A death squad is an armed squad of men that kills civilians, terrorists or guerillas. These groups tend to commit extrajudicial assassinations / extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances of persons. Extrajudicial punishment is Punishment by the state or some other official authority without the permission of a Court or legal authority AssassiNation is the sixth album by Krisiun, released in 2006 on Century Media. For extrajudicial executions see also Assassination Extra-judicial killings are the illegal killing of leading political trades union dissidents A forced disappearance occurs when an organization forces a person to vanish from Public view either by Murder or by simple Sequestration. These killings are often conducted in ways meant to ensure the secrecy of the killers' identities, so as to avoid accountability and ensure deniability. Killings is a short tale written by Andre Dubus in 1979. In 2001 the story was adapted into Todd Field 's Film ^[1][2]

Death squads are often, but not exclusively, associated with the violent political repression of dictatorships, totalitarian states and similar regimes. Political repression is the Persecution of an individual or group for political reasons particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take part A dictatorship is usually defined as an autocratic Form of government in which the Government is ruled by a Dictator. Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a concept used to describe Political systems where a State regulates nearly every aspect of public and private They typically have the tacit or express support of the state, as a whole or in part (see state terrorism). State terrorism refers to acts of Terrorism conducted by governments Death squads may comprise a secret police force, paramilitary group or official government units with members drawn from the military or the police. Secret police (sometimes political police) are a Police agency which operates in Secrecy to maintain National security against internal A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force but which are not regarded as having the same status They may also be organized as vigilante groups. A vigilante is a person who ignores Due process of law and enacts their own form of Justice in response to a perception of insufficient response by the

Death squads may be distinguished from terrorist groups in that their violent actions are often used to maintain the power of a local or national elite, rather than intending to disrupt their existing authority per se. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion Elite (also spelled Élite) is taken originally from the Latin, eligere, "to elect" In Politics, authority ( Latin Auctoritas, used in Roman law as opposed to Potestas and Imperium Foreign powers may aid states where death squads are active, usually without the international criticism that would be involved when supporting states that support terrorism. Some death squads, including those with links with corrupt elites, have been classified as terrorist organizations.

Death squads can kill or commit premeditated attacks against political opponents, alleged rebel sympathizers and any other people deemed "dangerous" or simply "undesirable" by authorities or local groups (e. g. homeless and squatters). Homelessness is the condition and social category of people who lack housing because they cannot afford or are otherwise unable to maintain regular safe and adequate shelter Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or Building that the squatter does not own rent or otherwise have permission to use They may also act to remove ethnic or political groups whose existence does not serve the purposes of the ruling elite (ethnic cleansing, politicide). Ethnic cleansing is a Euphemism referring to the persecution through imprisonment expulsion or killing of members of an ethnic minority by a majority to achieve ethnic homogeneity Politicide has three related but distinct meanings It can mean a gradual but systematic attempt to cause the annihilation of an independent political and social entity

Contents 1 History 1.1 Recent use 2 By Country 2.1 Argentina 2.2 Bolivia 2.3 Brazil 2.4 Cambodia 2.5 Central and South America 2.6 Chile 2.7 China 2.8 Colombia 2.9 Cuba 2.10 Dominican Republic 2.11 East Timor 2.12 El Salvador 2.13 France 2.14 Germany 2.15 Guatemala 2.16 Haiti 2.17 Honduras 2.18 Indonesia 2.19 Iran 2.20 Iraq 2.21 Ireland 2.22 Ivory Coast 2.23 Japan 2.24 South Korea 2.25 Lebanon 2.26 Mexico 2.27 Nicaragua 2.28 Panama 2.29 Peru 2.30 Philippines 2.31 Russia 2.32 Rwanda 2.33 South Africa 2.34 Spain 2.35 Thailand 2.36 Uruguay 2.37 United Kingdom 2.38 United States of America 2.39 Yugoslavia 2.40 Venezuela 2.41 Vietnam 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links

History

Although the term "death squad" did not rise to notoriety until the activities of such groups in Central and South America during the 1970s and 1980s became widely known, death squads have been employed under different guises throughout history. The term was first used during the Battle of Algiers by Paul Aussaresses ^[3]. Paul Aussaresses (b 7 November 1918 in Saint-Paul-Cap-de-Joux, Tarn) is a retired French Army Brigadier General, who fought

Recent use

As of 2006, death squads have continued to be active in several locations. They were on the rise through the 1960s and 1970s. However, they now appear to have been on the decline since about 1981 . Some known recent centers of activity include Chechnya, Congo, Colombia, Iraq, and Sudan, among others. The Chechen Republic (ˈʧɛʧɨn rɪˈpʌblɨk Чече́нская Респу́блика Chechenskaya Respublika; Нохчийн Республика Noxçiyn Respublika The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa.

By Country

Argentina

Alianza Anticomunista Argentina, a far-right death squad mainly active during the "Dirty War". The Argentine Anticommunist Alliance ( Alianza Anticomunista Argentina, usually known as Triple A or AAA was a Far-right Death squad active in This article refers to the Argentine Dirty War for the British film of the same name see Dirty War (film. Amnesty International reports that “the security forces in Argentina first started using “death squads” in late 1973. By the time military rule ended in 1983 some 1,500 people had been killed directly by “death squads”, and over 9,000 named people and many more undocumented victims had been “disappeared”—kidnapped and murdered secretly—according to the officially appointed National Commission on Disappeared People (CONADEP). ^[4]

Bolivia

In the late 1960s death squads killed several thousand people.

Brazil

Further information: History of Brazil (1964–1985)

In Brazil, death squads first appeared during the seventies. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld They were linked to the military police (the most famous one being the infamous "Scuderie LeCoq") or civilian police forces (including Mão Branca which means the "White Hand"). They targeted criminals who had become famous for their crimes and for evading the police or those involved in the killing of policemen (the most notorious case involved Lúcio Flávio, an infamous criminal known as "fair-haired devil").

Scuderie LeCoq, for instance, took its name from a deceased policeman whose death was connected to organised crime. "Crime syndicate" redirects here For the DC Comics group of villains see Crime Syndicate. A rather surprising (and uncommon) characteristic of both these death squads are their fondness for publicity: LeCoq's members were photographed (or appeared in public) wearing black ski masks and black jackets featuring an emblem composed of a skull, a rose and a revolver. Mão Branca's members used to leave notes detailing the crimes for which the victim had been murdered (the name came from the fact that no fingerprints could ever be found, suggesting that the murderers wore gloves). These death squads were tolerated (if not outright supported) by the military government and were employed to spread fear among the régime's opponents (often likened to common criminals). After the fall of the military regime, they faded into obscurity but sometimes resurface. However, the phenomenon has become both more widespread and less organised. While in the past they got their ideological and logistic support from the military, they are now motivated by the corporatism within the police forces and fuelled by corruption. The Brazilian death squads are now more a criminal phenomenon than a type of illegal policing.

