Death Squads: Definition, Problems, and Historical Context

Abstract

Death squads are found all over the world today, and in just the last 30 years have been responsible for hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of deaths.1 They did not disappear with the end of the Cold War, and they are certainly not a uniquely Latin American or even a ``third world'' problem. At the same time, they differ from other tools of repression in a number of significant aspects, notably in the way they mix state and private interests and in the way they call into question the very legitimacy and substance of the state. Their prevalence, destructive capacity, and unique nature all combine to make them an important object of study.