1945
1946
1948
Uganda
Riots in Buganda (January)
Nigeria
Richards Constitution (March 6),
General Strike lasts 37 days (June-July)
End of World War II
African countries, Madagascar, and the
West Indies islands send approximately
113,000 colonial regiments between
1942 and 1945
United States of America
LIFE Magazine publishes photographs
of German concentration camps in an
article entitled “Atrocities” (May 7)
Algeria
Sétif massacre (May 8-13)
United States of America
Nuclear bombs dropped on Japan.
“Little Boy” on the city of Hiroshima
(August 6) followed by “Fat Man” over
Nagasaki (August 9)
Cameroon
Strikes and riots in Douala (September)
Great Britain
Development and Welfare Act for the
Colonies (September 2). Fifth PanAfrican Congress, Manchester (October
13-21)
Senegal
Suppression of infantry riots in Thiaroye
(November-December)
Ghana
The West African National Secretariat
(WANS) is founded by Nkrumah
Belgian Congo
Dockers strike in Matadi and worker
riots in Leopoldville
United States of America
Representatives of 50 countries
met in San Francisco at the United
Nations Conference on International
Organisation to draw up the United
Nations Charter.
Nobel Peace Prize
Cordell Hull wins with Nobel Peace
Prize
France
• The “Indigenousness Code” is
abolished (February 20)
• The Democratic Movement for
Malagasy Renewal is founded in Paris
(February 22)
• Citizenship is extended to all
inhabitants of the French Union
including overseas colonies (Law
“Lamine Gueye”) (May 7)
Argentina
Juan Péron becomes President (June 4)
Philippines
Independence (July 4)
France
• Creation of the Intergroup of
overseas territories representatives
uniting representatives of Africa, the
Caribbean and Asia at the United
Nations lead by Gaston Monnerville
(26 July)
• Estates-General of French colonisation
in Paris (July 30 – August 24)
Mali
The African Democratic Party is
founded (August 30 – September 1)
France
The manifesto of the African Democratic
Rally is signed by the deputies of the
Intergroup of overseas representatives
Great Britain
The West African National Secretariat
(WANS) organizes a Conference for West
Africa in London, French representatives
of the AOF are present
Indochina
Fierce resistance against the French
United Nations
• Commission on Human Rights
established by the UN Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC)
• Commission on the Status of Women is
established by the UN Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC)
India
Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated
(January 30)
Gold Coast
Riots in Accra and Kumasi (February)
Cameroon
Foundation of the Union of the peoples
of Cameroon by Ruben Um Nyobé (10
April)
Israel
State of Israel founded (May)
South Africa
Election victory of the National Party
(28 May), beginning of
Apartheid
Madagascar
Trial of Malagassy members of
Parliament Raseta and Ravoahangi (JulyOctober)
China
Chinese Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist
troops (1887-1975) bring many
hundreds of thousands of imperial
collection pieces to Taiwan
France
Léon-Gontran Damas is elected to the
French National Assembly
Jordan
Jordanian occupation of the West Bank
and East Jerusalem begins
United Nations
• The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights is signed
(December 10)
• Convention on the Freedom of
Association and Protection of the
Right to Organize; Declaration of the
Rights of Man by the Organisation
of American States (OAS); and
Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
are adopted
• UN General Assembly adopts the
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights
1947
India
/ Pakistan
Independence and birth of Pakistan
(August14)
Madagascar
The Malagasy Uprising and suppression
Western Africa (Senegal – Mali)
Railway workers’ strike
1 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline
1949
1951
1954
Ivory Coast
11th International Congress of the
African Democratic Rally (RDA)
(January 1-5)
Gold Coast
