Убийство — это умышленное убийство путем внезапного, тайного или запланированного нападения на человека, особенно если он выдающийся или важный . [1] [2] Это может быть вызвано недовольством , известностью , финансовыми, военными, политическими или другими мотивами . Часто правительства и преступные группировки заказывают убийства их сообщникам. Акты убийств совершались с древних времен . Человека, совершившего убийство, называют убийцей или киллером .
Ассасин происходит от итальянского и французского слова Assissini, которое, как полагают, происходит от слова хашшашин ( арабский : حشّاشين , латинизированный : ḥaššāšīyīn ), [4] и имеет общие этимологические корни с гашишем ( / h æ ˈ ʃ iː ʃ / или / ˈ h æ ʃ iː ʃ / от حشيش хашиш ). [5] [6] Речь шла о группе низаритских исмаилитов, известной как Орден Ассасинов , которая действовала против различных политических целей.
Основанные Хасаном-и Саббахом , ассасины действовали на Ближнем Востоке с 11 по 13 века. Группа убила членов элиты Аббасидов , Сельджуков , Фатимидов и христианских крестоносцев по политическим и религиозным причинам. [7]
Хотя широко распространено мнение, что члены Ордена Ассасинов находились под воздействием гашиша во время своих убийств или во время идеологической обработки, ведутся споры о том, имеют ли эти утверждения обоснованность, поскольку многие восточные писатели и все большее число западных ученых приходят к считают, что употребление наркотиков не было ключевой особенностью этого названия. [8]
Термин «assassinare» (убийца) использовался в средневековой латыни с середины 13 века. [5]
Самое раннее известное использование глагола «убивать» в печатном английском языке было у Мэтью Сатклиффа в «Кратком ответе на определенную одиозную и клеветническую клевету, недавно опубликованную мятежным иезуитом» , брошюре, напечатанной в 1600 году, за пять лет до того, как он был использован в Макбет Уильяма Шекспира (1605 г.). [9] [10]
Убийство является одним из старейших инструментов силовой политики . Это восходит, по крайней мере, к письменной истории.
Египетский фараон Тети из Шестой династии Древнего царства (23 век до н.э.) считается самой ранней известной жертвой убийства, хотя письменные записи скудны, и поэтому доказательства являются косвенными. Еще два древнеегипетских монарха, как сообщается, были убиты; Сообщается , что Аменемхет I из Двенадцатой династии Среднего царства (20 век до н.э.) был убит в своей постели дворцовыми стражами по неизвестным причинам (как описано в Инструкциях Аменемхета ); Между тем, современные судебные протоколы связаны с убийством монарха Двадцатой династии Нового царства Рамсеса III в 1155 году до нашей эры в результате неудавшейся попытки государственного переворота . Между 550 и 330 годами до нашей эры семь персидских царей династии Ахеменидов были убиты. В китайском военном трактате V века до нашей эры «Искусство войны» упоминается тактика убийств и ее достоинства. [11]
В Ветхом Завете иудейский царь Иоас был убит своими слугами; [12] Иоав убил Авессалома , сына царя Давида ; [13] Ассирийский царь Сеннахирим был убит своими сыновьями; [14] и Иаиль убила Сисару . [15]
Чанакья ( ок. 350–283 до н.э.) подробно писал об убийствах в своем политическом трактате «Арташастра» . Его ученик Чандрагупта Маурья , основатель Империи Маурьев , позже прибегал к убийствам некоторых своих врагов. [16]
Некоторые известные жертвы убийств — Филипп II Македонский (336 г. до н. э.), отец Александра Великого , и римский диктатор Юлий Цезарь (44 г. до н. э.). [17] Императоры Рима часто встречали свой конец таким же образом, как и многие мусульманские шиитские имамы сотни лет спустя. Три последовательных халифа Рашидуна ( Умар , Усман ибн Аффан и Али ибн Аби Талиб ) были убиты в ходе ранних гражданских конфликтов между мусульманами. Эта практика была также хорошо известна в древнем Китае, как, например, в неудавшемся убийстве Цзин Кэ царя Цинь Ин Чжэна в 227 году до нашей эры. Хотя многие убийства совершались отдельными людьми или небольшими группами, существовали также специализированные подразделения, которые использовали коллективную группу людей для совершения более одного убийства. Самыми ранними были сикарии , жившие в 6 году нашей эры, которые на столетия предшествовали ближневосточным ассасинам и японским шиноби . [18] [19]
