‘From the artwork “Heads from the North” by Australia-based artist Dadang Christanto, (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-71455-4_12 ). Used with permission.

The Targeted Mass Killing (TMK) dataset is intended to contribute to the study and prevention of genocide, politicide, and similar atrocities. Version 1.0 (2019) provides data on 201 TMK episodes for the period 1946-2017 with annualised information on perpetrator intent, severity, targeted groups and a host of additional variables. It includes a pre-coded ordinal indicator of TMK that aggregates evidence of intent and severity into a 7-point scale and a new binary indicator of genocide and politicide that can serve as an alternative to existing measures. Users are able to construct their own indicators from the dataset, based on their research questions or preferred definitions. Version 1.2 (2024) updates the data to 2022.

Users of the TMK data are asked to cite the following paper in any resulting publications, reports or presentations:

Butcher, Charles, Benjamin E. Goldsmith, Sascha Nanlohy, Arcot Sowmya, and David Muchlinski. 2020. “Introducing the Targeted Mass Killing Dataset for the Study and Forecasting of Mass Atrocities,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 64, 7-8: 1524-1547. You can now download this article online

Please use the links below to access the Targeted Mass Killing dataset.