List of assassinated human rights activists

This is a list of murdered political dissidents and human rights activists. The list is chronological.

Intended victims Year Date Title at the time Place Country Assassin(s)
Olympe de Gouges17933 November French playwright and political activist whose writings on women's rights and abolitionism brought her execution by guillotine Paris France Executioner
Elijah Parish Lovejoy18377 November American journalist, newspaper editor and abolitionist Alton, Illinois United States mob
Anthony Bewley 1860 13 September Reverend of Methodist Episcopal Church and abolitionist Fort Worth, Texas
Abraham Lincoln186515 April President of the U.S. and anti-slavery activist Washington, D.C. John Wilkes Booth
John W. Stephens187022 February American state senator who assisted freed slaves Yanceyville, North Carolina Ku Klux Klan
Francisco I. Madero191322 February President of Mexico Mexico City Mexico Victoriano Huerta
Song Jiaoren22 March Chinese republican leader of Kuomintang Shanghai China Wu Shiying
Jean Jaurès191431 July French Marxist anti-war activist Paris France Raoul Villain
John Chilembwe19153 February Malawian philosopher and educator Shire Highlands Nyasaland British colonial officers
Karl Liebknecht191915 January German revolutionary Berlin Germany Freikorps
Rosa Luxemburg Polish-German revolutionary
Leo Jogiches10 March German Marxist revolutionary
Emiliano Zapata10 April Mexican peasant leader Chinameca Mexico Jesús Guajardo
Charlemagne Péralte1 November Haitian nationalist leader Port-au-Prince Haiti U.S. Marines
Mustafa Suphi192128 January Turkish communist leader Black Sea Turkey Turkish agents
Michael Collins192222 August Irish independence leader Béal na Bláth Ireland Irish Civil War
Avni Rustemi192422 April Albanian teacher and activist Tirana Albania Jusuf Reçi
Giacomo Matteotti10 June Italian anti-fascist Rome Italy Blackshirts
Takiji Kobayashi193320 February Japanese author Tokyo Japan police
Augusto César Sandino193421 February Nicaraguan revolutionary Managua Nicaragua United States Marine Corps
Antonio Guiteras19358 May Cuban politician Matanzas Cuba Cuban government
Walter W. Liggett19359 December American journalist Minneapolis, Minnesota United States Blumenfeld
Abdul Rahman Shahbandar1940June Syrian nationalist Damascus Syria National Bloc members
Leon Trotsky21 August Soviet dissident Coyoacán, Mexico City Mexico Ramón Mercader
Marx Dormoy194126 July French socialist politician Montélimar France Comité secret d'action révolutionnaire
Carlo Tresca194311 January American newspaper editor New York City United States NKVD
Mahatma Gandhi194830 January Indian independence movement leader New Delhi India Nathuram Godse
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán9 April Mayor of Bogotá Bogotá Colombia El Bogotazo
Julien Lahaut195018 August Belgian Republican politician Seraing Belgium François Goossens
Leonardo Ruiz Pineda195221 October Venezuelan lawyer Caracas Venezuela police
Albert Patterson195418 June American attorney Phenix City, Alabama United States Sheriff Albert Fuller
George W. Lee19557 May American civil rights leader and minister Midnight, Mississippi Unidentified shooter
Lamar Smith13 August American civil rights leader, farmer, and veteran Brookhaven, Mississippi
Dr. Thomas Hency Brewer195618 February American co-founder of an NAACP chapter Columbus, Georgia Luico Flowers
Ali Boumendjel195723 March Algerian militant and lawyer El Biar France French Algeria Paul Aussaresses
Maurice Audin11 June Algerian student Algiers André Charbonnier
Ruben Um Nyobé195813 September Cameroonian anti-colonialist Boumnyébel Cameroon French army
Patrice Lumumba196117 January First Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and anti-colonial activist near Élisabethville Democratic Republic of the Congo Congolese coup leaders with Belgian and U.S. involvement
Salah Ben Youssef12 August Tunisian lawyer and politician Frankfurt West Germany Tunisian agents
Herbert Lee25 September American civil rights and voting rights activist Liberty, Mississippi United States E. H. Hurst
Mouloud Feraoun196215 March Algerian journalist and translator Algiers Algeria OAS
William Lewis Moore196323 April American protesting racial segregation Attalla, Alabama United States Unidentified/disputed shooter
Grigoris Lambrakis27 May Greek anti-war activist Thessaloniki Greece Emannouel Emannouilides and Spyros Gotzamanis
Medgar Evers12 June American civil rights activist Jackson, Mississippi United States Byron De La Beckwith
Louis Allen196431 January American voting rights activist Amite County, Mississippi Disputed
James Chaney21 June American civil rights activist Philadelphia, Mississippi Ku Klux Klan
Andrew Goodman
Michael Schwerner
Humberto Delgado196513 February Portuguese anti-fascist Olivenza Spain PIDE
Malcolm X21 February American human rights activist New York City United States members of the Nation of Islam
Pio Gama Pinto24 February Kenyan journalist Nairobi Kenya police
James Reeb11 March American minister and civil rights activist Alabama United States mob
Viola Liuzzo25 March American civil rights activist Selma, Alabama Ku Klux Klan
Jonathan Daniels20 August Hayneville, Alabama Tom Coleman
Mehdi Ben Barka29 October Moroccan revolutionary fighter and politician Paris France French intelligence agents
Sammy Younge Jr.19663 January American civil rights and voting rights activist Tuskegee, Alabama United States Marvin Segrest
Vernon Dahmer10 January Hattiesburg, Mississippi Ku Klux Klan
Osende Afana15 March Cameroonian economist Ndélélé Cameroon Cameroonian Armed Forces
Chit Phumisak5 May Thai Marxist historian Waritchaphum Thailand local villagers
Robert W. Spike17 October American civil rights activist Columbus, Ohio United States unknown
Wharlest Jackson196727 February American NAACP chapter treasurer Natchez, Mississippi
Benno Ohnesorg2 June German anti-war activist West Berlin West Germany Karl-Heinz Kurras
Che Guevara 9 October Argentine revolutionary La Higuera Bolivia CIA-assisted Bolivian forces
Martin Luther King Jr.19684 April American civil rights activist Memphis, Tennessee United States James Earl Ray
Robert F. Kennedy6 June U.S. presidential candidate Los Angeles, California Sirhan Bishara Sirhan
Tom Mboya19695 July Kenyan Cabinet Minister Nairobi Kenya Nahashon Isaac Njenga Njoroge
Fred Hampton4 December American civil rights activist Chicago, Illinois United States members of the Chicago Police Department
Krim Belkacem197018 October Algerian revolutionary fighter and politician Frankfurt West Germany unknown
Dhirendranath Datta197129 March East Pakistani lawyer Moynamoti Pakistan East Pakistan Pakistani Army
Maximiliano Gómez23 May Dominican Republic politician Dominican Republic orders of Joaquin Balaguer
Ghassan Kanafani19728 July Palestinian writer Beirut Lebanon Mossad
Outel Bono197326 August Chadian medical doctor and politician Paris France French secret service and Chadian Government
Amílcar Cabral20 January Guinea-Bissauan and Cape Verdean intellectual, poet, theoretician, and revolutionary Conakry Guinea Portuguese intelligence agents
Víctor Jara16 September Chilean teacher and theater director Santiago Chile Pedro Barrientos
José Tohá197415 March Chilean journalist Santiago Chile military
Carlos Mugica11 May Argentine Roman Catholic priest and activist Villa Luro Argentina Rodolfo Almirón
Silvio Frondizi27 September Argentine intellectual and lawyer Buenos Aires Argentine Anticommunist Alliance
Josiah Mwangi Kariuki19752 March Kenyan socialist politician Nairobi Kenya Kenyan police
Herbert Chitepo18 March Rhodesian ZANU-activist Lusaka Zambia Rhodesian Security Forces
Roque Dalton10 May Salvadoran poet, essayist, journalist, political activist, and intellectual San Salvador El Salvador People's Revolutionary Army
Omar Benjelloun18 December Moroccan journalist and trade union activist Casablanca Morocco Chabiba islamia
Boonsanong Punyodyana197628 February Thai socialist politician Bangkok Thailand unknown
Enrique Angelelli4 August Bishop of La Rioja Sañogasta Argentina Argentinian military
Orlando Letelier21 September Chilean economist, ex-ambassador Washington, DC United States Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional
Janani Luwum197717 February Ugandan archbishop Kampala Uganda Idi Amin regime
Rutilio Grande12 March Salvadoran priest Aguilares El Salvador mob
Shewalul Mengistu 26 May Ethiopian writer and political activist Addis Ababa Ethiopia Unknown
Bantu Stephen Biko12 September South African anti-apartheid activist Pretoria South Africa South African Police Forces
Mir Akbar Khyber197817 April Afghan intellectual and editor Kabul Afghanistan Unknown, Possibly Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami, Khalq Faction of PDPA or Babrak Karmal
Henri Curiel4 May Egyptian left-wing political activist Paris France OAS and Charles Martel Group
Georgi Markov11 September Bulgarian dissident London United Kingdom Bulgarian secret service
Harvey Milk27 November American LGBT human rights activist San Francisco, California United States Dan White
George R. Moscone Mayor of San Francisco
José Miguel Beñaran Ordeñana21 December Spanish Basque activist Anglet France car bomb
Allard K. Lowenstein198014 March American civil rights activist New York City United States Dennis Sweeney
Óscar Romero24 March Archbishop of San Salvador San Salvador El Salvador mob
Walter Rodney13 June Guyanese historian, political activist and scholar Georgetown Guyana unknown
Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz17 July Bolivian writer, dramatist, and journalist La Paz Bolivia Luis Garcia Meza
Enrique Álvarez Córdova27 November Salvadoran politician San Salvador El Salvador Brígada Anticomunista Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
John Lennon8 December British anti-war activist and ex-Beatle New York City United States Mark David Chapman
Pierre Declercq198119 September French New Caledonian politician Nouméa New Caledonia unknown
Anwar Sadat6 October President of Egypt and peace activist Cairo, Egypt Egypt Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Attati Mpakati198324 March Malawian dissident Harare Zimbabwe Malawian agents
Benigno Aquino Jr.21 August Filipino opposition leader Manila Philippines Filipino agents
Alan Berg19841 January American attorney and talk radio show host Denver, Colorado United States Silent Brotherhood
Henry Liu15 October Taiwanese writer and journalist Daly City, California United States Bamboo Union
Jerzy Popiełuszko19 October Polish Roman Catholic priest Włocławek Poland Polish Security Service
Éloi Machoro198512 January New Caledonian Kanak politician Canala New Caledonia French gendarme
Fort Calata27 June South African anti-apartheid activist Port Elizabeth South Africa South African Police Forces
Matthew Goniwe
Sicelo Mhlauli
Sparrow Mkhonto
Shahnawaz Bhutto18 July Pakistani democracy activist Nice France Zia ul-Haq regime
Hugo Spadafora13 September Panamanian activist La Concepción Panama Panamanian government
Murtaza Bhutto20 September Pakistani democracy activist Karachi Pakistan police
Gérard Hoarau29 November Seychellois politician London United Kingdom France-Albert René regime
Olof Palme198628 February Prime Minister of Sweden Stockholm Sweden
Peter Tosh198711 September Jamaican reggae musician and activist for Black liberation Kingston Jamaica Dennis "Leppo" Lobban
Jaime Pardo Leal11 October Colombian lawyer and union leader La Mesa Colombia Colombian mafia
Dulcie September198829 March South African anti-apartheid political activist Paris France South African agents
Chico Mendes22 December Brazilian trade unionist and environmentalist Xapuri Brazil Darci and Darly Alves da Silva, Jerdeir Pereira
Pat Finucane 1989 12 February Irish lawyer Belfast United Kingdom Ken Barrett
David Webster1 May South African anthropologist Troyeville South Africa South African Civil Cooperation Bureau
Jean-Marie Tjibaou4 May New Caledonian Kanak politician Ouvéa New Caledonia Djubelly Wéa
Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou13 July Head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan Vienna Austria Iranian agents
Luis Carlos Galán18 August Colombian journalist Bogotá Colombia Colombian mafia
Anton Lubowski12 September Namibian anti-apartheid activist Windhoek Namibia South African Civil Cooperation Bureau
Segundo Montes16 November Salvadoran priest San Salvador El Salvador Salvadoran army
Ignacio Ellacuría Salvadoran philosopher and theologian
Richard de Zoysa199018 February Sri Lankan journalist and actor Rajagiriya Sri Lanka Sri Lanka-linked death squad
Farag Foda19929 June Egyptian professor Heliopolis Egypt Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Marsha P. Johnson4 July Gay liberation and AIDS activist New York City United States Unknown (described by witnesses as a "group of thugs")
Tavio Amorin29 July Togolese politician Lomé Togo police
Tahar Djaout199326 May Algerian journalist and poet Algiers Algeria Armed Islamic Group
Chris Hani10 April South African Anti-apartheid activist Boksburg South Africa Janusz Waluś
Jorge Carpio Nicolle3 July Guatemalan newspaper publisher Chichicastenango Guatemala mob
Melchior Ndadaye21 October Burundian intellectual and politician Bujumbura Burundi Burundi Army
Cheb Hasni199429 September Algerian musician Oran Algeria Armed Islamic Group
Johan Heyns5 November South African Anti-apartheid activist Pretoria South Africa White South African extremists
Iqbal Masih199516 April Pakistani child activist Muridke Pakistan Carpet Mafia
Jaswant Singh Khalra6 September Indian human rights activist Jhabal India Kanwar Pal Singh Gill
Yitzhak Rabin4 November Prime Minister of Israel and peace activist Tel Aviv, Israel Israel Yigal Amir
Kudirat Abiola19969 June spouse of Nigerian presidential candidate Moshood Abiola Lagos Nigeria team of six men
Abdelhak Benhamouda199728 January Algerian trade unionist Algiers Algeria unknown
Bishop Juan José Gerardi199826 April Guatemalan Roman Catholic bishop San Sebastian Church Guatemala Guatemalan military personnels
Larisa Yudina8 June Russian journalist Elista Russia unknown
Lounès Matoub25 June Algerian musician Beni Aïssi Algeria police
Azem Hajdari12 September Albanian anti-communists Tirana Albania Fatmir Haklaj, Jaho Mulosmani, and Naim Cangu
Sanjaasürengiyn Zorig2 October Mongolian activist Ulaanbaatar Mongolia unknown
Galina Starovoytova20 November Russian dissident St Petersburg Russia Russian state security service
Norbert Zongo13 December Burkinabé publisher Sapouy Burkina Faso Burkinabé agents
Jaime Hurtado199917 February Ecuadorian politician Quito Ecuador Christian Steven Ponce
Jean Dominique20003 April Haitian journalist Port-au-Prince Haiti unknown
Carlos Cardoso22 November Mozambican journalist Maputo Mozambique Nyimpine Chissano and Aníbal dos Santos
Filemon Lagman20016 February Filipino workers' leader Quezon City Philippines unknown
Phoolan Devi25 July Indian activist New Delhi India Sher Singh Rana
Pim Fortuyn20026 May Dutch politician and LGBT human rights activist Hilversum, Netherlands Netherlands Volkert van der Graaf
Jarallah Omar28 December Yemeni politician, intellectual Sana'a Yemen Ali Ahmad al-Jarallah
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev200413 February Chechen exiled separatist writer Doha Qatar FSB agents
Brian Williamson5 June Jamaican LGBT+ rights activist Kingston  Jamaica Dwight Hayden
Munir Said Thalib7 September Indonesian human rights activist Schiphol Netherlands Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto
FannyAnn Eddy28 September LGBT rights activist Freetown  Sierra Leone Unknown
Deyda Hydara16 December Gambian newspaper reporter Banjul Gambia Yahya Jammeh regime
Elmar Hüseynov20052 March Azerbaijani journalist Baku Azerbaijan Azerbaijani regime
Dorothy Stang15 March Brazilian-American missionary Anapu Brazil Clodoaldo Carlos Batista and Raifran das Neves Sales
Filiberto Ojeda Ríos23 September Puerto Rican independence activist Hormigueros Puerto Rico FBI
Anna Politkovskaya20067 October Russian journalist Moscow Russia three Chechen men
Aleksandr Litvinenko23 November Russian dissident London United Kingdom FSB agents
Hrant Dink200719 January Turkish-Armenian editor, journalist and columnist Istanbul Turkey Ogün Samast
Gabriel Mkhumane20081 April Swazi opposition leader Nelspruit South Africa Swaziland government agents
Tonderai Ndira 13–22 May Zimbabwean political dissident Harare Zimbabwe Zimbabwean agents
Natalya Estemirova200915 July Russian human rights activist Ingushetia Russia unknown
David Kato201127 January Gay rights activist and teacher Mukono Town  Uganda Sidney Nsubuga Enoch
Raymond Taavel201217 April LGBT rights activist Halifax  Canada Andre Noel Denny
Sakine Cansız20139 January Turkish Kurdish women's rights activist Paris France Turkish agents
Chokri Belaïd6 February Tunisian lawyer El Menzah Tunisia Kamel Gaghgadhi
Nkululeko Gwala26 June Activist and leader of shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo Durban South Africa Hitmen linked to African National Congress [1]
Nqobile Nzuza30 September Member of shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo Police Officer [2]
Thuli Ndlovu201429 September Activist and leader of shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo Hitmen linked to African National Congress [3]
Avijit Roy201526 February Bangladeshi online activist Dhaka Bangladesh Ansarullah Bangla Team
Boris Nemtsov27 February Russian political activist Moscow Russia two Chechen men
Diana Sacayán13 October Argentinian transgender rights activist Buenos Aires Argentina Argentina Gabriel David Marino
Berta Cáceres20163 March Honduran environmental activist, indigenous leader La Esperanza Honduras employees of DESA
Xulhaz Mannan25 April Bangladeshi LGBT rights activist Dhaka Bangladesh Ansar-al-Islam, an Al-Qaida affiliate
Marielle Franco201814 March Brazilian politician, feminist, and human rights activist Rio de Janeiro Brazil the Brazilian Government, allegedly
Arman Loni20192 February Pashtun civil rights activist Balochistan  Pakistan Pakistani Police[4]
Esther Mwikali August Kenyan land rights activist Murang’a County Kenya Unknown
Marc Angelucci202011 July US Men's Rights Activist and Attorney California US Roy Den Hollander [5]
Ayanda Ngila20228 March Activist and leader of shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo and the eKhenana Commune Durban South Africa Hitmen linked to African National Congress [6][7][8][9][10]
Nokuthula Mabaso5 May
Lindokuhle Mnguni20 August

References

  1. ↑ "KZN protest leader shot 12 times". DailyNews. 27 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ↑ "Nqobile Nzuza, a 17 Year Old School Girl, Shot Dead with Live Ammunition by the Cato Manor SAPS". abahlali.org. 30 September 2013.
  3. ↑ "Another Abahlali baseMjondolo member assassinated". DailyNews. 1 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Pakistan rights group to protest killing of activist". Aljazeera. 4 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Slaying of men's rights activist in California linked to suspected shooter of federal judge's family, FBI confirms". The Mercury News. 2 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "The murder of Abahlali's Ayanda Ngila is an injury to us all". Daily Maverick. 15 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "Killing of land rights defender Ayanda Ngila and targeting of Abahlali baseMjondolo". 25 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "Abahlali leader describes how Nokuthula Mabaso was shot 4 times in back, then in breast and stomach". Daily Maverick. 12 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "Killing of woman human rights defender Nokuthula Mabasoo". 7 June 2022.
  10. ↑ "Lindokuhle Mnguni, the chairperson of the eKhenana Commune and an inspirational leader in our movement". Facebook. 20 August 2022. Lindokuhle Mnguni, the chairperson of the eKhenana Commune and an inspirational leader in our movement, has been shot dead at the Commune in Cato Manor, eThekwini. Two men opened fire several times to his home at 1:30 am this morning. Our Hearts are Heavy, we are mourning another loss of a great leader. He is the third leader of the Commune to be assassinated this year. We lost Nokuthula Mabaso on 5 May and Ayanda Ngila on 8 March.
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