В средние века цареубийство было редкостью в Западной Европе, но это было повторяющейся темой в Восточной Римской империи . Наиболее распространенным методом было удушение в ванне. В эпоху Возрождения тираноубийство – или убийство по личным или политическим мотивам – снова стало более распространенным явлением в Западной Европе. [20]
В XVI и XVII веках юристы-международники начали осуждать убийства лидеров. Бальтазар Айяла был описан как «первый выдающийся юрист, осудивший использование убийств во внешней политике». [21] Альберико Джентили осудил убийства в публикации 1598 года, где он апеллировал к личным интересам лидеров: (i) убийства имели неблагоприятные краткосрочные последствия, вызывая гнев преемника убитого лидера, и (ii) убийства имели неблагоприятные последствия. долгосрочные последствия возникновения беспорядка и хаоса. [21] Работы Гуго Гроция по праву войны строго запрещали убийства, утверждая, что убийство допустимо только на поле боя. [21] В современном мире убийство важных людей стало больше, чем просто инструментом в борьбе за власть между самими правителями, а также использовалось для политической символики, например, в пропаганде деяния . [22]
В Японии группа убийц под названием «Четыре Хитокири Бакумацу» убила несколько человек, в том числе Ии Наосукэ , который был главой администрации сёгуната Токугава, во время войны Босин . [23] Большинство убийств в Японии было совершено с применением холодного оружия, и эта черта сохранилась и в современной истории. Существует видеозапись убийства Инеджиро Асанумы с использованием меча. [24]
В 1895 году группа японских убийц убила корейскую королеву (и посмертно императрицу) Мёнсон. [25]
В Соединенных Штатах за 100 лет четыре президента — Авраам Линкольн , Джеймс А. Гарфилд , Уильям Мак-Кинли и Джон Ф. Кеннеди — погибли от рук убийц. Известно как минимум о 20 покушениях на жизнь президентов США. [26]
В Австрии 28 июня 1914 года в Сараево Гаврило Принцип , сербский националист, совершил убийство эрцгерцога Франца Фердинанда и его жены Софи, герцогини Гогенберг . Его обвиняют в развязывании Первой мировой войны . Рейнхард Гейдрих погиб после нападения обученных британцами чехословацких солдат от имени чехословацкого правительства в изгнании в ходе операции «Антропоид» , [27] и знания из расшифрованных передач позволили Соединенным Штатам провести целенаправленную атаку , убив японского адмирала Исороку Ямамото, пока он путешествовал на самолете. [28]
В течение 1930-х и 1940-х годов НКВД Иосифа Сталина осуществил многочисленные убийства за пределами Советского Союза, такие как убийства лидера Организации украинских националистов Евгения Коновальца , Игнация Порецкого , Четвертого международного секретаря Рудольфа Клемента, Льва Троцкого и Рабочей партии. Руководство Партии марксистского объединения ( ПОУМ ) в Каталонии . [29] «Отец нации» Индии Махатма Ганди был застрелен 30 января 1948 года Натурамом Годзе . [30]
Афро-американский борец за гражданские права Мартин Лютер Кинг-младший был убит 4 апреля 1968 года в мотеле «Лотарингия» (ныне Национальный музей гражданских прав ) в Мемфисе, штат Теннесси . Тремя годами ранее другой афроамериканский борец за гражданские права, Малкольм Икс , был убит в бальном зале Одюбон 21 февраля 1965 года. [31]
Большинство крупных держав отвергли тактику убийств времен Холодной войны, но многие утверждают, что это была всего лишь дымовая завеса для политической выгоды и что тайная и незаконная подготовка убийц продолжается и сегодня. Россия, Израиль, США, Аргентина , Парагвай, Чили и другие страны обвиняются в участие в подобных операциях. [32] После иранской революции 1979 года новое исламское правительство Ирана начало международную кампанию убийств, которая продолжалась до 1990-х годов. По меньшей мере 162 убийства в 19 странах были связаны с высшим руководством Исламской Республики Иран . [33] Кампания завершилась после убийств в ресторане на Миконосе, поскольку немецкий суд публично обвинил высокопоставленных членов правительства и выдал ордера на арест Али Фаллахяна , главы иранской разведки. [34] Факты указывают на то, что личное участие и индивидуальная ответственность Фаллахиана в убийствах были гораздо более распространенными, чем представляют его нынешние обвинительные заключения. [35]
