Concept in Definition ABC

This idea began to be used within the framework of the politics in Ancient Greece. At that time this term did not have the negative connotations that it now has, since the tyrant was the ruler who arrived to power in order to satisfy the needs of the people and with the intention of ending a period of unrest Social.

The idea evolved and with the passage of time it was understood that the tyrant is one who exercises power in a unipersonal way and with totalitarian criteria opposed to the majority of society.

The list of despots, dictators and tyrants who have been executed is not exactly short. In recent history we can highlight the following cases: in 1961 in the Dominican Republic, President Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, the 1989 execution of Romanian President Nicolae Ceacescu or in 2006 the hanging of Saddam Hussein, the top leader of Iraq.

All of them were tyrants who exercised power with totalitarian criteria and their execution or murder is considered a tyrannicide.

Distinction between assassination and tyrannicide

Both terms have a certain similarity, but in reality there is a notable difference between the two. Assassination takes place when a leader is assassinated, usually by a fanatic or a terrorist, but it is a crime that is not related to the tyrannical power of the president (for example, the assassinations of Kennedy and Benazir Bhutto belong to this category).

Instead, the tyrannicide is framed in a historical context with a series of characteristics:

1) a political leader exercises power in a despotic way,

2) a large sector of the population rebels and

3) finally the president is captured and after a summary trial he is executed.

The legitimation of tyrannicide has been a widely debated issue throughout history

In the 1st century AD. C the Roman philosopher Cicero defended tyrannicide as a form of endurancecivil to counteract the absence of civil liberties (some historians consider that with this argument was justifying the assassination of Julius Caesar promoted by a conspiracy of some senators Romans).

In the seventeenth century some theologians Jesuits Spaniards justified popular resistance when a monarch exercises power in a despotic way.

If a king imposes his will in a disproportionate way and without respecting the laws, it would be legitimate to end his life. This theory was defended by the Jesuit Juan de Mariana in his book "On the king" and served as justification theory for the execution of two French monarchs: Henry III and Henry IV.

In the seventeenth century the English philosopher John Locke claimed that the tyrants who imposed themselves on his people through the violence they are subject to popular reaction and, consequently, may end up being victims of tyrannicide.

Fotolia photos: Anja Kaiser / GiZ

Topics in Tyrannicide