List of political self-immolations

This is a list of notable people who committed self-immolation, the act of setting themselves on fire for political reasons. Non-political self-immolations are not included in the list.

List

1940s

Date	Name	Age	Country	Protesting	Notes and references
1948	Kuo-shun	–	Republic of China (Communist-controlled Zone)	Persecution of Buddhists and destruction of sacred objects by the government of Mao Zedong	Buddhist monk from Vietnam.^[1] In the city of Harbin, he sat in the lotus position on a pile of sawdust and soybean oil and self-immolated.^[2]^[3]

1950s

Date	Name	Age	Country	Protesting	Notes and references
December 8, 1959	Poh Kwong	–	Thailand	Loss of money intended to build a new hospital, was possibly swindled through government corruption	Buddhist monk from China. In the city of Bangkok, he sat on a five-foot pyre and attempted to self-immolate before being stopped by police.^[1]^[4]

1960s

Date	Name	Age	Country	Protesting	Notes and references
June 11, 1963	Thích Quảng Đức	66	South Vietnam	Persecution of Buddhists by the government of Ngô Đình Diệm	Led to several other monks and nuns committing the same act before Diệm was toppled. The photo, photographed by Malcolm Browne, became well-associated with his political protest.
August 4, 1963	Thích Nguyen Huong	20s			Buddhist monk. Self-immolated in the town center of Phan Thiết. Government soldiers removed his body before other monks could recover it.^[5]
August 13, 1963	Thích Thanh Tucd	17			Buddhist novice monk.^[5]
August 15, 1963	Diet Quảng	–			Buddhist nun. Self-immolated in the courtyard of Từ Đàm Pagoda in Huế.^[5]
August 16, 1963	Thích Tieu	71			Buddhist monk. He soaked his robes in gasoline and self-immolated in the courtyard of Từ Đàm Pagoda in Huế. Before, he announced over the loudspeaker that he was going to commit suicide in demand for Buddhist rights. After his death (the third self-immolation in one week), the government declared martial law, sparking more Buddhist protests.^[5]
October 27, 1963	Ho Dan Van	35–45			Buddhist monk. Dressed in civilian clothing, he was dropped off by a motorcyclist in front of a Catholic cathedral in Saigon, where he squatted in a lotus-fashion, poured gasoline in his lap and struck a match.^[6]
December 1963	unidentified female		South Vietnam	Vietnam War	Three men self-immolated in the next week, all for personal reasons.^[7]
January 25, 1964	Kizappazuvur Chinnasamy	27	India	Imposition of Hindi over the Tamil language	Inspired 5 other self-immolations.^[5]^[8]
1965	Keeranoor Muthu	21			Hotel worker^[5]
January 26, 1965	Kodambakkam Sivalingam	21			Madras city government employee^[5]
January 27, 1965	Virugambakkam Aranganathan	33			Worked in Madras for the Telephone Department.^[5]
February 11, 1965	Ayampalayam Veerappan	26			School headmaster^[5]
February 1965	Satyamangalam Muthu	21			Farmer^[5]
March 1965	Mayavaram Sarangapani	20			Student^[5]
March 16, 1965	Alice Herz	82	United States	Vietnam War	Women Strike for Peace member. Self-immolated on a street corner in Detroit, Michigan.^[5]
July 23, 1965	Huh Jik	62	South Korea	Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea	Worked for a minor political party. Self-immolated on the steps of the Seoul Capitol.^[5]
October 12, 1965	Hiroko Hayasaki	36	United States	Vietnam War	Japanese American Buddhist. Self-immolated in San Diego, California.^[5]
November 2, 1965	Norman Morrison	31			Quaker from Baltimore.^[5] Committed act below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office in front of his one-year-old daughter.^[9]
November 9, 1965	Roger Allen LaPorte	22			Catholic Worker. Self-immolated in front of the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City.^[10]
November 9, 1965	Celene Jankowski	24			Mother whose three-month-old baby girl died in October 1965. Her brother had also died in the Korean War. Self-immolated in front of her home in South Bend, Indiana.^[5] Survived.
April 7, 1966	Nikolai Didyk	26	Soviet Union	Government refusal to let him fight in the Vietnam War	Died on April 10.^[11]
May 28, 1966	Thích Nữ Thanh Quảng	55	South Vietnam	Government of Nguyễn Cao Kỳ and United States support of the regime (Buddhist Uprising)	Buddhist nun.^[5]^[12]
May 28, 1966	Ho Thi Thieu	58			Buddhist laywoman. Self-immolated in pagoda in Saigon. Thousands were present, and monks covered her body with a Buddhist flag.^[5]^[12]
May 28, 1966	Thích Nữ Vinh Ngoc	19			Buddhist nun. Self-immolated in Huế.^[5]^[13]
May 29, 1966	Name missing	–			Buddhist monk self-immolated in Da Lat.^[12]
May 31, 1966	Nguyen Thi Van	17			Buddhist laywoman. Self-immolated outside a pagoda in Huế.^[5]^[13]
May 31, 1966	Name missing	–			Buddhist^[13]
May 31, 1966	Name missing	–			Buddhist^[13]
June 4, 1966	Thích Nữ Dien Dinh	26			Buddhist nun. Self-immolated in the courtyard of a small pagoda in Da Nang.^[5]^[13]
June 4, 1966	Thích Nữ Bao Luan	24			Buddhist nun. Self-immolated in the same location as Thích Du Dien Dinh in Da Nang.^[5]^[13]
June 4, 1966	Thích Dieu Nữ Tri	–			Buddhist nun. Self-immolated in the same location as Thích Du Dien Dinh in Da Nang.^[5]^[13]
June 4, 1966	Name missing	–			Novice Buddhist monk. Self-immolated in Quảng Trị^[13]
June 17, 1966	Woman; name missing	–			^[5]
July 12, 1966	Liangqing	70	China	Destruction of the Famen Temple	Buddhist monk^[14]
May 16, 1967	Nhất Chi Mai	34	South Vietnam	Vietnam War	Buddhist nun^[5]^[15]
August 18, 1967	John Copping	33	United States	Vietnam War	Navy veteran.^[16]
October 3, 1967	Thích Nữ Tri	–	South Vietnam	1967 South Vietnamese presidential election	Buddhist nun^[5]^[17]
October 8, 1967	Woman; name missing	–	South Vietnam	1967 South Vietnamese presidential election	–
October 15, 1967	Florence Beaumont	55	United States	Vietnam War	^[18]
October 22, 1967	Thích Nữ Hue	–	South Vietnam	1967 South Vietnamese presidential election	Buddhist nun^[5]^[17]
November 1, 1967	Thích Nữ Thuong	–	South Vietnam	1967 South Vietnamese presidential election	Buddhist nun^[5]^[17]
November 12, 1967	Yui Chunoshin [eo]	73	Japan	Vietnam War	Esperantist^[19]^[20]^[21]
December 4, 1967	Erik Thoen	27	United States		Zen Buddhist. Self-immolated in Sunnyvale, California.^[5]
March 19, 1968	Ronald Brazee	16	United States		Student. Died 5 weeks later.^[22]
September 8, 1968	Ryszard Siwiec	59	Poland	Poland's participation in Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia	Died 4 days later.^[23]
November 5, 1968	Vasyl Makukh	40	Soviet Union	Soviet rule in Ukraine	Self-immolated on Khreshchatyk, Kyiv's main street, while shouting "Colonialism out of Ukraine!" and "Long live a free Ukraine!"^[24]
January 16, 1969	Jan Palach	20	Czechoslovakia	Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia	Student. Inspired other self-immolations in Soviet satellite states.^{[citation needed]}
January 20, 1969	Sándor Bauer	17	Hungary	Communist rule in Hungary and Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia	Died 3 Days later^[5]^[25]
January 20, 1969	Josef Hlavatý	25	Czechoslovakia	Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia	Blue-collar worker. Self-immolated in Plzeň. Died 5 days later.^[5]^[26]
January 22, 1969	Miroslav Malinka	–			Blue-collar worker. Referenced Jan Palach. Self-immolated in Brno.^[5]^[26]
January 26, 1969	Jan Bereš	16			Apprentice. Referenced Jan Palach. Self-immolated in Cheb.^[26]
February 10, 1969	Mykola Bereslavsky	45	Soviet Union	Soviet rule in Ukraine	^[5]
February 25, 1969	Jan Zajíc	19	Czechoslovakia	Communist rule in Czechoslovakia	Student^{[citation needed]}
April 2, 1969	Evžen Plocek	39	Czechoslovakia		Businessman^{[citation needed]}
April 9, 1969	Eliyahu Rips	20	Soviet Union		Survived. Later became professor of mathematics.^{[citation needed]}
May 30, 1969	Bruce Mayrock	20	United States	Genocide against Biafra in the Nigerian Civil War	Columbia University student. Died several hours later.^[27]

