Dataset Variables

Variables in the dataset are:

id: A unique identifier for each atrocity, using the country in which it occurred concatenated with the start year.

crisis: A shorthand indicator of the crisis during which the atrocity occurred, such as a “civil war”, “war of independence”, “partition”, or other common name frequently used to refer to the context of the event by scholars familiar with the country’s history.

• cause.asplanned, cause.shift, cause.defeat. Three binary indicators (mutually exclusive) labeling the type of ending we assigned to each case. cause.asplanned equals one if the atrocity was determined to have ended as planned, and zero otherwise. cause.shift equals one if the atrocity was determined to end through strategic shift. cause.defeat equals one if the atrocity was determined to end through defeat of the primary perpetrator.

• secondary. This variable offers a secondary coding in the nine cases where we contemplate that other analysts might have come to a difference conclusion. It takes the value “P” for endings as planned, the value “S” for endings by strategic shift, and the value “D” for endings by defeat of the primary perpetrator.

• secondary.note. A text note indicating the logic by which the secondary coding could be chosen.

• atrocitybegin, atrocityend. The years in which the atrocity is coded to begin and to end.

• conflictbegin, conflictend. Dates of the associated multi-sided armed conflict (if present), as coded by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset version 19.1, Pettersson, H¨ogbladh & Oberg, 2019). ¨ 2

• primaryperp. A name for the primary perpetrator in the atrocity.

fatalities. Estimated number of civilian fatalities.

• normalize. Whether (0/1) the perpetrator remained in power and normalized relations with the target group(s) thereafter (if the regime was the primary perpetrator).

• leaderchange. If same regime remains intact at the ending, but a key leader is shifted out of power, whether through elite coup, natural death or democratic change.

• defeatdom, defeatint. Whether (0/1) the primary perpetrator was militarily defeated at the hands of domestic (defeatdom) and/or international (defeatint) forces.

• shiftdom, shiftint. Wheter (0/1) a strategic shift was substantially influenced by domestic (shiftom) and/or by international (shiftint) actors.

withdrawalint. Whether (0/1) a withdrawal of forces occurred during the atrocities and that was associated with a reduction in atrocities.

popularviolence. Whether (0/1) the violence involved popular participation or was conducted only by members of specialized organized groups;

• initiatornotworst. Whether (0/1) atrocities occurred at a higher level under a perpetrator who was not the considered to have been the first.

• nsa.primary, nsa.secondary. Whether (0/1) the primary perpetrator was a non-state
actor (NSA); whether the secondary perpetrator (if there was one) was a non-state actor.

subsequent. Whether (0/1) a more than 5,000 civilians killed by a new perpetrator, or
the same perpetrator targeting a new and distinct group, within two years of ending the
primary atrocity event.

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