Cambodia

Assassinations and mass killings of Vietnamese in the late 1970s. The Khmer Rouge began employing death squads to purge Cambodia of non-communists after taking over the country in 1975 . The Khmer Rouge (ខ្មែរក្រហម Kmae Krɑhɑɑm was the Communist ruling political party of Cambodia &mdashwhich it renamed The Kingdom of Cambodia ( formerly known as Kampuchea (, transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based They rounded up their victims, questioned them and then took them out to killing fields to be shot or beaten to death. More than 1. 6 million Cambodians fell victim before the Khmer Rouge were overthrown by communist Vietnam.

Central and South America

Death squad activity became widespread in Guatemala and El Salvador during the 1980s, where plain-clothes assassins would murder dissidents fingered as "subversives" under the pretext of counter-insurgency. Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest El Salvador ( República de El Salvador,) is a country in Central America. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. See also Insurgency In the context of an occupation or a Civil war, counter-insurgency (abbreviated COIN is a military term for the combat The Salvadorian death squads typically operated in full cooperation with elements from the National Armed Forces, most of their targets were suspected members from FMLN, BPR, FAPU and other left wing organisations / members and their sympathizers as well as undermine civilian president José Napoleón Duarte. José Napoleón Duarte Fuentes ( November 23 1925 &ndash February 23 1990) was a Salvadoran political figure who from 1980 to 1982 In addition to murdering those labelled guerilla sympathizers, death squads were also known to massacre whole villages suspected of harboring guerrillas, especially in Guatemala. One well-known death squad that still operates in Central America is the Salvadoran-based Sombra Negra ("Black Shadow" in Spanish), which consists of vigilantes that hunt down suspected criminals and gang members (see MS-13). The Sombra Negra ( Spanish for "Black Shadow" are Vigilante groups comprised mostly of Police and Military personnel who Mara Salvatrucha are large gangs in Northern Central America and the United States.

Chile

Further information: Chile under Pinochet and Operation Condor

The Caravan of Death, an Army death squad, roamed Chile beginning in October 1973, following Augusto Pinochet's American backed coup which overthrew the elected government of President Salvador Allende. General Augusto Pinochet, one of the most controversial figures in recent Chilean history was head of the military junta that ruled Chile from For other uses of Operation Condor please see Operation Condor (disambiguation Operation Condor (Operación Cóndor Operação Condor was a campaign The Caravan of Death was a Chilean Army Death squad that following the Chilean coup of 1973, flew by helicopter from south to north of Chile between Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (November The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Salvador Isabelino Allende Gossens (June 26 1908 – September 11 1973 was President of Chile from November 1970 until his death during the coup d'état of In particular, members of Chile's Socialist and Communist Parties were targeted, The group traveled from prison to prison in a Puma helicopter, executing political prisoners with small arms and bladed weapons. The victims were then buried in unmarked graves. More than 3,000 people are believed to have been killed by Pinochet's government. In June 1999, judge Juan Guzmán Tapia ordered the arrest of five retired generals. Juan Salvador Guzmán Tapia (b April 22, 1939) is a retired Chilean judge who became famous internationally for being the first judge to prosecute former

China

Mao Zedong made use of the Red Guards to assassinate, imprison, and terrorise millions of suspected political opponents during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China was a struggle for power within the Communist Party of China that manifested into The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970.

Colombia

In Colombia, the terms "death squads", "paramilitaries" or "self-defense groups" have been used interchangeably and otherwise, referring to either a single phenomenon, also known as paramilitarism, or to different but related aspects of the same. Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force but which are not regarded as having the same status Self-defense (or self-defence &mdash see spelling differences) is the act of defending oneself one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm Paramilitarism in Colombia refers to the origin and development of Paramilitary groups in Colombia during the 20th century ^[5]

In 1993, Amnesty International (AI) reported that clandestine military units began covertly operating as death squads in 1978. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a Western based international Non-governmental organization which defines its mission as "to Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) According to the report, throughout the 1980s political killings rose to a peak of 3,500 in 1988, averaging some 1,500 victims per year since then, and "over 1,500 civilians are also believed to have “disappeared” since 1978. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) "^[6]

The United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), as well as previous and later paramilitary groups, have been described as death squads due to aspects of their modus operandi and the support or tolerance that they have received from members of the Colombian security forces and of society in different circumstances. The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia ( Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, in Spanish) were formed in April 1997 as an umbrella Modus operandi (often used in the abbreviated forms MO or simply Method) is a Latin phrase approximately translated as " mode of operation Links between paramilitaries and members of official security forces continue to exist. Several Colombian paramilitary groups began operating as death squads in the 1980s and later ones have often continued to do so, but there are disagreements among analysts as to the accuracy of such a classification in contemporary times. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. It has been argued that the AUC and newer groups have developed into more complex and autonomous entities than traditional death squads, partially because the fragmentation of the larger drug cartels (some of which sponsored or co-sponsored paramilitary groups) has allowed them to directly participate in the illegal drug trade. The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global Black market consisting of the cultivation manufacture distribution and sale of illegal Drugs This has contributed to giving such groups greater degrees of economic, social and political autonomy. Death squad actions would be one part of their overall activities. Separately, private death squads also exist on a local level, unrelated to the AUC/paramilitary framework. ^{Superscript text}

Cuba

Batista in the 1950s maintained BRAC secret police that conducted death squad activities. General Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (fulˈxensjo βaˈtista i salˈdiβar January 16, 1901 &ndash August 6, 1973) was a Cuban The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Secret police (sometimes political police) are a Police agency which operates in Secrecy to maintain National security against internal

Dominican Republic

Police operated the La Banda death squad in the mid-1960s. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force

East Timor

The Indonesian government operated death squads throughout this territory.

El Salvador

Main articles: Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Dorothy Kazel, Jean Donovan, Oscar Romero. Ita Ford, MM ( April 23, 1940 - December 2, 1980) was a Roman Catholic Maryknoll Sister missionary to Bolivia Maura Clarke ( January 13, 1931 – December 2, 1980) was an American Roman Catholic Maryknoll Nun Dorothy Kazel ( June 30, 1939 &ndash December 2, 1980) was an American Ursuline Nun and Missionary Jean Donovan ( April 10, 1953 - December 2, 1980) was an American lay missionary who was murdered with three nuns in Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez ( August 25 1917 &ndash March 24 1980) commonly known as Monseñor Romero, was a Bishop