1970s

Date	Name	Age	Country	Protesting	Notes and references
February 13, 1970	Márton Moyses	28	Romania	Communist rule in Romania	^[5]
May 6, 1970	Robert Rex Vice	27	United States	Vietnam War and Kent State Shootings	Non-student protester at Wabash College demonstration.^[28] Died later in hospital. [1][2]
May 10, 1970	George Winne Jr.	23	United States	Vietnam War	Student at the University of California, San Diego. Died the following day.^[29]
June 4, 1970	Thích Nữ Lien Tap	24	South Vietnam	Vietnam War	Buddhist nun^[5]^[17]
September 19, 1970	Kostas Georgakis	22	Greece	Military rule in Greece	Student at the University of Genoa^{[citation needed]}
September 19, 1970	Joseba Elosegi	54	Spain	Bombing of Guernica in 1937. Independence of the Basque Country.	Survived^[5]
November 13, 1970	Jeon Tae-il	22	South Korea	Labor conditions and the government's opposition to reform	^[5]
May 1971	Nguyen Thi Co	–	South Vietnam	Vietnam War	Buddhist nun^[5]^[17]
May 1971	Thích Nữ Tinh Nhuan	–			Buddhist nun^[5]^[17]
August 16, 1971	Man; name missing	–			Vietnam War veteran^[5]
August 16, 1971	Nguyen Minh Dang	37			Vietnam War veteran^[5]
October 1971	Thích Nữ Tinh Cuong	–			Buddhist nun^[5]^[17]
1972	Thích Nữ Dien Han	–			Buddhist nun^[5]^[17]
May 14, 1972	Romas Kalanta	19	Soviet Union	Communist rule in Lithuania	Inspired largest post-war riots in occupied Lithuania and the USSR and 13 other self-immolations
May 29, 1972	V. Stonys	24	Soviet Union	Communist rule in Lithuania	Self-immolated in Varėna.^[5]
June 6, 1972	Huguette Gaulin	28	Canada		French Canadian novelist who publicly self-immolated in Montreal while screaming "You have destroyed the beauty of the world!"^[30]
September 27, 1972	unidentified male	37	Denmark	Protest against European Common Market and his unemployment	Survived with extensive second-degree burns.^[31]
October 7, 1972	Willie B. Phillips	27	United States	Racism against African-Americans	Self-immolated at Atlanta parade. Died in hospital.^[32]
1974	Thích Nữ Du Dieu	–	South Vietnam	Vietnam War	Buddhist nun^[5]^[17]
August 15, 1974	Phan Van Lua	33	South Vietnam	Anti-Communism	Vietnam War veteran discharged with wounds self-immolated in front of the National Assembly. Died at scene.^[33]
August 10, 1976	Antanas Kalinauskas	19	Soviet Union	Communist rule in Lithuania	In Soviet Army barracks in Gulbene, Latvia. Died the following day.
August 22, 1976	Oskar Brüsewitz	47	East Germany	Communist repression of religion in East Germany	Lutheran pastor^[34]
February 10, 1977	Alain Escoffier	27	France	Communism	Member of the Party of New Forces, a neo-fascist political party.^{[citation needed]}
September 1, 1977	Leopoldo Aragon		Sweden	Protest against Torrijos–Carter Treaties	A Panamanian national self-immolated in front of the U.S. embassy in Stockholm.^[35]
November 16, 1977	Hartmut Gründler	37	West Germany	Atomic policy^{[citation needed]}
January 21, 1978	Oleksa Hirnyk	65	Soviet Union	Communist rule in Ukraine^{[citation needed]}
February 8, 1978	Erika Ruppert	24	West Germany	Political protest	Ruppert and Helmut Kleinknecht wrote a letter a day before their act in which they explained the reasoning behind their decision, and their affiliation with Ananda Marga. The next morning, she and Kleinknecht doused themselves with gasoline and self-immolated at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin.^[36]^[37]
February 8, 1978	Helmut Kleinknecht	28	West Germany	Political protest	Self-immolated along with Erika Ruppert at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin.^[36]^[37]
May 4, 1978	Andre Kilchinski	41	Israel	Protest against Nazism	Occurred on Holocaust Day. Rescued with slight burns.^[38]
June 14, 1978	Elizabeth Weniger	25	Philippines	Political protest	Swiss-born Elizabeth Weniger self-immolated at Rizal Park in Manila after distributing leaflets explaining her reasons.^[39]^[40]^[41]
June 23, 1978	Musa Mamut	46	Soviet Union	Discrimination against Crimean Tatars in the Soviet residence permit system, which prohibited nearly all Crimean Tatars who were deported in 1944 from returning to their place of birth	Mamut was born and raised Crimea until the NKVD deported all Crimean Tatars to Central Asia in May 1944. He returned to Crimea in 1975 and was later arrested and charged for not having a residence permit to live there, despite being born in the peninsula; the residence permit system was designed to prevent exiled Crimean Tatars from returning to their homeland. Then police came to arrest him on 23 June 1978 Mamut self-immolated rather than being deported again and died 5 days later.^[42]
October 3, 1978	Lynette Phillips	24	Switzerland	Social protest	Lynette Phillips had previously planned to self-immolate outside the British Houses of Parliament in London, but upon receiving word of this, British authorities deported her. She changed her plan and decided to self-immolate outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. She protested against "inhumanity, injustice and irrationality prevalent in our society". She died at the scene.^[43]
December 28, 1978	Chiao Shaoying	40	Taiwan	Nationalism	Taken to hospital in poor condition.^[44]

1980s

Date	Name	Age	Country	Protesting	Notes and references
March 21, 1980	Walenty Badylak	76	Poland	Katyn massacre	Home Army veteran self-immolated chained to a well in the Main Square, Kraków.^[45]^[46]
March 21, 1981	Per-Axel Arosenius	60	Sweden	Taxes^{[citation needed]}
May 18, 1982	Mahmut Zengin Ferhat Kurtay Eşref Anyık Necmi Öner		Turkey	Detention conditions in Prison	The four were members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party protesting the detention conditions in the Diyarbakır prison after the coup d'état in 1980.^[47]
May 26, 1982	Semra Ertan	25	West Germany	Racism towards Turkish workers in Germany	Writer and poet.^[48]
August 10, 1982	Artin Penik	61	Turkey	ASALA attack at Esenboğa International Airport^{[citation needed]}
November 2, 1983	Sebastián Acevedo	52	Chile	Kidnapping of his children by the Chilean police during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet	^[49]
July 10, 1984	Rita Christenson	23	United States	Pornography	Survived initially.^[50]
February 2, 1985	Mehmet Karahüseyinov	40	Bulgaria	Treatment of Turks in Bulgaria	Self-immolated after Bulgarian government tried to change his name. Survived heavily wounded, died 5 years later.^[51]
February 14, 1986	Orland Payne McCafferty	58	United States	Ronald Reagan's policies
February 25, 1986	Marko Djukic	63	Canada	Trial to deport Andrija Artukovic	Croatian/Canadian self-immolated on University Ave. in Toronto across from US Consulate.^[52] Survived for many years afterwards.
August 31, 1987	Antoine Thurel	56	United States	Religious persecution in Haiti	Cab driver from Haiti. Self-immolated in front of Statehouse in Boston. Died at the scene.^[53]
September 10, 1988	Mehrdad Imen	32	United States	Protest against the executions of political prisoners committed by the Khomeini government as well as human rights abuses in Iran	Los Angeles resident originally from Iran. Flew from LA to NYC. Participated in a protest and self-immolated in front of the UN shortly after protest ended. Died the next day.^[54]
March 2, 1989	Liviu Cornel Babeș	47		Communist rule in Romania	Self-immolated on ski slope. Died 2 hours later.^[55]
March 2, 1989	Vytautas Vičiulis	37		Communist rule in Lithuania^{[citation needed]}
March 24, 1989	Kailash Pawar			To draw attention to plight of Bhopal gas victims and protest public indifference	Original story published in The Hindu, March 26, 1990.^[56]
April 7, 1989	Cheng Nan-jung	41	Taiwan	For freedom of speech and Taiwan independence
May 19, 1989	Chan I-hua	32	Taiwan	For freedom of speech and Taiwan independence	During funeral procession of Cheng Nan-jung.^[57]
October 24, 1989	Shavkat Yarullin	40	Soviet Union	In protest of exile and mistreatment of Crimean Tatars by the government	Self-immolated in front of a government building. Died several hours later.^[58]
December 14, 1989	Seidamet Balji		Soviet Union	In protest of exile and mistreatment of Crimean Tatars by the government	While being forced to leave Yalta he doused himself with gasoline and self-immolated. Survived after being extinguished, but said he would do it again if he had to live in exile for longer.^[58]

