.” During later wars the Mongols used enemy survivors as human shields in the next battle. In a campaign against the Khwarizm Dynasty, one Governor Inalchuq was captured and executed by having molten silver poured into his ears and eyes (George R.R. Martin would be proud); the rest of the population was either slaughtered or enslaved. Genghis Khan died in 1227. The cause of his death remains a mystery, though most experts attribute his demise to illness.

9.Idi Amin

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Also known as the “Butcher of Uganda,” Idi Amin’s opponents faced three prospects—imprisonment, torture, or death (sometimes all three). Although precise numbers are tricky to get, it’s estimated that between 100,000 and half a million Ugandans were killed and tortured at his hand. Amin ordered the Asian population out of Uganda, declaring an “economic war” on them and blaming them for the country’s economic woes. As Asians left the country, businesses were closed and the economy worsened. Amin had a particular appetite for killing people in the most brutal ways, which including cutting off genitals and limbs and letting the victim bleed to death; flaying humans alive and making them eat their own flesh; making men line up and then forcing the first man to lie down, only to have his head smashed by the next one in line with a hammer and then that man would have to lie down, and so on; victims were made to sit in an ice bath outside and freeze to death slowly; women were systematically raped, tortured, and killed. Most bodies were thrown into the Nile where they were consumed by crocodiles.

8.Shaka Zulu