Roger Casement

Roger Casement (1864–1916) was an Irish-born British consul, human rights investigator and Irish nationalist. After years in Africa he joined the consular service, and in 1903 investigated conditions in King Leopold's Congo Free State; his report on forced labor and atrocities in the rubber trade fueled an international reform campaign. He later exposed similar abuses among the indigenous peoples of the Putumayo region of Peru and was knighted in 1911. Turning to the cause of Irish independence, he sought German help for a rising in 1916, was arrested on landing in Ireland, tried for treason and hanged in London that August.