During the Salvadoran civil war, death squads (known in Spanish by the name of Escuadrón de la Muerte) achieved notoriety when far-right vigilantes assassinated Archbishop Óscar Romero for his social activism in March 1980. The Salvadoran Civil War (1980–1992 was between the Right-wing Military government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez ( August 25 1917 &ndash March 24 1980) commonly known as Monseñor Romero, was a Bishop In December 1980, three American nuns and a lay worker were raped and murdered by a military unit later found to have been acting on specific orders. Death squads were instrumental in killing thousands of peasants and activists. Funding for the squads came primarily from right-wing Salvadoran businessmen and landowners. ^[7]Because the death squads involved were found to have been soldiers of the Salvadoran military, which was receiving U. S. funding and training during the Carter and Reagan administrations, these events prompted some outrage in the U. James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr (born October 1 1924 was the thirty-ninth President of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981 and the recipient of the 2002 S, however human rights activists criticized U. S. administrations for denying Salvadoran government links to the death squads. Veteran Human Rights Watch researcher Cynthia J. Arnson writes that "particularly during the years 1980-1983 when the killing was at its height (numbers of killings could reach as far as 35,000), assigning responsibility for the violence and human rights abuses was a product of the intense ideological polarization in the United States. The Reagan administration downplayed the scale of abuse as well as the involvement of state actors. Because of the level of denial as well as the extent of U. S. involvement with the Salvadoran military and security forces, the U. S. role in El Salvador- what was known about death squads, when it was known, and what actions the United States did or did not take to curb their abuses- becomes an important part of El Salvador’s death squad story. ” ^[8]. Some death squads, such as Sombra Negra, are still operating in El Salvador. The Sombra Negra ( Spanish for "Black Shadow" are Vigilante groups comprised mostly of Police and Military personnel who [2]

France

The French military used death squads during the Algerian War (1954-1962). The Algerian War ( French: Guerre d'Algérie; 1954-1962 also known as Algerian War of Independence, led to Algeria 's independence from ^[9]

Germany

During the 1930s, the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler made extensive use of death squads, starting with the infamous Night of the Long Knives and reaching a peak with the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 . Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately The Night of the Long Knives (German) or " Operation Hummingbird " was a Purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July Following the frontline units, the Nazis brought along four travelling death squads called Einsatzgruppen (Einsatzgruppe-A through D) to hunt down and kill Jews, Communists and other so-called undesirables in the occupied areas. Einsatzgruppen ( German: "task forces" "intervention groups" were Paramilitary groups formed by Heinrich Himmler and PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based This was the first of the massacres that made up the Holocaust. The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as Typically, the victims, who included many women and children, were forcibly marched from their homes to open graves or ravines before being shot. Many others suffocated in specially designed poison trucks called gas vans. Between 1941 and 1944 , the Einsatzgruppen killed about 1. Einsatzgruppen ( German: "task forces" "intervention groups" were Paramilitary groups formed by Heinrich Himmler and 2 million Soviet Jews, as well as tens of thousands of suspected political dissidents, POWs, and uncounted numbers of Romany.

Guatemala

Guatemala has had death squads active since the 1960s up through the 1990s. Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest Historian Greg Grandin remarks that "Washington, of course, publicly denied its support for paramilitarism, but the practice of political disappearances took a great leap forward in Guatemala in 1966 with the birth of a death squad created, and directly supervised, by U. S. security advisors. Throughout the first two months of 1966, a combined black-ops unit made up of police and military officers working under the name "Operation Clean-Up" -- a term US counterinsurgents would recycle elsewhere in Latin America -- carried out a number of extrajudicial executions. . . Over the next two and a half decades, U. S. -funded and -trained Central American security forces would disappear tens of thousands of citizens and execute hundreds of thousands more. " ^[10]

Haiti

In Haiti, the paramilitary death squad SIN was organized in the 1980s to use military force against narcotics smugglers, it became used as a death squad for political goals. Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole:

In Haiti the paramilitary death squad Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH), organized in mid-1993, terrorized the supporters of Jean-Bertrand Aristide by murder, massacres, public beatings, arson raids on poor neighborhoods and severing limbs by machete. The Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH (Front pour l'Avancement et le Progrès Haitien was a paramilitary group organized in mid- 1993. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born July 15 1953 is a former Roman Catholic Priest who was President of Haiti in 1991 again from 1994 to 1996 and then The machete (məˈʃɛti is a large cleaver -like cutting tool Its goal was to destroy popular support for Aristide and his Lavalas political movement through indiscriminate terror. Fanmi Lavalas is a populist leftist Political party in Haiti. Aristide had been elected in a landslide victory in 1991 , enjoying great popularity among the Haitian poor, but served only eight months before being deposed in a military coup. Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born July 15 1953 is a former Roman Catholic Priest who was President of Haiti in 1991 again from 1994 to 1996 and then The junta that ruled from 1991 to 1994 gave free rein to both military and FRAPH repression. Several thousand Haitians either fled to the Dominican Republic or Florida, where the U. The Dominican Republic ( Spanish: República Dominicana;) is a nation located in the Caribbean region and shares the island of Hispaniola with Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the S. was forced to deal with a severe refugee problem.

During the 1992 U. S. presidential campaign, candidate Bill Clinton had promised to restore democracy to Haiti if elected. Inaugurated in 1993, the administration had to deal with a continuing refugee problem in Florida. Condemning FRAPH and the military regime as nothing more than "armed thugs," the administration cooperated with a multinational force and dispatched 15,000 troops sent and a high-level negotiating team (Jimmy Carter, Sam Nunn, and Colin Powell) to force the military to step down, restoring Aristide to power in August 1994 after international sanctions and pressure had failed to produce any results. James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr (born October 1 1924 was the thirty-ninth President of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981 and the recipient of the 2002 Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr (born September 8, 1938) is an American Lawyer and Politician. Colin Luther Powell, KCB (Honorary MSC, (born April 5, 1937) is a retired General in the United States Army. Although the presence of U. S. and UN peacekeepers helped restore calm and security, this success, claims researcher Lisa A. McGowan, was undermined by their refusal to disarm the disbanded Haitian military and paramilitaries. As McGowan wrote,

"USAID is providing funding and technical assistance to strengthen Haiti’s judicial system, yet the U. The United States Agency for International Development (or USAID) is the United States federal government organization responsible for most non- military S. has refused Haïtian government requests to deport FRAPH leader Constant, who was imprisoned in the U. S. and wanted in Haïti on murder charges. Instead, the U. S. Justice Department released him from prison. Furthermore, the Clinton administration refuses to give the Haïtian government uncensored copies of the documents seized from FRAPH headquarters, raising suspicions that the documents contain incriminating information about CIA and other U. The United States Presidency of Bill Clinton, also known as the Clinton Administration, was the executive branch of the Federal near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all S. collaboration with Haïtian paramilitaries. Documents that were obtained revealed, for example, that the CIA knew that Constant was directly implicated in the 1993 murder of Justice Minister Guy Malory, yet kept him on their payroll until the return of Aristide in 1994. [2]"

