REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE’S LAWYERS MONITORING COMMITTEE ON ATTACKS ON LAWYERS
Research by Prof. Stuart Russell, Bordeaux, France and Hon. Prof. Gill H. Boehringer, Macquarie University School of Law, Sydney, Australia
COUNTRIES (139) WHERE ATTACKS ON LAWYERS RECORDED (October 22, 2025)
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- 10.Bangladesh
- 11.Barbados
- 12.Belize
- 13.Belarus
- 14.Bolivia
- 15.Bosnia
- 16.Botswana
- 17.Brazil
- 18.Bulgaria
- 19.Burkino Faso
- 20.Burundi
- 21.Cambodia
- 22.Cameroun
- 23.Canada
- 24.Cayman Islands
- 25.Central African Republic
- 26.Chad
- 27.Chechen Republic
- 28.China
- 29.Colombia
- 30.Comoros
- 31.Congo-Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo)
- 32.Costa Rica
- 33.Croatia
- 34.Cyprus
- 35.Czech Republic
- 36.Cuba
- 37.Dem. Rep. of Congo
- 38.Dominican Republic
- 39.Ecuador
- 40.Egypt
- 41.El Salvador
- 42.Equatorial Guinea
- 43.Eritrea
- 44.Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
- 45.Fiji
- 46.France
- 47.Gabon
- 48.Germany
- 49.Ghana
- 50.Greece
- 51.Guatemala
- 52.Guinea Bisau
- 53.Guyana
- 54.Haiti
- 55.Honduras
- 56.Hungary
- 57.India
- 58.Indonesia
- 59.Iran
- 60.Iraq
- 61.Israel
- 62.Italy
- 63.Jordan
- 64.Kazakhstan
- 65.Kenya
- 66.Kuwait
- 67.Kirghizstan
- 68.Kiribati
- 69.Laos
- 70.Latvia
- 71.Lebanon
- 72.Lesotho
- 73.Liberia
- 74.Libya
- 75.Lithuania
- 76.Malaysia
- 77.Maldives
- 78.Mali
- 79.Malta
- 80.Mauritania
- 81.Mauritius
- 82.Mexico
- 83.Micronesia, Republic of Federated States of
- 84.Moldova
- 85.Morocco
- 86.Mozambique
- 87.Myanmar
- 88.Nauru
- 89.Nepal
- 90.New Zealand
- 91.Nicaragua
- 92.Niger
- 93.Nigeria
- 94.North Macedonia
- 95.Oman
- 96.Pakistan
- 97.Panama
- 98.Papua New Guinea
- 99.Paraguay
- 100.Peru
- 101.Philippines
- 102.Poland
- 103.Qatar
- 104.Romania
- 105.Russia
- 106.Rwanda
- 107.Saudi Arabia
- 108.Senegal
- 109.Singapore
- 110.Somalia
- 111.South Africa
- 112.South Korea
- 113.South Sudan
- 114.Spain
- 115.Sri Lanka
- 116.Sudan
- 117.Sweden
- 118.Syria
- 119.Tajikistan
- 120.Tanzania
- 121.Thailand
- 122.The Gambia
- 123.The Netherlands
- 124.Timor L’este
- 125.Togo
- 126.Tunisia
- 127.Turkey
- 128.Turkmenistan
- 129.Uganda
- 130.Ukraine
- 131.United Arab Emirates
- 132.United Kingdom
- 133.USA
- 134.Uzbekistan
- 135.Venezuela
- 136.Vietnam
- 137.Yemen
- 138.Zambia
- 139.Zimbabwe
Special cases:
We note that in some territories that are not formally states and their status sovereignty is contested, there have been attacks on lawyers:
Northern Ireland’s status is in some respects ambiguous since BREXIT. In past decades there have been at least eight lawyers killed, alleged to be mostly by paramilitaries (reported to be both Republican and Loyalist). That of Patrick Finucane being perhaps the most egregious. State forces colluded with a Loyalist paramilitary to facilitate the murder.
Puerto Rico , a Spanish colony made into a Commonwealth (less than a state) by the USA, has also seen attacks on lawyers.
Somaliland, a self-declared independent state.
West Papua, wrongly made a province of Indonesia, a Jakarta based lawyer for the Papuan separatists has been forced to flee abroad after death threats and a bombing made it clear her life was in grave danger.
Definition of Attacks on Lawyers, including Prosecutors and Judges (IAPL)
1) actions , physical or non-physical, directed at a legal professional(s) that are intended to, or have the natural effect of, interfering with the performance of their professional duties;
2) actions, physical or non-physical against a legal professional or former legal professional that are likely to impact negatively upon the capacity or willingness of other legal professionals to carry out their professional duties, in whole or in part, without fear or favor.
SOURCES:
Amnesty International
China Lawyers Concern Group
Google Alert: Lawyers Attacked
Human Rights Watch
Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Integrated Bar of the Philippines
Karapatan
Lawyers for Lawyers
Lawyers Rights Watch of Canada
National Union of People’s Lawyer, Philippines
Philippine National Police
Press releases of the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute
Rappler
Report of the World Observatory for Defence of Rights and Attacks Against Lawyers, published in 2014 and in subsequent years.
Website of the European Bar Human Rights Institute
Innumerable media accounts and material written by human rights defenders or about them
Personal knowledge, research (including interviews)
Two articles in Alternative Law Journal (Australia):
“Globalization, Lawyers and the State” (2008, v. 33:3, 169-72) by Gill H. Boehringer and Stuart Russell;
“Attacks on Lawyers: A threat to democracy” (2015, v.40:1, 71-2) by Gill H. Boehringer, Stuart Russell, Kristian Boehringer, Julio Moreira.
NOTE
Readers who are aware of attacks on lawyers, physical or non-physical, intended to curtail the lawyer from fulfilling their professional duty, should send a brief summary of facts and date and place of incident to: jsrussell301254@gmail.com or gill_boehringer@hotmail.com (Even the name of the victim and country would be helpful if you do not have other details)
For current information, see the following blog for daily updates,
https://defendlawyers.wordpress.com