1990s

Date	Name	Age	Country	Protesting	Notes and references
March 21, 1990	Zekiye Alkan		Turkey	Ban of Newroz celebrations	Medical student who self-immolated on Newroz.^[59]^[60]
April 26, 1990	Stanislovas Žemaitis	52	Soviet Union	Communist rule in Lithuania	Protesting Soviet economic blockade of Lithuania. Died the following day in Moscow hospital.^{[citation needed]}
April 29, 1990	Sunghee Park	19	South Korea	Political situation in South Korea	Self-immolated during students' protest against the South Korean regime. Died May 19, 1991.^{[citation needed]}
May 9, 1990	Rimantas Daugintis	55	Soviet Union	Communist rule in Lithuania	Lithuanian sculptor self-immolated on Hungarian–Soviet border. Died a few days later.
June 21, 1990	unidentified male	32	People's Republic of Bulgaria	Alleged election fraud	Initially survived.^[61]
September 19, 1990	Rajiv Goswami	19	India	Reservation in India	Survived^[62]
October 14, 1990	Thanawut Klingchuea	20	Thailand	Government of Chatichai Choonhavan	Ramkhamhaeng University student^[63]
December 9, 1990	Timothy Brown	48	United States	Gulf War	Self-described Vietnam War veteran set himself on fire at an abandoned cannery.^[64]
February 18, 1991	Gregory Levey	30	United States	Gulf War	Took place in Amherst Common, Massachusetts.^[65]
September 21, 1991	Giorgi Abesadze	35	Georgia	Looming civil war in Georgia	Physician^[66]
March 21, 1992	Rahşan Demirel		Turkey	Treatment of Kurds by Turkey	She self-immolated on Newroz.^[60]
April 6, 1993	Binh Gia Pham	43	United States	Persecution of Buddhists in Vietnam	Binh Gia Pham had five friends tape his self-immolation outside Boston. Died at the scene.^[67]^[68]
April 29, 1993	Graham Bamford	48	United Kingdom	War in Bosnia and Herzegovina	'The British army must not be a guard of honour at a mass funeral. Bosnian babies, children, and womenfolk are waiting for the politicians to do what they know they should – give them military protection.'^[69]
February 21, 1994	Homa Darabi	54	Iran	Legal obligation under the Islamic Criminal Code (Art. 139) for women to wear the headscarf in public^[70]	Pediatrician, political activist. Died the following day
March 21, 1994	Nilgün Yıldırım and Bedriye Taş			Repression of Kurdish identity and traditions	They immolated themselves on Newroz, an important festivity for the Kurds^[60]
March 9, 1995	unidentified male		United States	"Genocide and human rights violations" in Poland; planned deportation to Poland	Self-immolated in an International Red Cross office.^[71]
April 25, 1995	Reinhold Elstner [de]	75	Germany	"Slander and demonization" of German soldiers after World War II	Wehrmacht veteran. Died in a Munich hospital 12 hours later.^[72]
September 3, 1995	Sabine Kratze	25	Vietnam	Trial of six Buddhist monks^{[citation needed]}
December 15, 1995	Abdul Raoob	23	India	Killing of the Sri Lankan Tamils	Self-immolated himself in Trichy, Tamil Nadu over the Killings of Sri Lankan Tamils committed by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government and to Protest against India playing the Sri Lanka Cricket team in Chennai.^[73]
October 22, 1996	Kathy Change	46	United States	For directly democratic community-based self-government^{[citation needed]}
January 13, 1998	Alfredo Ormando	39	Italy	Catholic Church's condemnation of homosexuality^[74]
April 27, 1998	Thupten Ngodup	60	India	Political situation in Tibet	Ex-monk. In protest of police interference with unto-death hunger-strike in Delhi. Died 2 days later in hospital after visit by the Dalai Lama.^[75]^[76]^[77]
February 16, 1999	Necla Coşkun	14	United Kingdom	Arrest of Abdullah Öcalan	Survived^[78]^[79]
February 1999	Zülkuf Yilmaz		Switzerland	Arrest of Abdullah Öcalan	Survived^[80]

2000s

Date	Name	Age	Country	Protesting	Notes and references
January 23, 2001	various	–	China	See Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident	^[81]
April 2, 2001	Shahraz Kayani	48	Australia	Government refusal to grant entry to his wife and daughters	Pakistani refugee^[82]
December 1, 2001	Eduardo Miño	50	Chile	Pizarreño asbestos disaster	^[83]
November 15, 2002	Milos Redzepovic	34	Germany	Planned deportation of his family to Serbia	Doused himself in gasoline and self-immolated inside the town hall of Syke. Died the following day.^[84]
March 6, 2003	Zdeněk Adamec	19	Czech Republic	Iraq War	Self-immolated in Prague. Died at the scene.^[85]^[86]
June 23, 2003	Neda Hassani	26	United Kingdom	Raid on and arrest of members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran	Self-immolated in front of the French embassy in London. Died at the scene. There were at least 4 other self-immolations protesting the same.^[87]
July 21, 2004	Mordehai (Hamimo) Cohen	30	Israel	Rejection of work license	Self-immolated during a City Hall assembly.^[88]
October 5, 2004	Maggy Mufu Delvaux	44	Luxembourg	Protest against institutionalized racism	Self-immolated in a public place^[89] Money problems resulting from the Luxembourgish government denying her family the authorisation to open a garage despite meeting all the legal requirements and suing the State for discrimination have driven the woman to desperately plead her case publicly after writing an open letter to the Prime Minister warning him of what she was about to do. However no help was sent to her to prevent her immolation.^[90]
August 17, 2005	Yelena Businov	54	Israel	Protest against the Israeli disengagement from Gaza	^[91]
August 31, 2005	Baruch Ben Menahem	21	Israel	Protest against the Israeli disengagement from Gaza	^[92]
March 28, 2006	Eleftheria Fourtoulaki		Greece	Treatment of Kurds in Turkey	^[93]
June 11, 2006	Pravin Joshi	30	India	Screening of Fanaa	Died 9 days later.^[94]
October 31, 2006	Roland Weisselberg	73	Germany	Spread of Islam	Former Lutheran pastor self-immolated in a former monastery in Erfurt. Died the following day.^[95]
November 3, 2006	Malachi Ritscher	52	United States	War in Iraq	Died at the scene.^[96]
November 23, 2006	Lhakpa Tsering	23	India	Political situation in Tibet	Survived^[97]
March 7, 2007	Uddhav Bhandari	40	United Kingdom	Asylum policy	Nepali asylum seeker^[98]
April 1, 2007	Heo Se-uk	54	South Korea	South Korea – United States Free Trade Agreement	^[99]
October 1, 2008	Ramiro Guillén Tapia	65	Mexico	Protest against the dispossession and destruction of lands by the local government in the city of Xalapa	Self-immolated after being informed that the governor had canceled discussions to end the agrarian conflict.^[100]
January 29, 2009	Kumar Muthukumar	26	India	Killing of the Sri Lankan Tamils	Inspired several other self-immolations^[101]
February 12, 2009	Murugathasan Varnakulasingham	26	Switzerland	Killing of the Sri Lankan Tamils	Inspired several other self-immolations^[102]
February 27, 2009	Tapey	mid-20s	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Monk, Kirti Monastery, Ngaba. Shot^[103] by Chinese police while on fire, and then taken away by them. Current status unknown.^[103]
November 13, 2009	Tang Fu-zhen	47	China	Forced demolition of her home	Died 16 days later.^[104]
December 3, 2009	Kasoju Srikanth Chary	24	India	For statehood of Telangana	Died the following day.^[105]