It subsequently emerged that the US government had in fact played a significant role in establishing and funding FRAPH. The investigative journalist Allan Nairn broke the story in an article published in The Nation in 1994. Investigative journalism is a type of reporting in which reporters deeply investigate a topic of interest often involving crime Political corruption, or some other Scandal Allan Nairn (born 1956 is an award-winning US investigative journalist who became well-known when he was imprisoned by the Indonesian military while [3] Nairn based his findings on interviews with military, paramilitary and intelligence officials in Haïti and the United States as well as Green Beret commanders and internal documents from the U. S. and Haïtian armies. Nairn spoke directly with Constant himself, then being held in a Maryland jail, shortly before he was due to be deported to Haïti. According to Constant, he started the group that became FRAPH at the urging of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and that even after the U. S. occupation got under way in September 1994, "other people from my organization were working with the DIA. ", aiding in operations directed against "subversive activities". [4] When Nairn tried to follow up (Constant insisted on a face-to-face meeting), the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service denied him access, explaining that Constant had had a change of heart and no longer wanted to talk. The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service ( INS) was a part of the United States Department of Justice and handled legal and illegal Immigration [5]

Constant later confirmed in 1995 on CBS's "60 Minutes" that the CIA paid him about $700 a month and that he created FRAPH while on the CIA payroll. According to Constant, the FRAPH had been formed "with encouragement and financial backing from the DIA and the CIA. " (Miami New Times, 26 February 2004) [6]

In February 1996, the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) announced that it had obtained thousands of pages of newly declassified U. The Miami New Times is a free weekly Miami Florida newspaper put out every Thursday The Center for Constitutional Rights ( CCR) is a non-profit legal advocacy organization based in New York City, New York, U S. documents, which they claim revealed that the U. S. government recognized the brutal nature of FRAPH but denied it in public. Describing the attitude of US government officials, CCR lawyer Michael Ratner said:

". Michael Ratner (born 1943 Cleveland Ohio) is an Attorney, adjunct professor of Law at Columbia University Law School and president of the . . they were talking out of both sides of their mouth. They were talking about restoring democracy to Haïti, but at the same time, they were undermining democracy in the coup period -- at times supporting a group that committed terrorist acts against the Haïtian people. " [7]

According to Ratner, U. S. suspicions of Aristide’s leftist populism prodded them to seek support from even the most brutal anti-Aristide elements. Observers such as Ratner, Nairn and Lisa McGowan have argued that covert assistance to antidemocratic forces such as FRAPH was used to pressure Ariside into abandoning his ambitious program for social reform and adopt harsh economic reforms when the U. S. returned him to power.

According to Bill O'Neil, consultant for the New York-based National Coalition for Haïtian Rights, though the CIA and the Pentagon encouraged FRAPH early on, "within a few weeks or a few months, [U. S. support] was largely jettisoned. " O'Neil, though, expressed concern that the U. S. 's reluctance to completely sever relations with FRAPH until 1995 (when Constant was arrested) may have allowed several high-profile figures to go into hiding. [8]

Although Aristide was indeed restored to the presidency through U. S. military intervention in 1994, he was again removed from the presidency, this time through U. S. military intervention in 2004. At this point, the death squads were quickly reconstituted and resumed their usual operations against the organizations of the poor majority.

Honduras

Honduras had death squads active through the 1980s, the most notorious of which was Battalion 316. Battalion 316 was a Honduran army unit responsible for carrying out hundreds of political Assassinations and widespread Torture of suspected political opponents Hundreds of people, teachers, politicians, and union bosses were assassinated by government-backed forces. Battalion 316 received substantial support and training from the United States Central Intelligence Agency. near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all ^[11]

Indonesia

Indonesia used death squads to rub out the PKI the Indonesian Communist Party in the 1960s. The use of death squads continued through the 1980s.

Iran

Under the reign of by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941-1979) the SAVAK security and intelligence service was founded. SAVAK ( Persian: ساواک short for سازمان اطلاعات و امنیت کشور Sazeman-e Ettela'at va Amniyat-e Keshvar, National Intelligence and Security During the 1960s and 70s it used death squads to kill thousands. After the Islamic Revolution overthrew the Shah, human rights groups continued to complain of human rights abuses in Iran. The Iranian Revolution' (mostly known as the Islamic Revolution, Persian: انقلاب اسلامی Enghelābe Eslāmi was the Revolution that transformed ^[12] Among them were "death squads" in the form of killings of civilians by government agents that were denied by the government. This was particularly the case during the 1990s when more than 80 writers, translators, poets, political activists, and ordinary citizens who had been critical of the government in some way, disappeared or were found murdered. The Chain murders of Iran (قتلهای زنجیره ای or 1998 Serial Murders of Iranian dissident intellectuals were a series of murders and disappearances of ^[13]

Further information: Chain Murders of Iran

Iraq

Iraq was formed by the British from three provinces of the Ottoman Empire following the empire's breakup after World War I. The Chain murders of Iran (قتلهای زنجیره ای or 1998 Serial Murders of Iranian dissident intellectuals were a series of murders and disappearances of For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Its population is overwhelming Muslims but divided into Shia and Sunni Arabs and with a substantial Kurdish minority in the north. The new state leadership in the capital of Baghdad was comprised mostly of the old Sunni Arab elite although this ethnic group was a minority. Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding

This leadership used death squads and committed massacres in Iraq throughout the 20th century, culminating in the dictatorship of Saddam Hussien. ^[14]

After Saddam was overthrown by the US invasion in 2003 the secular socialist Baathist leadership were replaced with a provisional and later constitutional government that included leadership roles for the Shia and Kurdish. Secularity ( adjective form secular) is the state of being separate from Religion. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution The Arab Socialist Ba'th Party (also spelled Baath or Ba'ath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي was founded in Damascus This paralleled the development of ethnic militias by the Shia, Sunni, and the Kurdish Peshmerga. Peshmerga, Peshmerga or Peshmerge ( Kurdish: pêşmerge) is the term used by Kurds to refer to armed Kurdish fighters

During the course of the Iraq War the country has increasingly become divided into three zones: a Kurdish ethnic zone to the north, a Sunni center and the Shia ethnic zone to the south. The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign

While all three groups have operated death squads, ^[15] in the national capital of Baghdad some members of the now Shia police department and army formed unofficial, unsanctioned, but long tolerated death squads. ^[16] They possibly have links to the Interior Ministry and are popularly known as the 'black crows'. These groups operated night or day. They usually arrested people, then either tortured^[17] or killed them. ^[18]

The victims of these attacks were predominantly young males who had probably been suspected of being members of the Sunni insurgency. An insurgency is a violent internal uprising against a sovereign government that lacks the organization of a revolution Agitators such as Abdul Razaq al-Na’as, Dr. Abdullateef al-Mayah, and Dr. Wissam Al-Hashimi have also been killed. Women and children have also been arrested and or killed. ^[19] Some of these killings have also been simple robberies or other criminal activities.