In India, Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi (neither of whom was related to Mahatma Gandhi, who had himself been assassinated in 1948), were assassinated in 1984 and 1991 in what were linked to separatist movements in Punjab and northern Sri Lanka, respectively.[36]
In 1994, the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira during the Rwandan Civil War sparked the Rwandan genocide.[37][38]
In Israel, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated on November 4, 1995, by Yigal Amir, who opposed the Oslo Accords.[39][40] In Lebanon, the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005, prompted an investigation by the United Nations. The suggestion in the resulting Mehlis report that there was involvement by Syria prompted the Cedar Revolution, which drove Syrian troops out of Lebanon.[citation needed]
On 2 September 2022, a 35 year old Brazilian national attempted to assassinate the then current vice-president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Fortunately for her, the assassin's gun jammed.[41]
In 2010, The New York Times revealed the existence of a hit list made by the Obama administration. It included at least three Americans to be killed without any kind of court oversight and no trial, against the background of the War on Terror. Officials of the government proposed who to kill and the president decided who was going to get killed. In September 2011, American citizens Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan were assassinated in Yemen by the United States government with drone strikes. Two weeks later, Awlaki's 16-year-old son was also killed.[42]
Assassination for military purposes has long been espoused: Sun Tzu, writing around 500 BC, argued in favor of using assassination in his book The Art of War. Over 2000 years later, in his book The Prince, Machiavelli also advises rulers to assassinate enemies whenever possible to prevent them from posing a threat.[43] An army and even a nation might be based upon and around a particularly strong, canny, or charismatic leader, whose loss could paralyze the ability of both to make war.
For similar and additional reasons, assassination has also sometimes been used in the conduct of foreign policy. The costs and benefits of such actions are difficult to compute. It may not be clear whether the assassinated leader gets replaced with a more or less competent successor, whether the assassination provokes ire in the state in question, whether the assassination leads to souring domestic public opinion, and whether the assassination provokes condemnation from third-parties.[44][21] One study found that perceptual biases held by leaders often negatively affect decision making in that area, and decisions to go forward with assassinations often reflect the vague hope that any successor might be better.[44]
In both military and foreign policy assassinations, there is the risk that the target could be replaced by an even more competent leader, or that such a killing (or a failed attempt) will prompt the masses to contemn the killers and support the leader's cause more strongly. Faced with particularly brilliant leaders, that possibility has in various instances been risked, such as in the attempts to kill the Athenian Alcibiades during the Peloponnesian War. A number of additional examples from World War II show how assassination was used as a tool:
Use of assassination has continued in more recent conflicts:
Insurgent groups have often employed assassination as a tool to further their causes. Assassinations provide several functions for such groups: the removal of specific enemies and as propaganda tools to focus the attention of media and politics on their cause.
The Irish Republican Army guerrillas in 1919 to 1921 killed many Royal Irish Constabulary Police intelligence officers during the Irish War of Independence. Michael Collins set up a special unit, the Squad, for that purpose, which had the effect of intimidating many policemen into resigning from the force. The Squad's activities peaked with the killing of 14 British agents in Dublin on Bloody Sunday in 1920.