The Convention People’s Party (CPP) is
founded by Kwame Nkrumah (June 12)
China
Rise to power of the communists led by
Mao Zedong. People’s Republic of China
established (October 1)
Indonesia
Independence under President
Sukarno
(December 27)
United Nations
-The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) undertakes a vast program
to fight against racism, with the
collaboration
of intellectuals like Claude
Lévi-Strauss, Alva Myrdal, Alfred
Métraux and Michel Leiris. “Declaration
on race” aims to repudiate the scientific
validity of the concept of race
- Geneva Conventions provide standards
for more humane treatment of prisoners
of war, the wounded, and civilians
Gold Coast
Election victory for the Convention
Peoples Party (CPP) (February 4),
Nkrumah is released from prison and
becomes Leader of Government Business
(February 12)
Korea
Korean War begins (June)
Algeria
The National Liberation Front is
founded (August 5)
United Nations
Convention on the Status of Refugees is
adopted
Egypt
Gamal Abdel Nasser elected Prime
Minister (February 25)
Kenya
Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta is
condemned to 7 years of imprisonment
(July)
Tanganyika
Foundation of the Tanganyika National
Union (TANU) by Julius Nyerere (July)
Algeria
Beginning of the Independence war;
Ho
Chi Minh’s Vietnamese army defeats
France in Dien Bien Phu
Guatemala
The U.S. overthrow Jacobo Arbenz’
nationalist government
United States of America
The United States Supreme Court rules
in Brown vs. Board of Education that
racial segregation in public schools is
unconstitutional
1950
Gold Coast
Condemnation of Nkrumah to a year in
prison (January 21)
Tibet
The Battle of Chamdo - China invades
and occupies Tibet
(October)
France
Creation of the Black African Students
Federation in France (FEANF) in
Bordeaux (December)
United States of America
Senator Joseph McCarthy launches a
vigorous anti-Communist campaign,
charging, but not substantiating,
treachery among the top ranks of the
U.S. government. The U.S. Senate
eventually condemns McCarthy for his
conduct
United Nations
European Convention on Human Rights;
Convention for Suppression of Traffic in
Persons and Exploitation of Prostitution
of Others are adopted
2 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline
1952
Gold Coast
Nkrumah elected Prime Minister (March
12)
Brazil
388 inmates break out of Anchieta Island
prison (June)
Kenya
Mau-Mau uprising (August-September),
State of emergency (October 20), 200
arrests including that of Jomo Kenyatta,
banning of African parties
South Africa
Bloody riots against the apartheid in
Kimberley and East London (November
8), the African national congress
launches the Defiance Campaign
United States of America
The Immigration and Naturalization Act
ends the last racial and ethnic barriers
to naturalization of aliens living in the
United States
1953
USSR
Death of Joseph Stalin
(March 5)
Guinea
Strikes for the application of the labour
code (21 September 21 – November
25), Nkrumah assembles a Pan-African
Congress in Kumasi (December 4-6)
United Nations
European Commission on Human
Rights and Court of Human Rights are
created; Convention on Political Rights
of Women is adopted
1955
Cameroon
Riots (May 22-30), the Union of
the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) is
outlawed and excluded from the African
Democratic Rally (July 13)
South Africa
South Africans forced to Carry ID Cards
Identifying race
United States of America
Rosa Parks, an African-American
seamstress, refuses to give up her seat
to a white man while riding on a city
bus; she would later be arrested. This
act sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott
and is considered the beginning of
the modern Civil Rights Movement
(December 1)
1956
1957
1958
Sudan
Independence (January 1)
Morocco
Independence (March 2)
Tunisia
Independence (March 20)
France
The Overseas Reform Act is passed,
which grants internal autonomy
of French Black Africa (June 23).
