“If we speak up, we get shot down”: Building resilience in Glebelands Hostel
Between March 2014 and January 2019, more than 120 people died as a result of violence perpetrated by hitmen based at Glebelands Hostel, an ANC...
Assassinations Watch
Political assassinations, targeted ‘hits’ and contract killings are both a service of organised crime, and a means by which the underworld settles disputes and leaves its mark in legitimate society. Assassinations are rising in a number of key localities, where they used to influence politics, distort the economy, and instil fear to mark criminal control. Assassinations Watch is a project of the Global Initiative to monitor changing trends in extortions, and to chart its impact in communities, on governance and the state.
Please see our South African focus flagship initiative, Assassinations Witness ZA, a partnership with the Open Society Foundation and the Institute for Safety Governance at the University of Cape Town.
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Publications
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Analyzing trends in targeted killings in Nigeria
This report analyzes the dynamics of targeted killings in the country using a specially designed dataset over the period 2000 to 2017. The report...
The rule of the gun: Hits and assassinations in South Africa, 2000-2017
Summary This report presents an analysis of data on hits (contract killings) carried out in South Africa. The data has been compiled as part of the...
Blog
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Not killed on their home turf
Organized-crime groups deploy assassinations in general, and hits in particular, as a mechanism by which to achieve their political, economic,...
Freedom of press threatened by organized crime in Western Balkans
On 30 August, in the early hours of the morning, Albanian journalist Klodiana Lala was targeted by gunmen while she was in her father’s home in...
Mexico election
Mexico’s presidential election opens a new chapter in democracy and security against a backdrop of pervasive violence. Mexicans have voted to...
Video
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Hitmen for Hire: Exposing South Africa’s Underworld (video)
Contract killing and targeted “hits” in South Africa have become widespread and deeply embedded into parts of the country’s history of systemic...
Held to Ransom: An overview of Mozambique’s kidnapping crisis
A silver Mercedes-Benz pulls into the driveway of a luxury beachfront home on Maputo’s Avenida Marginal. As an electronic security gate begins to...
People
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Hitmen for Hire: Exposing South Africa’s Underworld (video)
Contract killing and targeted “hits” in South Africa have become widespread and deeply embedded into parts of the country’s history of systemic...
Repository
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An Analysis of Mayoral Assassinations in Mexico, 2000-17
In recent years, Mexico has seen elevated violence years, with roughly 300,000 people murdered since 2000 and over 28,000 registered homicides in...