What does death squad mean?

Definitions for death squad
death squad

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word death squad.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. death squadnoun

    a clandestine military or paramilitary team who murder political dissidents or petty criminals (usually with the government's tacit approval)

Wiktionary

  1. death squadnoun

    An armed group that carries out clandestine killings.

Wikipedia

  1. Death squad

    A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are formed by an insurgency, domestic or foreign governments actively participate in, support, or ignore the death squad's activities. Death squads are distinct from assassination from their permanent organization and the larger number of victims (typically thousands or more) who may not be prominent individuals. Other violence, such as rape, torture, arson, or bombings may be carried out alongside murders. They may comprise a secret police force, paramilitary militia groups, government soldiers, policemen, or combinations thereof. They may also be organized as vigilantes, bounty hunters, mercenaries, or contract killers. When death squads are not controlled by the state, they may consist of insurgent forces or organized crime, such as the ones used by cartels.

ChatGPT

  1. death squad

    A death squad is a covert group, often composed of military or paramilitary personnel, that carries out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances of persons for the purposes of political repression, genocide, or revolutionary terror. These killings are often done in an organized way and on a large scale, usually with the implicit or explicit support of a government or other controlling force.

Wikidata

  1. Death squad

    A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign. These killings are often conducted in ways meant to ensure the secrecy of the killers' identities, so as to avoid accountability. Death squads are often, but not exclusively, associated, with the violent political repression under police states, one party states, or military dictatorships. It is not unheard of, however, for more democratic governments to form death squads during a state of emergency and then disband them once the crisis passes. Death squads often have the tacit or express support of the Government, as a whole or in part. Death squads may comprise a secret police force, paramilitary forces or official government units with members drawn from the military or the police. They may also be organized as vigilante groups. "Extrajudicial killings" are the illegal killing of leading political, trades union, dissidents, and social figures by either the State security forces, terrorist organizations, or organized crime such as the Sicilian Mafia or the Latin American drug cartels.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of death squad in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of death squad in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1


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"death squad." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/death+squad>.

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