A feature in a May 2005 issue of the magazine of The New York Times accused the U. S. military of modelling the "Wolf Brigade", the Iraqi interior ministry police commandos, on the death squads used in the 1980s to crush the Marxist insurgency in El Salvador. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. El Salvador ( República de El Salvador,) is a country in Central America. ^[20]

Western news organizations such as Time and People disassembled this by focusing on the aspects such as probable militia membership, religious ethnicity, as well as uniforms worn by these squads rather than stating the United States backed Iraqi government had death squads active in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and People (full name People Weekly) is a weekly American Magazine of Celebrity and human interest stories, published The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary Citizens to provide defense emergency law enforcement or Paramilitary service The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ^[21]

Ireland

During the Irish War of Independence, Michael Collins mounted one of the most successful guerrilla campaigns in all of history. The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla Michael John ("Mick" Collins (Mícheál Seán Ó Coileáin 16 October 1890 &ndash 22 August 1922 was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Using a hand picked crew of gunmen who were dubbed "The Twelve Apostles," Collins assassinated carefully selected officials of the Royal Irish Constabulary, the Dublin Metropolitan Police and British Intelligence. The Squad also known as the Twelve Apostles, were an Irish Republican Army unit founded by Michael Collins to counter the British intelligence efforts during The Royal Irish Constabulary ( RIC) ( Irish: Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) was one of Ireland's two police forces in the early twentieth century The Dublin Metropolitan Police ( DMP) was the Police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925 when it amalgamated into the new Garda The Secret Intelligence Service ( SIS) colloquially known as MI6 is the United Kingdom 's external Intelligence agency. He referred to these tactics as "Selective Terrorism". Collins' men killed eighteen British agents on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday was a day of violence on 21 November 1920 in Dublin, during the Irish War of Independence ( 1919 - 1921) The hostilities ended in 1921 when the British Government negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which guaranteed the independence of the Irish Free State. The Anglo-Irish Treaty (An Conradh Angla-Éireannach officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a Treaty The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by

Ivory Coast

Death squads are active in this country. ^[22]

This has been condemned by the US^[23] but appears to be difficult to stop. ^[24]

Japan

During the Second World War, the Imperial Japanese Army also employed death squads to scare remainder populations under their occupation into submission. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Imperial Japanese Army ( IJA) ( Kyūjitai: 大日本帝國陸軍 Shinjitai: ja 大日本帝国陸軍 Romaji: Dai-Nippon Teikoku They are known as "Kempeitai".

South Korea

Any news reports of the use of death squads in Korea originates around the middle of the 20th century such as the Jeju Massacre^[25] and Taejon. The Jeju Uprising ( Korean: 제주 4·3 민중항쟁 Hanja: 濟州 4·3 民衆抗爭 refers to the rebellion on Jeju island, South Korea, beginning ^[26] There were also the multiple deaths that made the news 1980 in Gwangju. Gwangju Metropolitan City is the sixth largest city in South Korea. ^[27]

Lebanon

Death squads were active during the civil war from 1975 to 1990. The number of the disappeared is put around 17,000. ^[28][29]

Mexico

In 1968 the Mexican Army killed hundreds of people in the Tlatelolco massacre. The Tlatelolco Massacre, also known as The Night of Tlatelolco (from a book title by the Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska) took place on the afternoon and night of Through the 1970s and 1980s death squads were used against students, leftists, and activists. One of these squads was the Brigada Blanca. In 1997 about forty-five people were killed by a death squad in Chenalho. ^[30]

In the state of Chihuahua more than four hundred women have been 'disappeared' since 1994. ^[31] While a few perpetrators have been found, the majority of the members of the organization committing these 'disappearances' has remained underground. The disappearances continue as of 2007.

Nicaragua

Death squads were active in this country throughout the 1970s and '80s.

During the 1980s, the Anti-Communist Contra guerrillas in Nicaragua were described as death squads. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Anti-communism refers to opposition to Communism. Historically the word "communism" has been used to refer to several types of communal social organization and The Contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua 's FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional Sandinista Junta of National Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc Nicaragua (ˌnɪkəˈrɑgwə officially the Republic of Nicaragua () is a representative democratic republic and the largest nation in Central America ^[32][33][34] The Contras were considered terrorists by the Sandinista government, which alleged that their attacks targeted civilians. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional) is a socialist Nicaraguan Political party. The Contras, who received money, training, and arms from the Argentine junta and then the American CIA, mounted raids which targeted northern Nicaragua, destroying military bases, bridges, schools, clinics and airstrips. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. A military junta is a government ruled by a committee of military leaders near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all They also attempted to weaken and disrupt the Nicaraguan government by frequently kidnapping and assassinating civilians. A CIA training manual instructed the Contras, under the heading "Selective Use of Violence", to "neutralise carefully selected and planned targets such as court judges, police or state security officials, etc. "^[35]

Panama

In the 70s and 80s during the dictatorships of Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega, paramilitary forces associated with the Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) were commonly used to carry out incarcerations, torture, disappearances and murder of civilians and political adversaries. Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera ( February 13, 1929 – August 1, 1981) was the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard Manuel Antonio Noriega (born February 11, 1934) He was never officially the President of Panama, but held the post of "chief executive officer" Many of those who were arrested or kidnapped were taken to Coiba Penal Island, where they were incarcerated under extreme conditions, severely tortured and in many occasions, murdered. Coiba is the largest island in Central America, off the Pacific coast of the Panamanian province of Veraguas.

Torrijos was extremely intolerant of political opposition and many of his opponents were killed or "disappeared" under confusing circumstances. Two such well-publicized incidents are the 1971 disappearance and murder of populist Catholic priest Héctor Gallego, and the kidnapping of leftist Floyd Britton. Like many other political prisoners and "enemies" of his regime, Britton was seize by a paramilitary death squad unit, taken to Coiba and beaten to death. His remains have never been found.

Death squads were active in the Panamanian province of Chiriquí, specially in a place near the Costa Rican border called "Quijada del Diablo". Massacres of guerrillas and political opponents took place during the 70s. To this day, many mass graves are still found in this region.

It was also very common for kidnapped opponents to be flown in a helicopter over the Pacific Ocean, where they were shot and pushed into the water. [1]

Hugo Spadafora, a vocal critic of Noriega who had been living abroad, accused Noriega of having connections to drug trafficking and announced his intent to return to Panama to oppose him. He was seized from a bus by a death squad at the Costa Rican border. Later, his decapitated body was found, showing signs of extreme torture, wrapped in a U. S. Postal Service mailing bag. His family and other groups called for an investigation into his murder, but Noriega stonewalled any attempts at an investigation. Noriega was in Paris at the time the murder took place, alleged by some to have been at the direction of his Chiriquí Province commander, Luis Córdoba.

