Atrocities take place in democratic nations as well as autocratic ones – our database has logged them all

Forty years of data suggests atrocities are on the rise globally.

By: David Cingranelli, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Skip Mark, University of Rhode Island, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: February 16, 2026

Words: 1,499

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 5 days ago

By David Cingranelli, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Skip Mark, University of Rhode Island

Thousands of people were killed by Iranian security forces in days of protests in January 2026. Meanwhile, in the same month, the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis shone a light on the use of fatal force by American law enforcement — a phenomenon that in 2025 saw the deaths of more than 1,300 people …

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