‘Africanization’ of the Overseas
administration at the Overseas French
National School
Hungry
Hungarian revolution is suppressed in
Budapest (October – November)
Egypt
The Suez Crisis. Nasser nationalizes
the Suez canal, Egypt is invaded by
Israel with the support of French and
English troops, the troops’ withdrawal is
negotiated (October-November)
USSR
Khrushchev denounces Stalin’s crimes in
a “Secret Speech”
Angola
The People’s Movement for the
Liberation of Angola (MPLA)
is founded
Portugese Guinea
The African Party for the Independence
is founded by Amilcar Cabral. The
General Confederation of African
Workers (CGTA) is founded by Ahmed
Sékou Touré
Algeria
Pacification of various tribal rebellions
through a series of military operations
Benin
The General Union of Negro African
Workers (GUNAW) is founded in
Cotonou (January)
Gold Coast
Independence, renamed Ghana
(March 6)
France
Ghana Independence Day is celebrated
by the Black African Students Federation
in France (March 6). Commemoration
of the repression of Madagascar
organized by the Association of Malagasy
Students (March 29)
USSR
The Global Festival of Youth and Peace
takes place (July 28 – August 11)
United States of America
Little Rock Crisis, racist incidents
(September)
Guinea
Official suppression of the traditional
chiefs (December 31)
Algeria
Battle of Algiers
United States of America
The United States Congress approves a
civil rights bill, to protect voting rights
for African-Americans. It is the first
civil rights bill since the Reconstruction
period, which immediately followed the
Civil War
Nobel Peace Prize
Lester B. Pearson wins the Nobel Peace
Prize
United Nations
Convention on Nationality of Married
Women; Convention Concerning
Abolition of Forced Labor; Convention
Concerning Indigenous and Tribal
Populations are adopted
Ghana
Conference of the Independent African
States in Accra (April 15)
Benin
500 deputies from across French
Africa gather in Cotonou in order to
reinforce the position of the Pan-African
and federalist position of the African
Regroupment Party (July 25-28)
Guinea
Ahmed Sékou Touré votes “no” at the
Referendum for the French community
(September 28), proclamation of
Independence (2 October)
Ghana
Pan-African Conference in Accra, called
“African People” (December 5-13)
Senegal
The Movement for National Liberation:
African federation and socialism is
founded in Dakar
Belgian Congo
Creation by Patrice Lumumba of the
Congolese National Movement
China
Beginning of a devastating famine that
killed at least 35 million people (ending
in 1962)
United States of America
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is arrested
for loitering at the Montgomery
Courthouse, and later is released
United Nations
Convention Concerning Discrimination
in Employment and Occupation is
adopted
3 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline
1959
Cuba
Fidel Castro takes power (January 1)
Belgian Congo
Riots in Leopoldville, ‘day of
independence martyrs’ (January 4-7)
Great Britain
A conference on British East Africa
takes
place in London (February)
Belgian Congo
Patrice Lumumba
is arrested
(November 1)
Guinea
Independence 1960
Cameroon
Independence (January 1)
South Africa
Sharpeville Massacre (March 21), State
of emergency declared (March 30); the
ANC and the Pan-African Congress are
banned
Togo
Independence (April 27)
Senegal
Independence (June 20)
Madagascar
Independence (June 26)
Belgian Congo
Independence, becomes the CongoLéopoldville (June 30)
Pan-African conference in Leopoldville
(August 25)
Somalia
Independence (July 1)
Katanga
Secession of Katanga from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (July
11)
Benin
Independence (August 1)
Niger
Independence (August 3)
Upper Volta
Independence (August 5)
Ivory Coast
Independence (August 7)
Chad
Independence (August 11)
Central African Republic
Independence (August 13)
Republic of the Congo
Independence (August 15)
Gabon
Independence (August 17)
South Kasai
Becomes a secessionist region in the
Republic of Congo (August 8); Patrice
Lumumba is arrested (September 5)
Nigeria
Independence (October 1)
Mauritania
Independence (November 28).