Díaz Herrera, a former member of Noriega's inner circle, told Panama's main opposition newspaper, La Prensa, that Noriega was behind Spadafora's murder, many other killings and disappearances as well. This resulted in an immediate outcry from the public and the formation of the "Civic Crusade". Many rallies against Noriega were held, with the use of white cloths as the symbol of the opposition. Noriega was always one step ahead of them however, having informants within their groups notify his police in advance and routinely rounded up leaders and organizers the night before rallies. All rallies were brutally dispersed by Noriega's army and armed paramilitary forces dressed as civilians known as the Dignity Battalions. The Dignity Battalions were Paramilitary combatants under the Manuel Noriega Regime in Panama in the 1980s to suppress dissent and terrorize the opposition Many civilians and opponents were severely beaten with metal pipes and sticks, incarcerated, and killed in the streets during this manifestations.

The Dignity Battalions were a paramilitary death squad under the Manuel Noriega Regime in Panama in the 1980s known for suppressing dissent and terrorizing the opposition. A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force but which are not regarded as having the same status Manuel Antonio Noriega (born February 11, 1934) He was never officially the President of Panama, but held the post of "chief executive officer" Panama, officially the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá) is the southernmost country of Central America. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. They carried out arrests, torture and murder of political opponents. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally The squad was disbanded after the U.S. invasion in 1989. The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, was the Invasion of Panama by the United States in December 1989 Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar)

The leader of the battalions, appointed by Noriega, was Benjamin Colamarco, current Minister of Public Works (2006) under President Martín Torrijos' administration.

Peru

During the internal conflict in Peru, several death squads operated in the country. It has been estimated that nearly 70000 people died in the internal conflict in Peru that started in 1980 and although still ongoing had greatly wound down by 2000 Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. These included the state-sponsored Rodrigo Franco Command and Grupo Colina, the latter responsible for a number of assassinations and massacres including the Barrios Altos, La Cantuta, and Santa massacres. The Rodrigo Franco Command was a Paramilitary organization that acted as a Death squad in Peru from 1985 to 1990. Grupo Colina was a paramilitary Death squad created in Peru that was active from 1990 until 1994 during the administration of Alberto Fujimori. The Barrios Altos massacre took place on 3 November, 1991, in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima, Peru. The La Cantuta massacre, in which a university professor and nine students from Lima 's La Cantuta University were abducted and " Disappeared quot by The Santa Massacre was a massacre of Campesinos carried out by Grupo Colina in the Santa Province of the Ancash Region of Peru Shining Path, the Maoist subversive organization, also had special groups to carry out "selective annihilations" of both military and civilian targets. The Communist Party of Peru (Spanish Partido Comunista del Perú) more commonly known as the Shining Path ( Sendero Luminoso) is a Maoist Maoism, variably and officially known as Mao Zedong Thought ( is a variant of Marxism derived from the teachings of the late Chinese leader

Philippines

New People's Army groups known as "Sparrow Units" were active in the mid-1980s, killing government officials, police personnel, military members, and anyone targeted for elimination. The New People's Army ( NPA) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. They were also supposedly part of an NPA operation called "Agaw Armas"(Filipino for "Stealing Weapons"), where they raided government armories as well as stealing weapons from slain military and police personnel.

Also see Davao death squads‎

Russia

During the Bolshevik Revolution and the Russian Civil War, Vladimir Lenin used the Cheka to murder members of the House of Romanov, the Russian nobility, officers of the White Army, Russian Orthodox priests and laity, and officials of the Russian Provisional Government. The summary executions of victims in Davao by the Davao Death Squads is an ongoing problem The October Revolution (Октябрьская революция Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya) also known as the Soviet Revolution The Russian Civil War (1917–1923 was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed The Cheka ( ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия Chrezvychaynaya Komissiya,) was the first of a succession of Soviet State security The House of Romanov (Рома́нов rʌˈmanəf was the second and last imperial Dynasty of Russia, which ruled the country from 1613 to 1917 The Russian Nobility (Дворянство Dvoryanstvo) arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution The White movement (Beloie Dvijenie Белое движение whose military arm is known as the White Army (Belaia Armia Белая Армия or White Guard See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure The Russian Provisional Government was formed in Petrograd in 1917 after the February Revolution and the Abdication

During the late 1930s, the Soviet government under Joseph Stalin used death squads in the secret police force, the NKVD, to hunt down and kill suspected political opponents during the Great Purge. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat Great Purge (Большая чистка transliterated Bolshaya chistka) was a series of campaigns of Political repression and Persecution Mass graves from this era continue to be excavated by Memorial (society). "Memorial" ( Russian: Мемориал is an international historical and Civil rights society that operates in a number of post- USSR states

The most infamous action of Soviet death squads in the 20th century was the Katyn massacre of 1940. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Several thousand Polish Army officers were transferred by the NKVD from the GULAG and shot to death at Goat Hill and buried in mass graves inside the forests of Katyn. Polish Land Forces (Wojska Lądowe RP is a branch of Poland 's Armed Forces. The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. A mass grave is a grave containing multiple usually unidentified human corpses The transportation vehicles for this were given the nickname 'Black Ravens' by the local peasantry. ^[36] This phrase echoes other nicknames given to other death squads.

In addition, a large number of Anti-Communists in the West were also targeted for assassination. Anti-communism refers to opposition to Communism. Historically the word "communism" has been used to refer to several types of communal social organization and Two of the most notable victims were Lev Rebet and Stefan Bandera, Ukrainian nationalists who were assassinated by the KGB in Munich, West Germany. Lev Rebet (born 1912 in Striy, Ukraine, died in 1957 in Munich, Germany) Stepan Andriyovych Bandera (Степан Андрійович Бандера ( January 1 1909 &ndash October 15 1959) was a Ukrainian Ukrainians (Українці Ukrayintsi,) are an East Slavic Ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly— Citizens The term nationalism can refer to an Ideology, a sentiment, a form of Culture, or a Social movement that focuses on the Nation KGB ( Transliteration of "КГБ" is the Russian abbreviation of Committee for State Security ( Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( Both deaths remained unsolved until the 1961 defection of their murderer, Bohdan Stashynsky. Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In Politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another Bohdan Stashynsky (Bogdan Stashinsky (November 4 1931 Borshchovych Stashynsky is remembered as the KGB assassin of Ukrainian dissident professors Lev Rebet and

After the invasion of Afghanistan by the Russian military in the late 1970s and through the 1980s they continued to use death squads. The occasional massacre using rifles in a district here,^[37] the use of aerodynamic scatterable land mines (which appeared vaguely toy-like) to kill civilians in another. The use of this strategy to conquer Afghanistan was rendered ineffective through the influence and support of Western Intelligence services such as the ISI the Pakistani secret service, the French SDECE, MI6, and the American CIA. History After independence in 1947 two new intelligence agencies were created in Pakistan called the Intelligence Bureau (IB and Military Intelligence This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage ( External Documentation and Counter-Espionage Service, SDECE) was France 's external The Secret Intelligence Service ( SIS) colloquially known as MI6 is the United Kingdom 's external Intelligence agency. near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all

The Russian security apparatus continued to exist after the technical dissolution of the USSR in 1991. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

The corruption of the Soviet era caused Boris Yeltsin's privatization policies to be manipulated by corrupt Party officials, black marketeers, and the Russian Mafia. Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin () (1 February 1931 23 April 2007 was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999 Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of business from the Public sector (government to the Private sector (business Russian Mafia ( Русская мафия, Russkaya Mafiya) Red Mob ( Красная мафия Krasnaya Mafiya) or The resulting looting of State businesses and natural resources has created an oligarchy wherein politicians, banks, and corporate officials behaved more like drug barons than pillars of the community. Oligarchy' ( Greek, Oligarkhía) is a Form of government where Political power effectively rests with a small elite segment These conditions allowed criminal gangs to flourish during the 1990s. The new Russian elites are known to use death squads, and many gruesome murders of mobsters and high ranking politicians took place throughout the 1990s. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 More recently, however, they have become more subtle.