2010s


Date	Name	Age	Country	Protesting	Notes and references
February 20, 2010	Siripur Yadaiah	19	India	For statehood of Telangana	Student. Self immolated at the main gate of Osmania University, Hyderabad. Died the next day in hospital.^[106]^[107]
July 31, 2010	Eshan Reddy	20s	India	For statehood of Telangana	Student. Self-immolated as an offering for a deity for the cause of statehood.^[108]
September 10, 2010	Ye Zhongcheng	79	China	Forced demolition of their home	Zhongcheng self-immolated with two family members and died on September 18.^[109]
December 17, 2010	Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi	26	Tunisia	Corruption in government	Inspired the Tunisian revolution leading to ouster of President Ben Ali and further revolutions of the Arab Spring. Died January 4, 2011.^[110]
January 16, 2011	Venugopala Reddy	20s	India	For statehood of Telangana	MCA student immolated himself near his university auditorium,died on the spot.^[111]
January 16, 2011	Mohsen Bouterfif	–	Algeria	Unemployment and housing	Inspired by Bouazizi's self-immolation in Tunisia.^[112]
January 16, 2011	Bhavani	18	India	For statehood of Telangana	^[113]
January 17, 2011	Yacoub Ould Dahoud	43	Mauritania	Political situation in Mauritania	^[114]
January 23, 2011	Unnamed man	60s	Saudi Arabia	Political situation in Saudi Arabia	^[115]
February 21, 2011	Mustafa	40	India	For statehood of Telangana	^[116]
March 16, 2011	Rigzin Phuntsog	21	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Monk of Kirti Monastery. In Ngaba, Amdo. Beaten by police before they extinguished the flames. Died in hospital.^[117]^[118]^[119]
June 15, 2011	Thomas James Ball	58	United States	Father's rights and family court injustice	Self immolated on the steps of a family courthouse in New Hampshire. Died on the spot.^[120]
August 15, 2011	Tsewang Norbu	29	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Monk of Nyitso monastery in Kham Tawu. In Tawu. Died soon afterwards.^[117]^[119]^[121]
August 28, 2011	Senkodi	27	India	Convictions in the Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi case	A Tamil woman immolated herself in front of a tahsil office at Kanchipuram to protest death sentences of A. G. Perarivalan, V. Sriharan (alias Murugan), and T. Suthendraraja (alias Santhan). She died the same day.^[122]
September 16, 2011	Apostolos Polyzonis	55	Greece	European sovereign-debt crisis	Self-immolated in front of a bank in Thessaloniki.^[123]
September 23, 2011	Andrzej Żydek	49	Poland	Opposition to the Civic Platform government	Occurred in front of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland. A letter to Donald Tusk was found attached to a bench in the park.^[124]^[125]
September 26, 2011	Lobsang Kelsang	18	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[126]^[127]
September 26, 2011	Lobsang Kunchok	18			^[126]^[127]
October 3, 2011	Kelsang Wangchuk	17			^[126]^[127]
October 7, 2011	Khaying	18			^[126]^[127]
October 7, 2011	Choephel	19			^[126]^[127]
October 15, 2011	Norbu Dramdul	19			^[126]
October 17, 2011	Tenzin Wangmo	20			^[126]^[127]
October 25, 2011	Dawa Tsering	38			^[127]^[128]
November 3, 2011	Palden Choetso	35			^[129]^[127]
November 4, 2011	Sherab Tsedor	25			Self-immolated in front of Chinese embassy in New Delhi, India. Survived^[130]
November 10, 2011	Bhutuk	40	Nepal		Survived.^[131]
December 1, 2011	Tenzin Phuntsok	46	Tibet		^[132]
January 6, 2012	Tennyi	20			^[133]
January 6, 2012	Tsultrim	20			^[133]
January 8, 2012	Lama Sopa	42			^[134]
January 14, 2012	Lobsang Jamyang	21			^[135]
February 8, 2012	Rigzin Dorjee	19			^[136]
February 9, 2012	Sonam Rabyang	42			^[137]
February 10, 2012	Tenzin Choedron	18			^[138]
February 13, 2012	Lobsang Gyatso	19			^[139]
February 17, 2012	Damchoe Sangpo	38			^[140]
February 19, 2012	Nangdrol	18			^[141]
March 3, 2012	Tsering Kyi	20			^[142]
March 4, 2012	Rinchen Kyi	32			^[143]
March 5, 2012	Dorjee	18			^[144]
March 10, 2012	Gepey	18			^[145]
March 14, 2012	Jamyang Palden	34			^[146]^[143]
March 16, 2012	Lobsang Tsultrum	20			^[143]
March 17, 2012	Sonam Thargyal (Dargye, Dhargay)	44			Farmer in Rebkong, Amdo. Died on the spot.^[147]^[148]^[143]
March 24, 2012	L Bhoja Naik	21	India	For statehood of Telangana	MBA student self-immolated in front of his college. Died on the spot.^[149]
March 26, 2012	Jamphel Yeshi	27		Political situation in Tibet	Layperson in Delhi. Died 2 days later in hospital.^[150]^[151]^[143]
March 26, 2012	Rajmouli	40		For statehood of Telangana	^[152]^[153]
March 26, 2012	B.R. Goud	n/a			^[152]
March 27, 2012	Pallavi	17			Died later in hospital.^[154]
March 27, 2012	Kalakanchi Ilaiah	30			Scrap dealer.^[155]
March 28, 2012	Lobsang Sherab	20	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Monk of Kirti Monastery.^[156] In Ngaba, Amdo. Died on the spot.^[157]^[158]^[143]
March 28, 2012	K Uppalaiah	30	India	For statehood of Telangana	^[159]
March 28, 2012	Sripuram Srikanth	23	India	For statehood of Telangana	Died on March 30 at the Osmania General Hospital.^[160]
March 30, 2012	Tenpa Dhargyal (Darjey)	22	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Monk of Tsodun monastery, Barkham, Amdo. Forcibly removed to hospital by Chinese security forces. Current status unknown.^[161]^[162]
March 30, 2012	Chimey Palden (Chime)	21	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Monk of Tsodun monastery, Barkham, Amdo. Forcibly removed to hospital by Chinese security forces.^[162]^[163] Died later that day around midnight.^[164]
March 30, 2012	Shyamapuri Shankar	24	India	For statehood of Telangana	^[165]
March 30, 2012	Bandavath Suresh	25	India	For statehood of Telangana	Suffered 50% burns.^[166]
April 6, 2012	Tulku Athup	47	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[167]
April 6, 2012	Atse	23			^[167]
April 19, 2012	Sonam	20's			^[168]
April 19, 2012	Choepak Kyab	20's			^[168]
May 27, 2012	Dorjee Tseten	19			^[169]
May 27, 2012	Dhargye	25			^[169]
May 30, 2012	Rikyo	33			^[170]
June 15, 2012	Tamding Thar	50's			^[171]
June 20, 2012	Tenzin Khedup	24			^[172]^[173]
June 20, 2012	Ngawang Norphel	22			^[172]^[173]
June 27, 2012	Dickyi Choezom	40's			^[174]
July 7, 2012	Tsewang Dorjee	22			^[175]
July 14, 2012	Moshe Silman	57	Israel	Social justice march in Tel Aviv	Social justice activist, suffered 90% burns.^[176] Died July 20 in hospital.^[177]
July 16, 2012	Zion Vaknin^[178]	46	Israel	Social injustice protest	At Beersheba's city hall, in protest of debts.^[179]
July 17, 2012	Lobsang Lozin	18	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[180]
July 18, 2012	Valentina Gerasimovna	57	Russia		A woman attempted to self-immolate at the public reception center of the ruling United Russia party in Novosibirsk. Earlier, she addressed the party's public reception center for legal advice as an apartment buyer.^[181]^[182] Died in a hospital.^[183]
July 20, 2012	Akiva Mafi	45	Israel	Social injustice protest	Akiva Mafi^[184] (45) Disabled IDF veteran sets himself on fire in Yehud, on behalf of wounded veterans.^[185]^[186] Died August 1, 2012.^[187] New agency established to prevent more cases.
July 30, 2012	Đặng Thị Kim Liêng	64	Vietnam	Against 2011 crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists^[188]	Tạ Phong Tần's mother. Self-immolated in the early morning. Died en route to the hospital.^[189]
August 6, 2012	Lobsang Tsultrim	21	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[190]
August 7, 2012	Dolkar Kyi	26			^[191]
August 10, 2012	Choepa	24			^[127]^[192]
August 13, 2012	Tashi	21			^[127]^[193]
August 13, 2012	Lungtok	20			^[127]^[193]