Kenya
State of emergency, which began in
October 1952, is lifted
France
Publication of the manifest of the
121, “Declaration of the right of
insubordination in the Algerian war” in
the magazine Liberté-Vérité
Australia
Creation of centres for the cultural
assimilation of Aboriginals. The most
infamous is that of Papunya
4 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline
United Nations
Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights is established, advisory to the
Organisation of American States; the
Convention Against Discrimination
in Education is adopted by the UN
Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO)
1961
Democratic Republic of Congo
Patrice Lumumba is assassinated in
prison (January 17)
Angola
Beginning of the uprising (FebruaryMarch)
Vietnam
Southern Vietnam signs a treaty of
financial and military aid with the United
States, which leads to the arrival of
American troops (April 17-19)
Sierra Leone
Independence (April 27)
South Africa
Exits the Commonwealth (May 31)
Cuba
Prime Minister Fidel Castro proclaims
Cuba a Socialist nation, and abolishes
elections (May 1)
Rwanda
Independence (July 1, 1962)
Germany
Construction begins on the Berlin Wall
(August 13)
Burundi
Constitutional Monarchy is established
(September 18); Creation of the
African and Malagazy Union (AMU)
(September 12); assassination of Prime
Minister Louis Rwagasore (October 13)
France
Massacre of Algerians in the heart of
Paris by French police
(October 17);
Students of Martinique and the West
Indies National Liberation Struggle
Tanzania
Independence (December 9)
Cuba
The Bay of Pigs invasion, orchestrated by
the U.S., fails
Nobel Peace Prize
Albert Luthuli wins the Nobel Peace
prize
1962
France
Demonstration against the Secret
Armed Organisation (OAS) in Paris.
Eight people die in the Charonne metro
(February 8)
Algeria
Evian Accords (March 18); End of
Algerian War; Exodus of the “Black
Foot”
Mozambique
The Liberation Front of Mozambique
(FRELIMO) is founded (June 25)
Portuguese Guinea
Beginning of the war of independence
(July)
Burundi
Independence (July 1)
Rwanda
Independence (July 1)
Algeria
Independence (July 3)
Jamaica
Independence (August 6)
Trinidad and Tobago
Independence (August 31)
Uganda
Independence (October 9)
Cuba
Blockade by the U.S. fleet (October 22)
United States of America
- Kennedy authorises the Cuban
embargo (October)
- The National Farm Workers (later
known as the United Farm Workers of
America) is organized by Cesar Chavez
to protect migrant American farm
workers, most of whom were Hispanic
1963
1964
Togo
Assassination of President Sylvanus
Olympio (January 13)
Ethiopia
Addis Abeba - Conference of Heads of
State and African governments; Birth of
the Organisation of African Unity (May
23-25)
Republic of Congo
President Fulbert Youlou is deposed in a
coup d’état lead by Alphonse MassembaDébat (August 13-15)
Australia
Yirrkala petition addressed by
Yolngu Aboriginals to the House of
Representatives. The text claimed
rights to land; as important was the
accompanying painting that documented
margins in the land where a mine had
been installed. This document became
a symbol of the movement for Aboriginal
claims
United States of America
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. makes his
“I Have a Dream” speech during the
March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom (August 28)
• President John F. Kennedy is
assassinated (Nov. 22)
• The Birmingham Campaign (Spring)
Gabon
Coup d’état. Intervention of French
troops to depose Léon M’ba (February
17-19)
Tanzania
Forms by uniting Tanganyika and
Zanzibar (April 26)
South Africa
Nelson Mandela, leader of the ANC, and
Walter Sisulu are sentenced for life for
treason and are imprisoned in Robben
Island
(June 12)
Nyasaland
Independence and renamed Malawi
(July 6)
Zambia
Kenneth Kaunda elected President
(October 24)
Northern Rhodesia
Independence and renamed Zambia
(October 24)
Brazil
The left-wing government is overthrown
by a military coup d’état supported by
the U.S.
United States of America
The Omnibus Civil Rights Bill, which
bans discrimination in voting, jobs,
public accommodation, and other
activities, is adopted (July)
Nobel Peace Prize
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wins the
Nobel Peace Prize
1965
Great Britain
First conference of the Council of
African Organisations meets in London,
speech by Malcom X (February)
Gambia
Independence (February 18)
United States of America
• Malcolm X is assassinated
• (February 21)
• U.S. Sends Troops to Vietnam. U.S.