The FSB^[38] is as of 2006 the primary arm used by the authorities for wet work in non-war zones. The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation ( FSB) ( Russian: ФСБ Федера́льная слу́жба безопа́сности Federalnaya Wetwork or wet work is a Euphemism for Murder or Assassination, alluding to hands literally wet with blood ^{[39][40][41][42]} 'Disappearances' are not unknown in the capital Moscow. ^[43][44]

The Russian military continued to use death squads in war zones^[45][46][47] however after the cessation of official hostilities there were be less reports of their activities. ^[48][49]

Rwanda

The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 was carried out by numerous death squads called the "Interahamwe" (see History of Rwanda). The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda 's minority Tutsis and the moderates of its Hutu majority The Interahamwe ( Kinyarwanda meaning "those who stand together" or "those who work together" or "those who fight together" or "those who attack This article discusses the History of Rwanda. Early history See also Origins of Tutsi and Hutu The earliest inhabitants of the region Members of these killing squads hunted down Tutsis and moderate Hutus in many towns and villages. The Tutsi are one of three native Peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa The There were less Tutsis death squads in operation around their single stronghold during this event. The Tutsi are one of three native Peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa The "Interahamwe" typically chopped up their victims with machetes or shot them at close range. Many of these weapons were of French manufacture. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

The Rwandan Hutu armed forces often helped in these massacres, which killed from 650,000 to 800,000 before the Rwandese Patriotic Front took over the country in July of that year. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (also translated as Rwandese Patriotic Front; or referred to as Patriotic Front of Rwanda) abbreviated as RPF (also often The Rwandese Patriotic Front appeared to have stopped a genocide but they are not without guilt as well. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (also translated as Rwandese Patriotic Front; or referred to as Patriotic Front of Rwanda) abbreviated as RPF (also often In the following years many murderers were imprisoned but the sheer number of perpetrators prevented any fair judicial proceedings from taking place. In most cases most of the perpetrators were only imprisoned for a time or simply allowed their freedom under the principles of 'truth and reconciliation'.

South Africa

Death squads were also used by the preceding Apartheid governments against Black Africans. Agents of these groups were known as 'Vultures'. During the 1980s, the South African Bureau of State Security also possessed very close ties to the Loyalist death squads in Northern Ireland, supplying them with a large number of clandestine arms shipments (see Ulster Defence Association, Ulster Volunteer Force). The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The South African Bureau of State Security (BOSS was established in 1969 and replaced by the National Intelligence Service (NIS in 1980 Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of The Ulster Defence Association ( UDA) is a loyalist Paramilitary criminal organization in Northern Ireland, outlawed as a Terrorist The Ulster Volunteer Force (more commonly referred to as the UVF) is a Loyalist group in Northern Ireland.

Spain

Prior to World War II, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union fought a war by proxy during the Spanish Civil War. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of There were death squads used by both the Falangists and Loyalists during this conflict. This article is about the Spanish political party For the Lebanese Phalange see the Kataeb Party. Prominent victims of the era's death squad violence include the poet Federico Garcia Lorca and journalist Ramiro Ledesma Ramos. A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" Federico García Lorca' ( 5 June 1898 &ndash 19 August 1936) was a Spanish Poet and dramatist also remembered as Ramiro Ledesma Ramos ( May 23 1905, Alfaraz de Sayago, Zamora &mdash October 29 1936, Aravaca, Madrid

The Loyalist death squads were heavily staffed by members of Stalin's OGPU and targeted members of the Catholic clergy and the Spanish nobility for assassination (see Red Terror (Spain)). Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party The State Political Directorate was the Secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( RSFSR) and the Soviet Union from 1922 until Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". The Spanish nobility are the persons who possess the legal status of Nobility, and the system of Titles and honours of Spain and of the former kingdoms that The Red Terror in Spain is the name given to various acts committed by Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s including The ranks of the Loyalist secret police included Erich Mielke, the future head of the East German Ministry of State Security. Erich Fritz Emil Mielke ( December 28, 1907 - May 21, 2000 in Berlin) was a German Communist who held the military The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state For the regular police in East Germany see Volkspolizei. The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit ( Ministry for State Security

In the modern era, G. A. L. (Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación) terrorist group were death squads illegally set up by officials within the Spanish government to fight ETA. Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL Antiterrorist Liberation Groups were Death squads illegally set up by officials of the Spanish government to fight eu '''Euskadi Ta Askatasuna''' or ETA ( Basque for "Basque Homeland and Freedom" ˈɛːta is an illegal armed Basque nationalist Separatist They were active from 1983 until 1987, under PSOE's cabinets. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, commonly abbreviated by its Spanish initials PSOE ( P artido S ocialista O brero E spañol is

Thailand

See also: Extra-judicial killing#Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra#Anti-drug policies, and Policies of the Thaksin government#Anti-drug policies

During the 1970s, the Krathin Daeng or Red Guard was one of the more well known death squads active in this country. For extrajudicial executions see also Assassination Extra-judicial killings are the illegal killing of leading political trades union dissidents (ทักษิณ ชินวัตร IPA tɕʰinnawát Chinese: 丘[[wikt 達|達]] 新, Qiū Dáxīn nicknamed by the media as แม้ว As Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra initiated many distinctive policies affecting the economy public health education energy drugs and international relations This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The Red Gaurs ( Thai: กระทิงแดง Krathing Daeng) was a Paramilitary anti-leftist organization active in Thailand during the Assassination of political and economic opponents took place including massacres.

