Terrorism
To achieve its goal each person has the moral duty and authority,
but the purity of the tools is absolutely essential for it. We can’t adopt
violence as a sacred instrument in any form.
-Mahatma Gandhi
“The unlawful use of violence and intimidation especially against
civilians in the pursuit of political aims.”
Meaning of
terrorism
Terrorism is an ideology that believes in the use of power or
weapon for achieving political goals. Such an abrasive use of weaponry is often
done with the view to intimidate a conquer the opposition party community or
community. To fulfil your political interest; Terrorist also tries to demolish
the government through legal means or through violence and establish their
dominion over the rule of law. Thus “Terrorism can tell him in which some
people use gross violent and humanitarian means to get their proper or
inappropriate behaviour.”
Some definition
Terrorism is the use of violence, especially murder and bombing, in
order to achieve political aims or to force a government to do something.
-
Collins
dictionary
Terrorism consists of criminal activity, there is no single definition
of terrorism since it encompasses a range of activity all designed to
intimidate and instil fear. However, one well-known definition of terrorism is
in the FBI policy and counterterrorism guidelines. The definition states that Terrorism is a “violent act or an act dangerous to human life in
violation of the criminal law of the United State or of any states to
intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment
other of, in furtherance of a political or social objective.”
-
Study.com
Legal
definition (UK terrorism act 2000)
One important point of departure in many legal definitions of
terrorism is computer hacking. The ‘interference with or disruption to an
electric system’ is explicitly stated in UK terrorism law; this does not fit
into the definitions above which centre on violence. The UK TERRORISM ACT 2000
defines terrorism as:
-
The
use or threat of action designed to
Influence the government or an international governmental an organisation or to intimidate the public, religious, racial or ideological
causes; and it involves or causes:
o
Serious
violence against a person;
o
Serious
damage to property;
o
A threat to a person’s life;
o
A
serious risk to the health and safety of the public; or
o
Serious
interference with or disruption to an electronic system.
Terrorism committed by state:-
When the state is directly or indirectly involved in acts of
terrorism to fulfil the dedication objectives, then this work is called State
Terrorism. The state can involve in many ways in such acts. For example,
With the view of conquering some of the citizen
living under of the state territory acted by state authorities, or against
colonialism, or against national independence. Second, the state can work to
provide assistance to other states in the territories. The above kind of
condemnation of terrorism is not only done by the international community, but
it is also against the well-established rules of international law. Again, these
are adverse to the provisions of many international conventions and
announcements.
It is unfortunate that is in spite of the prohibition of terrorism,
the act of terrorism is being done by states to achieve their goals. This is
happening because international law related to implementation and enforcement
of these rules is not as potent as it should be. The result of its weakness has
resulted in terrorism by the states, especially by those states, which is huge
and potent. It has become a part of their system and by any government has
become a form of war against the other government. If the state is a bit too
serious to control terrorism, then they themselves have to recognize that the
immoral and inhumane acts of terrorism are annoying and painful of mankind.
Therefore, its eradication depends primarily will of the states.
Terrorism committed by Individuals and Group of Individuals:-
The situation varies from time to time, as terrorism is caused by a
person or group of individuals. There can be many interests to do the act any
may vary in different cases. But the objective is not important to do a
consistent act in terms of international law. International law is only
related to the work of which international elements exist. Therefore, the
existence of the international elements makes the work of terrorism favourable
to international nature.
International terrorism legal control- and its
At present, the most common form of International Terrorism is the Aircraft
Hijacking, the attack on diplomatic missions, Taking of hostage and crimes
against internationally protected persons.
Modern terrorism after the second world war- The use of terrorism to further political
causes has accelerated in recent years. Modern terrorism largely came into being
after the second world war with the rise of nationalist movements in the old
empires of European powers.
Airline
hijackings and international terrorism- The
deadliest terrorist attacks in history, the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade
Centre, was the result of two plane hijackings. Yet aviation terrorism has a
long history and its development marks the beginning of international
terrorism. On 22 July 1968, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP) hijacked Israeli El Al Flight 426 from London to Tel Aviv via Rome. They
diverted the flight to Algiers where they held the Israeli hostage for several
days while they negotiated the release of Arab prisoners in exchange for the
hostages. Once the terms were agreed the hostages were released with no
fatalities.