Marines landed near Da Nang in
South Vietnam; they are the first U.S.
troops arrive in Vietnam (March 8)
• “Bloody Sunday” and the Selma to
Montgomery marches (March)
Democratic Republic of Congo
Rise to power of Mobutu Sese Seko
(November 24)
Indonesia
Coup d’état by Suharto. Left-wing
opponents are killed and 500,000 people
are killed while hundreds of thousands
are brutally imprisoned
United States of America
A new Voting Rights Act authorizes the
U.S. government to appoint examiners
5 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline
to register voters where local officials
have made African-American registration
difficult
United Nations
International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination is adopted
1966
Cuba
Third tri-continental conference held in
Havana (January 3-15)
Ghana
Kwame Nkrumah is overthrown from
power while away (February 24)
British Guiana
Independence (May 26)
United States of America
James Meredith begins a solitary March
Against Fear (June)
Burundi
Coup d’état, the monarchy is abolished,
and the nation is declared a republic
(July 1)
Bechuanaland
Independence and renamed the Republic
of Botswana (September 30)
Basutoland
Independence and renamed the
Kingdom of Lesotho (October 4)
Central African Republic
Jean-Bédel Bokassa orchestrates a coup
d’état and declares himself Emperor and
imposes a dictatorship until 1979
China
Mao Zedong launches the Cultural
Revolution (until 1976)
United States of America
Black Panther Party is established
United Nations
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights are adopted and opened
for signature. Together these documents
further developed rights outlined in the
Universal Declaration for Human Rights
1967
1969
1971
Israel
Six-Day War in the Middle East (June
5-10)
United States of America
“Long Hot Summer” - Racist violence
erupts in cities across the U.S. including
Atlanta, Boston, Birmingham, Chicago,
New York (June – July)
Nigeria
Biafra secession (May 30), beginning
of the civil war (July 6)
Bolivia
The Bolivian Rangers, in collaboration
with the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA), capture Che
Guevara, resulting
in his death (October 9)
Australia
The Aboriginals and Torres Strait
Islands
people receive Australian nationality
United Nations
Convention on Non-Applicability of
Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and
Crimes Against Humanity is adopted
Palestinian Territories
Yasser Arafat Becomes Leader of the
Palestinian Liberation Organisation
(PLO) (February)
Niger
First francophone conference (February
17-20)
United States of America
“Bloody Thursday” – demonstrations at
People’s Park, Berkeley, California (May
15)
Kenya
Assassination of Tom Mboya (July 5)
Nigeria/Biafra
Famine in Biafra
United States of America
American Convention on Human
Rights is adopted
Uganda
Idi Amin Dada rises to power and
establishes a dictatorship (February 2)
Bangladesh
The Liberation War of Bangladesh
(March 26 – December 16)
1968
Czechoslovakia
Prague Spring (January-August)
Vietnam
My Lai Massacre (March 16)
United States of America
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is
assassinated (April 4)
• Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated
(June 6)
Swaziland
Independence (September 6)
Spanish Guinea
Independence and renamed the nation
of Equatorial Guinea (October 12)
Benin
Civil Government of Emile Derlin
Zinsou
World-Wide
Student uprisings all over the world
and in particular in France, in the U.S.