August 27, 2012	Lobsang Kelsang	18			^[127]^[194]
August 27, 2012	Dhamchoe	17			Younger brother of Tenzin Choedron who self-immolated on February 10, 2012.^[127]^[194]
September 13, 2012	Passang Lhamo	62	China		^[127]^[195]
September 29, 2012	Yungdrung	29	Tibet		^[127]^[196]
October 4, 2012	Gudrub	43			^[197]
October 6, 2012	Sangay Gyatso	26			^[198]
October 13, 2012	Tamdrin Dorje	50's			^[199]
October 20, 2012	Lhamo Kyab	27			^[200]
October 23, 2012	Dhondup	60's			^[201]
October 23, 2012	Dorjee Rinchen	58			^[202]
October 25, 2012	Tsepo	20			^[203]
October 25, 2012	Tenzin	25			^[203]
October 26, 2012	Lhamo Tseten	24			^[204]
October 26, 2012	Thubwang Gyab	23			^[205]
November 4, 2012	Dorjee Lhundrup	25			^[206]
November 7, 2012	Dorjee	15			^[207]
November 7, 2012	Samdup	16			^[207]
November 7, 2012	Dorjee Kyab	16			^[207]
November 7, 2012	Tamding Tso	23			^[207]
November 7, 2012	Tsegyal	27			^[207]
November 8, 2012	Kalsang Jinpa	18			^[208]
November 10, 2012	Gonpo Tsering	19			^[209]
November 12, 2012	Nyingkar Tashi	24			^[210]
November 12, 2012	Nyingchak Bum	18			^[210]
November 15, 2012	Khabum Gyal	18			^[211]
November 15, 2012	Tenzin Dolma	23			^[211]
November 16, 2012	David Alain	38	France		Buddhist monk from England.
November 17, 2012	Sangdhak Tsering	24	Tibet		^[212]
November 17, 2012	Chagmo Kyi	27			^[212]
November 19, 2012	Wangchen Norbu	25			^[213]
November 20, 2012	Tsering Dhondup	34			^[214]
November 22, 2012	Lubum Tsering	18			^[215]
November 22, 2012	Tamdrin Kyab	23			^[216]
November 23, 2012	Tamdrin Dorjee	29			^[217]
November 25, 2012	Sangay Dolma	17
November 26, 2012	Wangyal	18			^[218]
November 26, 2012	Kunchok Tsering	18			^[218]
November 26, 2012	Gonpo Tsering	24			^[218]
November 27, 2012	Kalsang Kyab	24			^[219]
November 27, 2012	Sangay Tashi	18			^[220]
November 28, 2012	Wande Khar	21			^[221]
November 29, 2012	Tsering Namgyal	31			^[221]
November 30, 2012	Kunchok Kyab	29			^[222]
December 2, 2012	Sangdag Kyab	17			^[127]^[223]
December 3, 2012	Lobsang Gedhun	29			^[224]
December 8, 2012	Pema Dorjee	23			^[225]
December 8, 2012	Kunchok Phelgye	24			^[225]
December 9, 2012	Wangchen Kyi	17			^[226]
January 12, 2013	Tsering Tashi	22			^[227]^[228]
January 18, 2013	Dupchok	28			^[229]
January 22, 2013	Kunchok Kyab	26			^[230]
February 3, 2013	Lobsang Namgyal	37			^[231]
February 13, 2013	Drukpa Khar	26			^[232]
February 13, 2013	Drupchen Tsering	25	Nepal		^[233]
February 17, 2013	Namlha Tsering	49	Tibet		^[234]
February 18, 2013	Trayan Marechkov	26	Bulgaria	Part of the 2013 Bulgarian protests	Died on the spot, at a central crossroads, in front of the central office of a private bank in Veliko Tarnovo.^[235]^[236]
February 19, 2012	Rinchen	17	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[237]
February 19, 2013	Sonam Dhargyal	18	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[237]
February 20, 2013	Plamen Goranov	36	Bulgaria	Part of the 2013 Bulgarian protests against the Borisov cabinet	Protested corruption and monopolies,^[238] and demanded the resignation of Varna's mayor Kiril Yordanov and the Municipal Council.^[239] Mountain climber and photographer. Set himself alight in front of the Varna municipality. Died 11 days later in hospital.^[240]^[241]
February 24, 2013	Phagmo Dhondup	24	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[242]
February 24, 2013	Tsesung Kyab	20s			^[243]^[244]
February 25, 2013	Sangdag	unknown			^[245]
February 26, 2013	Ventzislav Vasilev	53	Bulgaria	Part of the 2013 Bulgarian protests	Father of five.^[246] Set himself on fire in Radnevo. Died in hospital two weeks later.
March 13, 2013	Kunchok Wangmo	30's	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[247]
March 13, 2013	Dimitar Dimitrov	51	Bulgaria	Part of the 2013 Bulgarian protests	Set himself on fire in front of the Presidential Palace in Sofia. Hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.^[248]^[249]
March 16, 2013	Lobsang Thogmey	28	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[250]
March 20, 2013	Todor Yovchev	40	Bulgaria	Part of the 2013 Bulgarian protests	Died on March 22^[251]
March 24, 2013	Kalkyi	30	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[252]
March 25, 2013	Lhamo Kyab	43			^[253]
March 26, 2013	Kunchok Tenzin	28			^[254]
April 16, 2013	Jugtso	20			^[255]
April 24, 2013	Lobsang Dawa	20			^[256]
April 24, 2013	Kunchok Woeser	23			^[256]
May 27, 2013	Tenzin Sherab	30			^[257]
May 24, 2013	Bowatte Indarathana	30	Sri Lanka	Against the slaughtering of cattle and alleged conversion of Buddhists to minority religions in Sri Lanka^[258]
June 11, 2013	Wangchen Dolma	31	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[259]
June 12, 2013	Andrzej Filipiak	56	Poland	Unemployed receiving no help from the state	Occurred across the street from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland^[260]^[261]^[262]
July 20, 2013	Kunchok Sonam	18	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[263]
August 6, 2013	Karma Ngedon Gyatso	38	Nepal	Political situation in Tibet	^[264]
September 28, 2013	Shichung	41	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[265]
November 11, 2013	Tsering Gyal	20			^[266]
December 3, 2013	Kunchok Tseten	30			Nomad and father of 2 from Meruma in Ngaba. Self-immolated in Ngaba, died at the scene.^[267]
December 19, 2013	Tsultrim Gyatso	44			Monk from Amchok Monastery. Set himself on fire in Amchok, died at the scene^[268]
February 5, 2014	Phagmo Samdrup	27			Father of 2 and tantric practitioner from Tsekhog. Self-immolated near a school. Died a day after.^[269]
February 13, 2014	Lobsang Dorjee	25			Car wash owner from Ngaba. Self-immolated in Ngaba. Died 2 days later.^[270]
March 16, 2014	Jigme Tenzin	29			Monk from Sonag Monastery in Rebkong. Self-immolated outside Sonag Monastery, died at the scene.^[271]
March 16, 2014	Lobsang Palden	23			Monk from Kirti Monastery in Ngaba. Self-immolated in Ngaba. Died 5 days after.^[271]
March 29, 2014	Dolma	29			Nun from Kardze. Set herself on fire near Ba Choede Monastery in Kardze. Status unknown.^[272]
April 15, 2014	Thinley Namgyal	32			Nomad and farmer. Set himself on fire in Kardze. Died at the scene.^[273]
May 23, 2014	Le Thi Tuyet Mai	67	Vietnam	Chinese deployment of a giant oil rig in Vietnam.	Deputy head of executive committee of the Buddhist Youth movement in Ho Chi Minh City. Self-immolated at 5:30 am, died at the scene. Left banners saying "The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam will survive side by side with the Vietnamese people! All together against Chinese invasion! I offer my body as a torch to light the path of all patriots! Support the Declaration of UBCV Patriarch Thich Quang Do to oppose China’s invasion of Vietnamese waters and lands."^[274]
June 20, 2014	Thu Hoang	71	United States	In apparent response to the Hai Yang Shi You 981 standoff	Apparent protest by a Vietnamese man of a Chinese state-owned oil rig being placed into waters contested by Vietnam in the South China Sea^[275]
June 23, 2014	Charles R. Moore	79	United States	Social injustice^[276]	Set himself alight in a strip mall parking lot, died upon arrival at hospital.
September 16, 2014	Kunchok	42	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Set self on fire in front of a police station. Believed to have passed away shortly after protest.^[277]
September 17, 2014	Lhamo Tashi	22			Student from Amchok. Previously involved in the 2008 Tibetan unrest. set himself on fire in Tsoe City. Died at the scene^[278]