The tactic was used again by the Provisional IRA during the Troubles in Northern Ireland (1969–1998). Assassination of unionist politicians and activists was one of a number of methods used in the Provisional IRA campaign 1969–1997. The IRA also attempted to assassinate British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by bombing the Conservative Party Conference in a Brighton hotel. Loyalist paramilitaries retaliated by killing Catholics at random and assassinating Irish nationalist politicians.
Basque separatists ETA in Spain assassinated many security and political figures since the late 1960s, notably the president of the Francoist government of Spain, Luis Carrero Blanco, 1st Duke of Carrero-Blanco Grandee of Spain, in 1973. In the early 1990s, it also began to target academics, journalists and local politicians who publicly disagreed with it.
The Red Brigades in Italy carried out assassinations of political figures and, to a lesser extent, so did the Red Army Faction in Germany in the 1970s and the 1980s.
In the Vietnam War, communist insurgents routinely assassinated government officials and individual civilians deemed to offend or rival the revolutionary movement. Such attacks, along with widespread military activity by insurgent bands, almost brought the Ngo Dinh Diem regime to collapse before the US intervened.[51]
A major study about assassination attempts in the US in the second half of the 20th century came to the conclusion that most prospective assassins spend copious amounts of time planning and preparing for their attempts. Assassinations are thus rarely "impulsive" actions.[52]
However, about 25% of the actual attackers were found to be delusional, a figure that rose to 60% with "near-lethal approachers" (people apprehended before reaching their targets). That shows that while mental instability plays a role in many modern assassinations, the more delusional attackers are less likely to succeed in their attempts. The report also found that around two-thirds of attackers had previously been arrested, not necessarily for related offenses; 44% had a history of serious depression, and 39% had a history of substance abuse.[52]
With the advent of effective ranged weaponry and later firearms, the position of an assassination target was more precarious. Bodyguards were no longer enough to deter determined killers, who no longer needed to engage directly or even to subvert the guard to kill the leader in question. Moreover, the engagement of targets at greater distances dramatically increased the chances for assassins to survive since they could quickly flee the scene. The first heads of government to be assassinated with a firearm were James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, the regent of Scotland, in 1570, and William the Silent, the Prince of Orange of the Netherlands, in 1584. Gunpowder and other explosives also allowed the use of bombs or even greater concentrations of explosives for deeds requiring a larger touch.
Explosives, especially the car bomb, become far more common in modern history, with grenades and remote-triggered land mines also used, especially in the Middle East and the Balkans; the initial attempt on Archduke Franz Ferdinand's life was with a grenade. With heavy weapons, the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) has become a useful tool given the popularity of armored cars (discussed below), and Israeli forces have pioneered the use of aircraft-mounted missiles,[53] as well as the innovative use of explosive devices.
A sniper with a precision rifle is often used in fictional assassinations; however, certain pragmatic difficulties attend long-range shooting, including finding a hidden shooting position with a clear line of sight, detailed advance knowledge of the intended victim's travel plans, the ability to identify the target at long range, and the ability to score a first-round lethal hit at long range, which is usually measured in hundreds of meters. A dedicated sniper rifle is also expensive, often costing thousands of dollars because of the high level of precision machining and handfinishing required to achieve extreme accuracy.[54]
Despite their comparative disadvantages, handguns are more easily concealable and so are much more commonly used than rifles. Of the 74 principal incidents evaluated in a major study about assassination attempts in the US in the second half of the 20th century, 51% were undertaken by a handgun, 30% with a rifle or shotgun, 15% used knives, and 8% explosives (the use of multiple weapons/methods was reported in 16% of all cases).[52]
In the case of state-sponsored assassination, poisoning can be more easily denied. Georgi Markov, a dissident from Bulgaria, was assassinated by ricin poisoning. A tiny pellet containing the poison was injected into his leg through a specially designed umbrella. Widespread allegations involving the Bulgarian government and the KGB have not led to any legal results. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union, it was learned that the KGB had developed an umbrella that could inject ricin pellets into a victim, and two former KGB agents who defected stated that the agency assisted in the murder.[55] The CIA made several attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro; many of the schemes involving poisoning his cigars. In the late 1950s, the KGB assassin Bohdan Stashynsky killed Ukrainian nationalist leaders Lev Rebet and Stepan Bandera with a spray gun that fired a jet of poison gas from a crushed cyanide ampule, making their deaths look like heart attacks.[56] A 2006 case in the UK concerned the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko who was given a lethal dose of radioactive polonium-210, possibly passed to him in aerosol form sprayed directly onto his food.[57]
Targeted killing is the intentional killing by a government or its agents of a civilian or "unlawful combatant" who is not in the government's custody. The target is a person asserted to be taking part in an armed conflict or terrorism, by bearing arms or otherwise, who has thereby lost the immunity from being targeted that he would otherwise have under the Third Geneva Convention.[58] It is a different term and concept from that of "targeted violence", as used by specialists who study violence.