and in Mexico
Poland
Anti-Semitic campaign
United States of America
Richard Nixon is elected President
Nobel Peace Prize
Rene Cassin wins the Nobel Peace Prize
United Nations
First World Conference on Human
Rights is held in Tehran. The UN
convened member states to evaluate the
failures and successes of human rights
promotion since the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and to work toward the elimination of
racial discrimination and apartheid
6 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline
1970
Nigeria
Surrender of Biafra, end of the war
(January 13)
Cambodia
A right-wing coup d’état dethrones King
Norodom Sihanouk (March 18)
United States of America
Kent State Shootings. Ohio National
Guardsmen on the Kent State college
campus to maintain order during a
student protest against the Vietnam War
suddenly fired upon a crowd of student
protesters, killing four and wounding
nine others. (May 4)
Jordan
“Black September,” massacre of
Palestinians
(September)
Jordan
Palestinian Group hijacks five
planes (September 6)
Canada
The October Crisis began with the
kidnapping of two government officials
by members of the Front de libération du
Québec (FLQ) mainly in the Montreal
metropolitan area. The circumstances
ultimately culminated in the only
peacetime use of the War Measures Act
in Canada’s history, invoked by Governor
General of Canada Roland Michener
under the direction of Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau (October)
Chile
Salvador Allende becomes the first
Marxist politician in the world to be
elected democratically (November)
South Africa
Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act
on the citizenship of Black People
1972
Burundi
Hutu movement against the Tutsi,
massive suppression (April-June)
Germany
Kidnapping and murder of eleven Israeli
athletes by Black September group,
Munich (August)
United States of America
The U.S. Senate approves the Equal
Rights Amendment, a constitutional
amendment banning discrimination
against women because of their sex. The
amendment is later defeated for lack of
sufficient ratification among the states
1973
Guinea-Bissau
Amílcar Cabral is assassinated
by Portuguese agents
(January 20)
Bahamas
Independence (July 10)
Chile
Salvador Allende is assassinated during
Pinochet’s military coup (September 11)
Ethiopia
Famine (November)
United States of America
U.S. begins to pull troops out of
Vietnam
United Nations
International Convention on Suppression
and Punishment of the Crime of
Apartheid is adopted
1974
1976
1979
United States of America
Patty Hearst kidnapped (February 4)
Grenada
Independence (February 7)
Portugal
Carnation Revolution military coup
(April 25)
Guinea-Bissau
Independence (September 10)
Ethiopia
Emperor Haile Selassie, Emperor of
Ethiopia, deposed following a general
strike
(September 12)
Angola
Cease-fire between the National
Liberation Front of Angola (FLNA) and
the Portuguese army (October 22)
South Africa
Bloody racial riots in Soweto (June 16),
riots in major cities (August-September)
Australia
The Aboriginal Land Rights Act is
established
Nobel Peace Prize
Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan
win the Nobel Peace Prize
United Nations
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights enter into force after
sufficient ratification among UN
member States
Uganda
President Idi Amin is disposed (April 11)
Central African Republic / Central
African Empire
Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is
overthrown (September 20)
Iran
The Shah is overthrown; Ayatollah
Khomeini rises to power
(February).
The Iran hostage crisis begins; Iran
takes American hostages in Tehran
(November 4)
Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan begins
(December)
South Africa
Amendment to the Industrial
Conciliation Act. African unions now
permitted to form trade unions
Cambodia
End of the Khmer Rouge regime, the
National Salvation Front enlisted by
Heng Samrin is installed in Phnom Penh
United Nations
The Code of Conduct for Law
Enforcement Officials and Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women are
adopted
1975
Lebanon
Civil War begins (April 13)
Vietnam / United States of America
End of the Vietnam war, defeat of the
U.S. (April 30)
Mozambique
Independence (June 25)
Comoros
Independence, except Mayotte (July 6)
Angola
• Independence (November 11)
• Beginning of the civil war
(November 11)
Cambodia
The Khmer Rouge rise to power and
beginning of Cambodian genocide. Pol
Pot becomes Communist Dictator
United Nations
• Final Act of the Helsinki Conference
on Security and Cooperation
in Europe (CSCE) affirms the
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights
• Declaration on Rights of Disabled
Persons is adopted
1977
El Salvador
The general Carlos Humberto Romero
becomes President in rigged elections,
and the Farabundo Marti National
Liberation Front is founded to fight the
military dictatorship (February)
Djibouti
Independence (June 27) South Africa
Assassination of Steve Biko
(September 12)
Argentina
“Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo,” the
mothers of students who disappeared
under the repression of Videla’s rule
stage demonstrations
Nobel Peace Prize
Amnesty International wins the Nobel
Peace Prize
United States of America
• United States signs the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• A human rights bureau is created
within the United States Department
of State. Its first reports on human
rights are issued that year
1978
France
The European Court of Human Rights
finds the British government guilty
of mistreating prisoners in Northern
Ireland, but not guilty of torture
(January 18)
Nobel Peace Prize
Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin win
the Nobel Peace Prize
7 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline
1980
1982
1985
El Salvador
Archbishop Oscar Romero is
assassinated (March 24)
Zimbabwe
Independence (April 18). Election
of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe
(April 18)
Iran-Iraq
Beginning of the Iran-Iraq war
(September 22)
Senegal
President Senghor resigns
(31 December), Abdou Diouf elected
President
Peru
End of the military regime, election
of a right-wing civil government
El Salvador
The civilian José Napoleón Duarte is
elected President of El Salvador by an
overwhelming majority, the first civilian
President since 1931
United States of America
• The U.S. Supreme Court orders
the federal government to pay some
$120 million dollars to eight tribes of
Sioux Indians in reparation for Native
American land seized illegally by the
government in 1877
• U.S. signs the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women
Confederation between Senegal and The
Gambia (February 1)
Brazil
After 20 years of dictatorship, a civil
government is established. Tancredo
Neves is elected President (January)
USSR
Mikhaïl Gorbatchev is elected General
Secretary of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union (March 11)
United Nations
Committee on Economic, Social,
and Cultural Rights is established.