Uruguay

The DII has been used as a cover by death squads in this country since the late 1970s. The Dii (also Dioi) were an independent Thracian tribe Swordsmen, who lived among the foothills of Mount Rhodope in Thrace

United Kingdom

During the Hundred Years War, the English occasionally ordered the assassinations of French knights and military commanders who were seen as a threat. The Hundred Years' War (Guerre de Cent Ans was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne vacant with the extinction of the senior This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Welsh soldier of fortune Owain Lawgoch remains one of their most famous victims. The Welsh people ( Welsh: Cymro ("Welshman" Cymraes ("Welsh woman" Cymry ("Welshmen/women" Cymry A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by Owain Lawgoch, (English "Owain of the Red Hand" French "Yvain de Galles" full name Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri (c

During the Irish war of independence in 1919-21, the British government organised several secret assassination squads composed of drunken and trigger happy veterans of the First World War. The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All These were dubbed the "Black and Tans" and the Auxiliary Division. The term Black and Tans (Dúchrónaigh refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force ( Fórsa Chúltaca Chonstáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) which was one of The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a Paramilitary organization In 1920 alone, British security forces murdered Tomás Mac Curtain, the Lord Mayor of Cork, as well as his counterpart in Limerick. Tomás Mac Curtain ( March 20, 1884 - March 20, 1920) was a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland. The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city with special recognition Cork (Corcaigh is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland 's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast Limerick (pronounced /ˈlɪmrɪk/ Luimneach in Irish) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the Province of Munster In Limerick, the replacement mayor was also murdered, while in Cork, the new mayor, Terence McSwiney, died after a 74 day hunger strike. Terence Joseph MacSwiney (məkˈswiːni Tordhealbhach Mac Suibhne (20 March 1879 – 25 October 1920 was born in Cork City, County Cork Ireland.

During the 30 years of the The Troubles in Northern Ireland, both the Provisional Irish Republican Army and Loyalist paramilitary groups organised assassination squads.

Members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British Intelligence have been accused of secretly colluding with Loyalist death squads. The Royal Ulster Constabulary GC was the name of the Police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001 Notable cases include Brian Nelson, an Ulster Defence Association member and British Intelligence officer who was convicted of several sectarian murders. The Ulster Defence Association ( UDA) is a loyalist Paramilitary criminal organization in Northern Ireland, outlawed as a Terrorist

United States of America

After the American Civil War the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan carried out 'lynchings' of African-Americans. Ku Klux Klan ( KKK) is the name of several past and present secret domestic terrorist organizations in the United States, generally in the southern states that are Lynching is an Extrajudicial punishment meted out by a mob Lynching an enumerated Felony in some states in the United States, is defined by some This was often with the unofficial support of some local and state level leaders in the American south. In the introduction to "Death Squads in Global Perspective: Murder With Deniability," author Bruce B. Campbell describes the KKK as "one of the first proto-death squads," which "conducted death-squad-like killings and other terrorist acts against recently freed black slaves, “carpetbaggers,” and those thought to collaborate too closely with the agents of the victorious federal government engaged in “reconstructing” the recently rebellious South. In United States history carpetbaggers was the term southerners gave to northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction, between 1865 and 1877 " Campbell notes the difference with modern death-squads was that the Ku Klux Klan was associated with elements of a defeated state rather than the ruling governmental entity. "Otherwise, in its murderous intent, links to private elite interests, and covert nature, it very closely resembles modern death squads. ” ^[50]

The US has been accused of being responsible for training and setting up Death Squads in South and Central American countries. [3]. The School of the Americas, run by the US Army in Georgia has been accused by the UN of having trained "500 of the worst human rights abusers in the hemisphere"^[51] The CIA was accused of making extensive use of death squads in the Phoenix Program during the Vietnam War. The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation ( WHISC or WHINSEC) formerly the School of the Americas ( SOA; Spanish: The Phoenix Program ( Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Phượng Hoàng, a word related to Fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) was a military It is estimated that 19,000 alleged Viet Cong were killed during this program. ^[52]

Yugoslavia

In the late 1990s, the alleged use of paramilitary death squads by Serb forces and President Slobodan Milošević against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo was cited by the Clinton administration as part of its rationale for its bombing campaign against Serbia. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country The President of Serbia is the Head of state of the Republic of Serbia. This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. However the use of death squads by all sides in this conflict did take place. Only token highly placed perpetrators have ever been charged, and of all of the national leaders suspected of involvement, only Slobodan Milošević has ever been brought to trial.

Venezuela

In its 2003 and 2002 world reports, Human Rights Watch reported the existence of death squads in several Venezuelan states, involving members of the local police, the DISIP and the National Guard. Human Rights Watch is a United States -based international Non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on Human rights. These groups were responsible for the extrajudicial killings of civilians and wanted or alleged criminals, including street criminals, looters and drug users. ^[53][54]

Vietnam

During the 1960s throughout the 1970s the United States and South Vietnamese governments used kidnapping, assassination, and infiltration tactics against the Marxist Viet Cong cadre as well as suspected Communist supporters in neighbouring countries, notably Cambodia and Laos (See Phoenix Program). The United States of America —commonly referred to as the "RVN" redirects here RVN is also the former callsign of a TV station in Wagga Wagga New South Wales Australia Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based The Kingdom of Cambodia ( formerly known as Kampuchea (, transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East Laos (ˈlɑːoʊs or /ˈlaʊs/ officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a Landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma The Phoenix Program ( Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Phượng Hoàng, a word related to Fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) was a military

The Viet Cong and their North Vietnamese masters also used death squads of their own to murder thousands of village chiefs, in addition to South Vietnamese military officers, policemen, and civil servants, as well as civilians suspected of supporting the Saigon regime. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN or less commonly Vietnamese Democratic Republic (Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa was a Country on the northern half of Vietnam Father Nguyen Bửu Đồng, a Roman Catholic priest, remains one of their most famous victims. Father John-Baptiste Bửu Đồng ( Surname Nguyen) Buu Dong 's whole name is "Nguyễn Phước Bửu Đồng"

See also

• Star chamber
• Midnight Man

References

Further reading

• Haiti under the Gun, 1996 article by Allan Nairn, first published in The Nation
• CIA linked to FRAPH, coup — from Green Left Weekly
• CIA Support of Death Squads, by Ralph McGehee, ex-CIA

External links

• Haiti under the Gun, 1996 article by Allan Nairn, first published in The Nation
• CIA linked to FRAPH, coup — from Green Left Weekly
• CIA Support of Death Squads, by Ralph McGehee, ex-CIA

Main articles: Extrajudicial punishment, Extrajudicial killings, Summary execution, and Death squad

Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Allan Nairn (born 1956 is an award-winning US investigative journalist who became well-known when he was imprisoned by the Indonesian military while This article is about the US Publication. For other newspapers magazines and alternate uses by the same name see The Nation (disambiguation. Ralph Walter McGehee (born 1928 is an American former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Allan Nairn (born 1956 is an award-winning US investigative journalist who became well-known when he was imprisoned by the Indonesian military while This article is about the US Publication. For other newspapers magazines and alternate uses by the same name see The Nation (disambiguation. Ralph Walter McGehee (born 1928 is an American former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA Extrajudicial punishment is Punishment by the state or some other official authority without the permission of a Court or legal authority For extrajudicial executions see also Assassination Extra-judicial killings are the illegal killing of leading political trades union dissidents A summary execution is a type of Extrajudicial punishment in which a person is killed on the spot without Trial.

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic