Extrajudicial killing

<p>An extrajudicial killing (also known as an extrajudicial execution or an extralegal killing) is the deliberate <a href="/facts/Homicide/DshYlIoD">killing</a> of a person without the lawful authority granted by a <a href="/facts/Judiciary/CvMkSB6T">judicial proceeding</a>. It typically refers to government authorities, whether lawfully or unlawfully, targeting specific people for death, which in <a href="/facts/Authoritarian_regime/88Kfm2gU">authoritarian regimes</a> often involves political, <a href="/facts/Trade_union/PjeN2WKu">trade union</a>, dissident, religious and social figures. The term is typically used in situations that imply the <a href="/facts/Human_rights/WMW5XCdM">human rights</a> of the victims have been violated. Deaths <a href="/facts/Use_of_force/R0DLzkeE">caused by legal police actions</a> (such as self defense) or legal warfighting on a battlefield are generally not included, even though military and police forces are often used for killings seen by critics as illegitimate. The label "extrajudicial killing" has also been applied to organized, lethal enforcement of extralegal social norms by non-government actors, including <a href="/facts/Lynching/e23NmEsn">lynchings</a> and <a href="/facts/Honor_killing/Y34K3lHo">honor killings</a>.
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Extrajudicial killing open-in-new

Extrajudicial killing