International Convention against
Apartheid in Sports is adopted. Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies for the
Advancement of Women is adopted
United States of America
The U.S. Senate votes to impose
economic sanctions on South Africa
in protest against the government’s
apartheid policy
1981
Senegal
Abdou Diouf becomes
President
(January 1)
Egypt
President Sadat is assassinated by
soldiers
(October 6)
El Salvador U.S.-trained Atlacatl death squads
massacre 900 people in El Mozote
(December)
United States of America
Ronald Reagan funds “Contras” based
in Honduras to fight Nicaragua’s
communist regime of the Sandinistas
Argentina Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla
relinquishes power to Roberto Viola after
6,500 dissidents have “disappeared”
United Nations
• African Charter of Human and
Peoples’ Rights is adopted by the
Organisation for African Unity (OAU)
• Declaration on the Elimination of
All Forms of Intolerance Based on
Religion or Belief is adopted after
nearly 20 years of drafting
8 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline
1983
France
• Léopold Sédar Senghor is elected
a member of l’Académie Française
(June 2), the first African to sit at the
Académie
• Beurs’ March, the March for Equality
and against Racism (October 15 –
December 3)
Grenada
Following the murder of Prime minister
Maurice Bishop (October 19), American
troops arrive to overthrow the New Jewel
Movement
Argentina
Raul Alfonsin’s election marks the end of
eight years of military dictatorship during
which 30,000 Argentineans were killed
Ethiopia
Worst famine to hit the country in a
century begins
1984
Guinea
President Ahmed Sékou Touré dies
(March 26)
India
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is killed by
two bodyguards (October 31)
Ethiopia
Famine kills 500,000 people
Nicaragua
Daniel Ortega Saavedra is appointed
President by the Sandinista junta
Nobel Peace Prize
Desmund Tutu wins the Nobel Peace
Prize
United Nations
Convention Against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment is adopted
1986
Haiti
Fall of Duvalier’s dictatorship (February)
Philippines
The ‘People Power Revolution’
overthrows President Ferdinand Marcos’
dictatorship
(February 25)
United States of America
The Iran-Contra Affair in the U.S.