December 16, 2014	Sangye Khar	33			Nomad and father of 2. Set himself on fire near a police station and died at the scene after walking a few steps while on fire.^[279]
December 22, 2014	Tsepey	19			Nomad from Meruma. Set herself on fire near a market in Ngaba. Died at the scene.^[280]
December 23, 2014	Kalsang Yeshi	37			Monk from Nyitso Monastery in Tawu. Set himself on fire near his monastery and a police station. Died at the scene. Left a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama with the caption "The Six Million Tibetans are waiting for you."^[281]
March 5, 2015	Norchuk	47			Nomad and mother of 3. Set herself on fire at her village. Died at the scene^[282]
March 14, 2015	Younes Asakere	34	Iran	Discrimination of Ahwazi Arabs	Self-immolated after local authorities confiscated his vendor stall in Khorramshahr. Died on March 22.^[283] Inspired a mass protest which resulted in arrests of some 1,000 people and further self-immolations.^[284]
April 8, 2015	Yeshi Khandro	47	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Nun in Kardze. Set herself on fire near a police station calling for the freedom in Tibet and the long life and return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Tibet. Died shortly afterwards.^[285]
April 15, 2015	Neykyab	45			Father of 7 from Ngaba. Set himself on fire at his home and died at the scene. His brother in law Dhargye set himself on fire on May 27, 2012.^[286]
May 20, 2015	Tenzin Gyatso	35			Father of 4 from Tawu. Self-immolated in front of a government building, died shortly after.^[287]
May 27, 2015	Sangye Tso	36			Business owner and mother of 2. Set herself on fire in front of a government office in Tsoe. died at the scene. left a note saying "Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama, where is the panchen lama, and freedom for Tibetans!^[288]
July 9, 2015	Sonam Topgyal	26			monk from Nangchen county. Came to Kyegydo and set himself on fire in Gesar square. Died the following day. Left behind a note calling for the freedom of Tibet^[289]
August 12, 2015	Choi Yeon-yeol	80	South Korea	Japanese colonization of Korea and military conduct during World War II^[290]	Set himself on fire in a flower bed near the Japanese embassy in Seoul during an anti-Japan protest by "comfort women" (survivors of World War II Japanese military brothels). Injuries sustained were not life-threatening. Condition Pending.^[291]
August 27, 2015	Tashi Kyi	55	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Mother of 5. Self-immolated near her house in Sangchu and died at the scene. Her nephew Sangay Tashi self-immolated on November 27, 2012.^[292]
September 17, 2015	Shurmo	26	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Self-immolated at a bus stop. Protest was hidden for 5 years by the Chinese government.^[293]
October 18, 2015	Khodayar Amini	30	Australia	Australian refugee policy	Self-immolated in Melbourne during a video call to his advocates.^[294]
October 24, 2015	Erlan Bektibaev	20	Kazakhstan	Social injustice	Doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire on October 24 in front of the Taraz headquarters of the ruling Nur Otan party in Taraz. Bektibayev was rushed to hospital, but later died of his burns.^{[citation needed]}
November 13, 2015	S. Erdene		Mongolia	Protest of coal mine being sold to China as well as employees being laid off by the government	Coal mine union leader. Called for a press conference where he doused himself with an accelerant and proceeded to set himself on fire. Suffered burns on 40% of his body.^[295]
February 29, 2016	Dorjee Tsering	16	India	Political situation in Tibet	Died 3 days later in a New Delhi hospital. American presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held up his photograph while speaking to a Tibetan advocacy group.^[296]
February 29, 2016	Kalsang Wangdu	18	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	monk in Kardze. Self-immolated calling for Tibet's independence. Died on the way to the hospital.^[297]
March 19, 2016	Charles Ingram	51	United States	Corruption at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs	Military veteran walked nine miles to a military veteran hospital before self-immolated in the hospital's parking lot.^[298]
March 23, 2016	Sonam Tso	50s	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Mother of 5. Self-immolated at Sera Monastery. Died at the scene.^[299]
April 27, 2016	Omid Masoumali	23	Nauru	Australian refugee policy	Iranian refugee self-immolated at an Australian refugee detention camp during a visit to the camp by representatives of a UNHCR fundraising arm (Australia for UNHCR) who told the refugees to expect to remain on Nauru for "another ten years".^[300] After more than 24 hours without adequate medical attention he was airlifted by private contractor to Brisbane, Australia where he died on 29 April 2016 from his burns.^[301]
May 2, 2016	Hodan Yasi	21	Nauru	Australian refugee policy	In an Australian refugee detention camp. Woman from Somalia (variously referred to as Hadon/Hodan and Yasin/Yasi) was airlifted from Nauru to Brisbane^[302] but her condition as at late May 2016 is shrouded in secrecy. It seems she may still be alive, since her death would have to be reported under Queensland Law and an inquest into her death held as she would be deemed to be a "Death in Custody" had she died.^{[citation needed]}
December 8, 2016	Tashi Rabten	33	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Nomad and father of 3. Self-immolated in Machu, died at the scene after taking a few steps while on fire. His younger cousin Tsering Kyi also self-immolated on March 3, 2012.^[303]
February 11, 2017	Unknown man	unknown	Sudan		Shouted "I am Sudanese and Bashir is a dictator!" before setting himself on fire. Reported to survive ^[304]
March 18, 2017	Pema Gyaltsen	24	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Farmer from Nyarong. Shouted that Tibet had no freedom and for His Holiness the Dalai Lama return to Tibet while on fire. Status unknown^[305]
April 15, 2017	Wangchuk Tseten	30			Layman and father of 3. Self-immolated in Kardze. Status unknown but likely deceased^[305]
May 2, 2017	Chakdor Kyab	16			Farmer and student from Bora. Self-immolated on Bora monastery shouting "Tibet wants freedom! Let His Holiness the Dalai Lama come back to Tibet! Victory to the Gods!" Status unknown^[306]
May 18, 2017	Jamyang Losal	24			Monk from Chentsa. Self-immolated near a concert. Died soon afterwards.^[307]
May 19, 2017	Unknown	54	Germany	Islamization of Germany	Died in hospital. Police said the man had scrawled slogans on his car along the lines of "Never again war on German soil" and "Amri is only the tip of the iceberg" — a reference to Anis Amri, the Tunisian who attacked a Christmas market in Berlin and whom authorities had previously been unable to deport.^[308]
July 15, 2017	Tenzin Choeying	20	India	Political situation in Tibet	Suffered 50% burns. Died nine days later from his injuries.^[309]
July 29, 2017	Pasang Dhondup	49	India	Political situation in Tibet	Died in Dharamshala^[310]
September 21, 2017	Zdenek Hanzlik	60	New Zealand	Family Court Injustices	Zdenek "Sid" Hanzlik self-immolated outside the New Zealand Parliament Buildings protesting injustices in the Family Court, where he was engaged in an ongoing legal battle relating to access to his children. He was taken to Wellington Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.^[311]
October 19, 2017	Piotr Szczęsny	54	Poland	Rule of Law and Justice political party	Leaflets^[312]^[313] were strewn around him on the ground outside of the Palace of Culture and Science, and a speaker was broadcasting a song by a 1990s Polish rock band titled "I love freedom".^[314]^[315]^[316]