On the other hand, Gary D. Solis, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, in his 2010 book The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War,[59] wrote, "Assassinations and targeted killings are very different acts."[58] The use of the term "assassination" is opposed, as it denotes murder (unlawful killing), but the terrorists are targeted in self-defense, which is thus viewed as a killing but not a crime (justifiable homicide).[60] Abraham D. Sofaer, former federal judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, wrote on the subject:
When people call a targeted killing an "assassination", they are attempting to preclude debate on the merits of the action. Assassination is widely defined as murder, and is for that reason prohibited in the United States ... U.S. officials may not kill people merely because their policies are seen as detrimental to our interests... But killings in self-defense are no more "assassinations" in international affairs than they are murders when undertaken by our police forces against domestic killers. Targeted killings in self-defense have been authoritatively determined by the federal government to fall outside the assassination prohibition.[61]
Author and former U.S. Army Captain Matthew J. Morgan argued that "there is a major difference between assassination and targeted killing... targeted killing [is] not synonymous with assassination. Assassination... constitutes an illegal killing."[62] Similarly, Amos Guiora, a professor of law at the University of Utah, wrote, "Targeted killing is... not an assassination."[63] Steve David, professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University, wrote, "There are strong reasons to believe that the Israeli policy of targeted killing is not the same as assassination." Syracuse Law William Banks and GW Law Peter Raven-Hansen wrote, "Targeted killing of terrorists is... not unlawful and would not constitute assassination."[64] Rory Miller writes: "Targeted killing... is not 'assassination.'"[65] Eric Patterson and Teresa Casale wrote, "Perhaps most important is the legal distinction between targeted killing and assassination."[66]
On the other hand, the American Civil Liberties Union also states on its website, "A program of targeted killing far from any battlefield, without charge or trial, violates the constitutional guarantee of due process. It also violates international law, under which lethal force may be used outside armed conflict zones only as a last resort to prevent imminent threats, when non-lethal means are not available. Targeting people who are suspected of terrorism for execution, far from any war zone, turns the whole world into a battlefield."[67]
Yael Stein, the research director of B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, also stated in her article "By Any Name Illegal and Immoral: Response to 'Israel's Policy of Targeted Killing'":[68]
The argument that this policy affords the public a sense of revenge and retribution could serve to justify acts both illegal and immoral. Clearly, lawbreakers ought to be punished. Yet, no matter how horrific their deeds, as the targeting of Israeli civilians indeed is, they should be punished according to the law. David's arguments could, in principle, justify the abolition of formal legal systems altogether.