reveals that the U.S. sold arms to Iran to
fund the contras in Nicaragua
1987
Burkina Faso
President Thomas Sankara is
assassinated during an anti-revolutionary
military coup
(October 15)
Israel
Beginning of the Palestinian Intifada
(December)
1988
1990
1992
Burundi
Inter-ethnic violence causes thousands of
victims
(August)
Chile
Augusto Pinochet steps down as
President after a referendum (October 5)
Pakistan
Return to civil government with the
election of Prime Minister Benazir
Butto, daughter of Zulficar Ali Bhutto
(December)
Namibia
The Tripartite Accord grants
independence to Namibia. The accords
are signed by representatives of the
governments of Angola, Cuba and South
Africa (December 22)
United States of America
After 40 years of lobbying by nongovernmental organisations, the United
States ratifies the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide, also known as the Genocide
Convention
South Africa
Nelson Mandela is released after 28
years in custody (February 11)
Namibia
Independence (March 21)
First Gulf War
Begins (August 2 – February 28, 1991)
Kuwait
Invasion by Iraq (August 2-4)
United States of America
The Americans With Disabilities Act
is signed into law, establishing “a clear
and comprehensive prohibition of
discrimination on the basis of disability”
United Nations
• Adoption by the World Summit for
Children of the World Declaration
on the Survival, Protection and
Development of Children and of the
Plan of Action for Implementing the
World Declaration
• International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their
Families is adopted
El Salvador
The Chapultepec Peace Accords brought
peace to El Salvador after more than a
decade of civil war (January 16)
South Africa
Referendum on ending Apartheid, where
only whites were permitted to vote
(March 17). Failed Convention for a
Democratic South Africa (CODESA);
Boipatong massacre leads to the African
National Congress pulling out of
negotiations (June - September)
Algeria
State of emergency is declared following
the assassination of President Mohamed
Boudiaf (June 29)
United States of America
United States ratifies the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Nobel Peace Prize
Rigoberta Menchú Tum wins the Nobel
Peace Prize
United Nations
Security Council resolution condemns
“ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (UN). Security Council
resolution demands that all detention
camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina be
closed
1989
United States of America
Exxon Valdez spills millions of gallons of
oil on off the coast of Alaska (March 24)
China
In Tiananmen Square, Chinese
authorities massacre student
demonstrators struggling for democracy
(April 15 – June 4)
South Africa
F. W. de Klerk elected President
(September 20); First public rally of the
African National Congress (ANC) (29
October)
Germany
Berlin Wall falls (November 10)
Canada
Montreal Massacre, in which 14 women
students at the École Polytechnique
were systematically killed and 13 other
students wounded by a lone gunman
before killing himself (December 6)
France
Magiciens de la Terre (Magicians of the
Earth) is held at the Centre George
Pompidou and the Grande Halle at the
Parc de la Villette in Paris. Seeking to
represent art from all around the world,
curator Jean-Hubert Martin shares the
spotlight then too often reserved for
Western art with artists from Africa,
Latin America, Asia, and Australia
Nobel Peace Prize
Dalai Lama wins the Nobel Peace Prize
9 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline
1991
South Africa
Abolition of discriminatory laws on land
and housing (June 5)
Haiti
A coup d’état overthrows Aristide
(September 29)
Algeria
Civil War begins (December)
End of the USSR
The country is dissolved into 15 postSoviet states (December 25). This is
often seen as the official end of the
Cold War
1993
South Africa
Negotiations resume to hold multiracial
elections and draft a constitution
(March). President F.W. de Klerk
publicly apologizes for the Apartheid
(April 29)
Eritrea
Independence (May 24)
Ivory Coast
President Félix Houphouët-Boigny dies
(December 7)
United Nations
• Criminal Tribunal on the Former
Yugoslavia is established in the Hague
as an ad hoc international tribunal
to prosecute persons responsible for
crimes against humanity and war
crimes committed since 1991. These
trials represent the first international
war crimes tribunal since the
Nuremberg Trials following WWII
• The Second World Conference on
Human Rights convenes in Vienna,
where the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action is adopted
• United Nations General Assembly
creates post of High Commissioner for
Human Rights
1994
Mexico
Guerrilla rebellion in Mexico by the
Zapatista National Liberation Army
(January)
Rwanda
The Rwandan Genocide against Tutsi
and non-racist Hutus (April – July)
South Africa
Nelson Mandela is elected President in
the first democratic elections, marking
the end of Apartheid
(May)
Haiti
The U.S. arrives in Haiti and reinstate
Jean-Bertrand Aristide as President
(October)
United Nations
UN Decade for Human Rights
Education is declared on December 23,
1994 until 2005 (UN)
10 — Human Rights Human Wrongs / Timeline