November 26, 2017	Tenga	63	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Respected monk from Kardze. Shouted "We want freedom in Tibet!" before self-immolating. Died shortly after. His picture was shown by Hollywood actor Richard Gere during a conference^[317]
December 23, 2017	Konpe	30	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Former monk turned nomad. Self-immolated in Ngaba and died the followng day.^[318]
January 15, 2018	Dmitry Rudov	39	Russia	Corruption of government	After being sacked from Gazprom's subsidiary and unsuccessfully appealing to President Putin, he set himself on fire in front of Ishimbay's City Hall in Bashkortostan. Died in hospital the next day.^[319]
March 7, 2018	Tsekho Tugchak	44	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Nomad in Ngaba. 2 brothers were tortured and killed by the Chinese police for participating in the 2008 Tibetan unrest. Tsekho set himself on fire after shouting slogans and died at the scene.^[320]
April 14, 2018	David Buckel	60	United States	Climate change and pollution^[321]	In a note sent to The New York Times and other news outlets, along with a copy attached to a shopping cart near his body he stated fossil fuel use and the environmental destruction it causes as the reason he decided to end his life by self-immolation with fossil fuels. Buckel was a prominent lawyer for gay rights, and was involved in environmental causes.^[322]^[323]^[324]
May 20, 2018	Fathi Harb	20	Palestine	Economic situation in Gaza	Died on May 23.^[325]^[326]
June 20, 2018	Chloe Sagal	31	United States	Homelessness and mental health issues	Several days after threatening self-harm with a machete, Sagal walked into a downtown Oregon Park, read a statement regarding homelessness and mental health before covering herself with fluid and setting herself alight.^[327]
June 26, 2018	John Watts	58	United States	Corruption at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs	Military veteran self-immolated on the steps of the Georgia state Capitol to protest corruption at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.^[328]
August 3, 2018	Vatan Karabash	47–48	Crimea (disputed)	Russian annexation of Crimea and repressions of the Crimean Tatars	Karabash set himself on fire in public, declaring Russia policies to be lawless; he had previously expressed anger at plans for demolition of Crimean Tatar houses in Russian-annexed Crimea, which had been deemed "illegal" since they were built before deported Crimean Tatars were permitted to return. Bystanders put out the flames and the injuries were reported to be non-fatal.^[329]
August 15, 2018	Unknown	50s	United Kingdom	Homelessness	A woman in her fifties (later identified under the pseudonym "Melanie Smith"), under threat of eviction and suffering from mental health issues set herself on fire at the housing office of Barnet London Borough Council. She died in intensive care several months later, with council employees reportedly having been ordered not to discuss the incident with journalists.^[330]^[331]
September 19, 2018	Nicholas McCrary	29	United States	Involuntary celibacy and mental health	McCrary was a prolific YouTuber who had autism and whose videos were popular with "blackcels" (black incels). He also used the pseudonym Baraka Mckray, and accused black women of being "prejudiced" against autistic men such as himself.^[332]^[333]
September 27, 2018	Umit Acar	26	Germany	Against the imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan	Self-immolated in Ingolstadt, as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was to visit Germany.^[334]
November 4, 2018	Dopo	23	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Nomad in Ngaba. Shouted "May His Holiness the Dalai Lama live long! May we soon behold his golden countenance!" and set self ablaze after. Died at the scene^[335]
November 28, 2018	Mahsun Özen	21	Turkey	Treatment of Kurds in Turkey	Self-immolated on the anniversary of the Roboski airstrike in which 34 Kurds died^[336]
December 8, 2018	Drugko	22	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Former monk turned nomad. Self-immolated in Ngaba. Status unknown.^[337]
December 9, 2018	Gedhun Gyatso	16	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Monk in Ngaba. Self-immolated in Ngaba, died shortly afterwards^[338]
January 18, 2019	Unknown	54	Czech Republic	In memory of Jan Palach who burned himself to death in 1969, protesting the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia	Suffered 30% burns after setting himself on fire at the central Wenceslas Square of Prague on the 50th anniversary of Jan Palach's death from his self-immolation protest against the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. According to Czech authorities, "he said it was only a remembrance to Jan Palach".^[339]
February 20, 2019	Uğur Şakar	43	Germany	Against the imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan	Self-immolated in front of the Court in Krefeld, Germany;^[340] died in hospital a month later ^[341]
May 29, 2019	Arnav Gupta	33	United States	Unknown	An Indian-origin resident of Bethesda, Maryland died in hospital that day after setting himself on fire near the White House in Washington, D.C. while wearing a USA T-shirt. The Washington Post described his actions as "an unmistakable protest, the loudest, most spectacular cry that people in pain can come up with".^[342]
July 19, 2019	Kim (surname)	78	South Korea	Unknown	A man used 20 liters of fuel to set himself on fire in his car in the early morning outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul. He died several hours later in the hospital.^[343]
September 9, 2019	Sahar Khodayari	29	Iran	The right for women in Iran to attend a football match alongside men	The Iranian female football fan died that day, one week after setting herself on fire outside an Iranian court, reportedly after learning she may have to serve a six-month sentence for trying to enter a football stadium (alongside men).^[344]
September 10, 2019	Albert Razin	79	Russia	The declining status and use of the Udmurt language in Russia.	The scholar and activist set himself on fire outside the State Council building in Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic, as the regional government was considering passing a bill to reduce the status of the indigenous Udmurt language in the republic. Razin died the same day.^[345]^[346]
October 23, 2019	Ali Wazir	31	Switzerland	In protest of the Turkish invasion of Syria	A Syrian Kurdish man set himself on fire in front of the seat of the UNHCR in Geneva.^[347]
November 10, 2019	Anas K.	22	France	Student living costs, fascism, neoliberalism	A 22-year-old man enrolled at Lyon 2 University set himself on fire in front of a university restaurant in response to being unable to sustain himself on €450 a month. In a post on Facebook, he blamed Emmanuel Macron, François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy and the EU for having "killed" him, and also attacked Marine Le Pen and media figures for creating fear, also urging readers to "Fight against the rise of fascism which divides us, and against liberalism which creates inequalities". He was admitted to hospital with 90% burns over his body.^[348]^[349]
November 26, 2019	Yonten	24	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Tibetan nomad. Formerly monk at Kirti Monastery. Self-immolated in Ngaba. Died at the scene^[350]