Targeted killing has become a frequent tactic of the United States and Israel in their fights against terrorism.[58][69] The tactic can raise complex questions and lead to contentious disputes as to the legal basis for its application, who qualifies as an appropriate "hit list" target, and what circumstances must exist before the tactic may be used.[58] Opinions range from people considering it a legal form of self-defense that decreases terrorism to people calling it an extrajudicial killing that lacks due process and leads to further violence.[58][61][70][71] Methods used have included firing Hellfire missiles from Predator or Reaper drones (unmanned, remote-controlled planes), detonating a cell phone bomb, and long-range sniper shooting. Countries such as the US (in Pakistan and Yemen) and Israel (in the West Bank and Gaza) have used targeted killing to eliminate members of groups such as Al-Qaeda and Hamas.[58] In early 2010, with President Obama's approval, Anwar al-Awlaki became the first US citizen to be publicly approved for targeted killing by the Central Intelligence Agency. Awlaki was killed in a drone strike in September 2011.[72][73]
United Nations investigator Ben Emmerson said that US drone strikes may have violated international humanitarian law.[74][75] The Intercept reported, "Between January 2012 and February 2013, U.S. special operations airstrikes [in northeastern Afghanistan] killed more than 200 people. Of those, only 35 were the intended targets."[76]
One of the earliest forms of defense against assassins was employing bodyguards, who act as a shield for the potential target; keep a lookout for potential attackers, sometimes in advance, such as on a parade route; and putting themselves in harm's way, both by simple presence, showing that physical force is available to protect the target,[52][77] and by shielding the target if any attack occurs. To neutralize an attacker, bodyguards are typically armed as much as legal and practical concerns permit.
Notable examples of bodyguards include the Roman Praetorian Guard or the Ottoman Janissaries, but in both cases, the protectors sometimes became assassins themselves, exploiting their power to make the head of state a virtual hostage or killing the very leaders whom they were supposed to protect. The loyalty of individual bodyguards is an important question as well, especially for leaders who oversee states with strong ethnic or religious divisions. Failure to realize such divided loyalties allowed the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards in 1984.
The bodyguard function was often executed by the leader's most loyal warriors, and it was extremely effective throughout most of early human history, which led assassins to attempt stealthy means, such as poison, whose risk was reduced by having another person taste the leader's food first.
With the advent of gunpowder, ranged assassination via bombs or firearms became possible. One of the first reactions was simply to increase the guard, creating what at times might seem a small army trailing every leader. Another was to begin clearing large areas whenever a leader was present to the point that entire sections of a city might be shut down.
As the 20th century dawned, the prevalence and capability of assassins grew quickly, as did measures to protect against them. For the first time, armored cars or limousines were put into service for safer transport, with modern versions virtually invulnerable to small arms fire, smaller bombs and mines.[78] Bulletproof vests also began to be used, but since they were of limited utility, restricting movement and leaving the head unprotected, they tended to be worn only during high-profile public events, if at all.
Access to famous people also became more and more restricted;[79] potential visitors would be forced through numerous different checks before being granted access to the official in question, and as communication became better and information technology more prevalent, it has become all but impossible for a would-be killer to get close enough to the personage at work or in private life to effect an attempt on their life, especially with the common use of metal and bomb detectors.
Most modern assassinations have been committed either during a public performance or during transport, both because of weaker security and security lapses, such as with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, or as part of a coup d'état in which security is either overwhelmed or completely removed, such as with Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.
The methods used for protection by famous people have sometimes evoked negative reactions by the public, with some resenting the separation from their officials or major figures. One example might be traveling in a car protected by a bubble of clear bulletproof glass, such as the MRAP-like Popemobile of Pope John Paul II, built following an attempt at his life. Politicians often resent the need for separation and sometimes send their bodyguards away from them for personal or publicity reasons. US President William McKinley did so at the public reception in which he was assassinated.[79]
Other potential targets go into seclusion and are rarely heard from or seen in public, such as writer Salman Rushdie. A related form of protection is the use of body doubles, people with similar builds to those they are expected to impersonate. These people are then made up and, in some cases, undergo plastic surgery to look like the target, with the body double then taking the place of the person in high-risk situations. According to Joe R. Reeder, Under Secretary of the Army from 1993 to 1997, Fidel Castro used body doubles.[80]
US Secret Service protective agents receive training in the psychology of assassins.[81]