2020s

Date	Name	Age	Country	Protesting	Notes and references
February 7, 2020	Adem Yarıcı	42	Turkey	Unemployment in Turkey	42-year-old unemployed man, father of two, set himself on fire in front of Hatay governor's office. Witnesses said that he shouted "My kids are hungry!" before setting himself ablaze. He died on the same day. The governor claimed that Yarıcı divorced from his wife a while ago, had mental illness and attempt to self-immolate before.^[351]^[352]^[353]
June 16, 2020	Unknown	48	Poland	Unknown; reportedly said there is "no justice" to police at the scene	A 48-year-old man set himself on fire shortly after talking to journalists outside of the Sejm building in Warsaw, Poland.^[354]
July 18, 2020	Linda J. Zhang	18	United States	Protesting climate change inaction^[355]	High school student from New York self-immolated and died from injuries. A climate activist who left an op-ed to the New York Times before she died.^[355]
July 27, 2020	Arie den Dekker	54	Netherlands	Murder witness, removed from family, turned homeless	Den Dekker had witnessed a murder in 2018. Following this, his house was torched multiple times and he was put into a witness protection program. Unable to be with his family and having his pleas ignored by the municipality and the government, Den Dekker protested in front of Oss' city hall multiple times, throwing dead fish inside, dousing himself in cow feces and committing other acts of despair on multiple occasions. On July 27 he committed suicide by self-immolation in front of the city hall.^[356]
August 3, 2020	Yavuz Polat	46	Turkey	Economical issues	A 47-year-old street vendor from Erzincan set himself on fire after the police wanted him to remove his corn stall. He died on August 27.^[357]^[358]
August 4, 2020	Anastasia Niklas	24	Ukraine	Unknown	24-year-old Anastasia Niklas lit herself on fire in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, outside a Catholic church in the center of the city.^[359] According to a security guard who was on duty, the woman arrived around 4:00 am, doused herself with gasoline, and lit herself on fire. Her motives remain unknown, she died on the spot.^[360]
August 14, 2020	Fikret Güven		Turkey	Economical issues	A tea maker set himself on fire in front of the Bursa governorship after the police closed the roads to his shop. ^[361]^[362]
September 18, 2020	Syarhei Radchenya	36	Belarus	Fraudulent election and follow-on police abuse and brutality against protests in Belarus.	36-year-old Syarhei Radchenya set himself on fire in Smalavichy, Belarus, near the local police department. According to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Syarhei poured gasoline over himself from a canister and set it on fire after which an employee ran out of the district department building and put out the fire. Syarhei was hospitalized in critical condition with burns on 84% of his body surface, including the respiratory tract. He died on September 25, 2020, as a result of his injuries.^[363]
October 2, 2020	Irina Slavina	47	Russia	Journalist; her apartment was searched the day before by the police alleging her ties to the Open Russia group	Russian journalist Irina Slavina set herself on fire in front of the Interior Ministry office in Nizhniy Novgorod. She died there of the resulting burns.^[364]^[365]
November 2, 2020	Leroy Archie Ponpon		Liberia	Chief Justice refusing months of salary for workers	Led several protests prior to self-immolation date. Survived.^[366]
January 11, 2021	Liu Jin	48	China	Employers refusing to make payment as well as fair treatment for delivery workers	Delivery worker in Taizhou. Asked for payment from employers but was denied. Set fire shortly afterwards. Died soon after.^[367]
February 12, 2021	Halil S.	49	Germany	Against the detention conditions of Abdullah Öcalan	He set himself on fire in front of the Landtag in Dresden^[368]^[369]
April 12, 2021	Itzik Saidyan [he]	26	Israel	Government treatment of disabled veterans	He set himself on fire in front of the Defense Ministry's rehabilitation department offices in Petah Tikva that handles the rehabilitation of injured soldiers,^[370] two days before the annual Memorial Day. Saidyan fought in the 2014 war in Gaza, Operation Protective Edge, and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.^[371]
May 18, 2021	Behzad Mahmoudi	25	Iraq	Poor treatment and living conditions of refugees	Asylum seeker from Iran. Self-immolated in front of journalists. Died on May 23, 2021.^[372]
September 14, 2021	Ella Nik Bayan	40	Germany	Transphobia and treatment of immigrants	40 year old trans woman who burned herself publicly in Alexanderplatz square, Berlin. Ella had immigrated from Iran years earlier.^[373]
January 1, 2022	Unknown		Australia	Vaccine ID and mandates	He set himself on fire on Church St. in Richmond, Victoria, sustaining life-threatening injuries. The man was stopped by paramedics and police.^[374]^[375]
January 31, 2022	Unknown	33	Italy	Unknown	Man of unknown identity set himself on fire in front of a Carabinieri barrack Rende, Calabria, sustaining life-threatening injuries and burns to 70% of his body. Local police and man's family confirm man was twice vaccinated and self-immolation was not due to the vaccine mandate. He was a teacher. ^[376]^[377]^[378]
February 25, 2022	Tsewang Norbu	25	Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	Popular Tibetan singer from Nangchu. Self-immolated in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Died in the hospital a few days later.
March 27, 2022	Taphun	81			^[379]^[380]
March 30, 2022	Tsering Samdup				^[381]
April 22, 2022	Wynn Bruce	54	United States	Protesting climate change inaction^[382]	Man from Boulder, Colorado self-immolated in front of the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Died from injuries.^[383] Described himself as a Buddhist and climate activist.^[382]
May 18, 2022	Krishanpal	52	India	Police inaction	He set himself ablaze outside an SSP office alleging police inaction over a complaint he filed against some people for destroying his crops.^[384]^[385]
June, 2022	Unknown monk		Tibet	Political situation in Tibet	^[386]
September 21, 2022	Unknown	70s	Japan	Funeral of Shinzo Abe	A man in his 70s set himself on fire near the Prime Minister's Official Residence in protest of the decision to hold an official state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.^[387]
January 24, 2023	Prem Prasad Acharya	37	Nepal	Corruption in Nepal as well as his unsuccessful business career	Died 3 days after.^[388]
January 31, 2023	Unknown	58	Brazil	Supreme Federal Court	The 58-year-old native of Botucatu, São Paulo set fire to his own body in the central median of the Esplanade of the Ministries and shouted against Alexandre de Moraes, saying "morte ao Xandão" (lit. 'death to Xandão'). Alongside the man, papers with photos of Johann Georg Elser, Nelson Mandela, and Claus von Stauffenberg were found; all images were accompanied by the phrase "perdeu, mané [pt]" (lit. 'you lost, dude'), previously used by Luís Roberto Barroso.^[389] He remained hospitalized for two days and died on 2 February.^[390]
March 1, 2023	Chet Bohrer	42	United States	Bullying and mental health	42 year old resident of Salt Lake City, Utah set himself on fire at Bancroft Way and Telegraph Ave on the UC Berkeley campus. He had no known affiliation with the university. Bohrer died in the hospital from his injuries days later. He claimed to have been bullied and spied on by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.^[391]
March 27, 2023	Ahmed Jaouad	61	Morocco	Precarity, insufficient pension fund	A Moroccan playwright died six days after setting himself on fire following a failed hunger strike in hopes of raising his pension fund from his thirty years of service at the Moroccan Ministry of Culture which was insufficient to provide for his family.^[392]^[393] Jaouad's wife and children were awarded financial compensation by the ministry after his death.^[394]^[393]
April 13, 2023	Nizar Issaoui	35	Tunisia	Human rights in Tunisia, Anti-police sentiment	A local Tunisian footballer died after setting himself on fire in what he said was a protest against Tunisia's "police state".^[395] During his funeral, demonstrators started throwing stones at police, who retaliated with tear gas.^[396]
May 1, 2023	Yang Hoe-dong		South Korea	Union violations as well as charges he received as a Union activist	Popular Union Rights Activist. Self immolated in front of a courthouse, deceased.^[397]
May 21, 2023	Karl-Udson Azor	30	Haiti	Unknown	Self-immolated in front of the Vertieres Monument. Died at the scene with Haitian flag next to him.^[398]
August 1, 2023	Bar Kalaf	33	Israel	The Defense Ministry denying him disability status	Kalaf served in the Israeli Defense Force from 2008 to 2011 and saw combat in Operation Protective Edge as a reservist, where he claimed he developed post-traumatic stress disorder. The Defense Ministry rejected his application for disability status, stating he had a mental disorder unrelated to his military duties. Kalaf self-immolated in his home and afterwards was rushed to Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan where he died.^[399]^[400]
August 17, 2023	Robert Gituhu	28	Kenya	Unemployment and Poverty in Kenya and high cost in food	Graduated with Engineer degree. Climbed statue in Mobasa and self-immolated. Died Several hours after 80% burns on body.^[401]
November 8, 2023	Unknown male		DRC	Protest of the genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).	Congolese man set himself on fire to protest the ongoing genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The video, which was posted on Twitter on November 8, shows the man, who has not been identified, standing in front of a crowd in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, holding a sign that reads "Stop the genocide in Congo".^[402]
December 1, 2023	Unknown female		United States	Protest against United States military support of an alleged genocide in Gaza	A protester self-immolated outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta, Georgia; following what officials described as "an act of extreme political protest", a Palestinian national flag was recovered at the scene.^[403]^[404]^[405]
February 25, 2024	Aaron Bushnell	25			The active-duty US Airman self-immolated outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. He livestreamed the act on Twitch. Speaking into a camera on a selfie-stick he said: 'My name is Aaron Bushnell, I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide.' After ignition, he repeatedly yelled "Free Palestine". He was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.^[406]^[407]
April 19, 2024	Maxwell Azzarello	37		Protest against the US Government	A 37-year-old man from St. Augustine, Florida self-immolated outside of the New York courthouse where jurors were being chosen for the New York State criminal trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump. ^[408]^[409]^[410]^[411]

References

External links

"The Self Immolators" – a chronological list of biographies and last statements of known self immolators 1967 to 2013

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Search

List of political self-immolations

Contents

List

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

See also

References

External links