The success of this early hijacking made it an increasingly popular
weapon of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). In 1976 Zehdi Terzi,
the first PLO representative to the United Nations stated that the “first
several hijacking aroused the consciousness of the world and awakened the media
and world opinion much more and more effectively than 20-25 year of pleading at
the United Nation.”
Due to the horrific increase in the work of terrorism against the
safety of aircraft travel, four conventions and protocol have been created to
suppress the proceedings of illegal interference in air services.
These convention and protocol are following-
A.
The
convention on offences and certain other acts committed on the board of
aircraft of 1963 (Tokyo Convention),
B.
The
convention for the suppression of unlawful seizure of aircraft of 1970 (The
Hague Convention),
C.
The
Convention on the prevention for the suppression of unlawful act against the
safety of civil aviation of 1971 (Montreal convention of 1988).
The War on
Terror- One major consequence of the rise
of international terrorism, particularly Islamic extremist groups have been the
global War on Terror. The War on Terror, which began in 2001, has so far seen
the full-scale invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other operations I
Yemen, Pakistan and Syria.
An important question is whether the global campaign terrorism,
known as the War on Terror, has made us any safer. Many commentators argue that
the War on terror has had the perverse effect of making us less safe, with some
going as far as claiming the War on Terror is the leading cause of terrorism.
Richard Clarke, a counter-terrorism expert that worked in the US National
Security Council between 1992-2003, was highly critical of the Bush
administration’s counter-terrorism strategy and the decision to invade Iraq.
Clarke writes. ‘Far from addressing the popular appeal of the enemy that
attacked us. Bush handed that enemy precisely what it wanted and needed, proof
that America was at war with Islam, that we were the new Crusaders come to
occupy Muslim land.’
The Internet- The internet has become a central tool for terrorist, largely
replacing print and other physical media. It has allowed the terrorist organisation
to costless communicate their message and aims to the world, allowing them to
recruit new member, co-ordinate global attacks and better evade surveillance.
The terrorist group known as the Islamic States (also, ISIS and ISIL) are
arguably the first to harness the power of the internet and social media. Their
well-organised online propaganda campaign has seen them recruit thousands of
foreign fighters.
The increasing use of the internet was noted by Bruce Hoffman in
inside terrorism as early as 2006. He argues that “terrorist are now able to
bypass traditional print and broadcast media via the internet, through inexpensive
but professionally produced and edited videotapes and even their own dedicated
24/7 television and radio news stations. The consequence of these developments
are far-reaching as they are still poorly understood, having already
transformed the ability of terrorist to communicate without censorship or other
hindrance and thereby attract new sources of recruits, funding, and support
that government have found difficult, if not impossible, to counter.”
-Terrorism
and United Nation-
The problem of international terrorism has been under consideration of the
General Assembly since 1972. The General Assembly had recommended on September
23, 1972 to include the following item on the agenda and presented it to the
Sixth Committee:
"International terrorism, which makes human life
endangered or eliminates the life of innocent, threatens the fundamental
freedoms, measures to stop and those forms of terrorism and acts of violence,
misery, frustration, complaining and disappointment And which caters to some
people to sacrifice human life to influence value change, in which
their life also includes Is the study of the underlying causes."
In the discussions of the Sixth Committee, different views were adopted by
the representatives of different states. On the recommendation of this
committee, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on December 18, 1972
and decided to constitute the International Terrorism Ad-hoc Committee,
which consists of 35 Members. The first session of the committee was held in
1973, in which no positive results could be obtained. But the committee has
presented its report to the General Assembly. The General Assembly had failed
to discuss the report due to lack of time, but the General Assembly adopted a
resolution in 1976 and appealed to the ad hoc committee to continue its work by the mandate given to it. By this resolution, the General
Assembly also invited states to submit their comments to the Secretary-General
as soon as possible so that the committee could do their work smoothly. The
General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to send them to the Committee for the analytical study of those comments. The meeting of the ad hoc committee was
held in 1977 and it presented the report to the General Assembly without any
progress. The ad hoc committee in 1979 recommended the General Assembly that
the international terrorism problem is related to international cooperation
should be eradicated as soon as possible. On the recommendation of the ad hoc
committee, the General Assembly took a resolution on December 17, 1979
in which the work of terrorism was condemned and all states, in their own way
and with the cooperation of other states and the United Nations, terrorism
Requested to identify the underlying causes and contribute to its effective
mobilization. By the proposal, the General Assembly requested all the states to
not assist or do not participate in planetary struggles or terrorist activities
in any other state or in such a state under their respective territories. No
effective action could be taken by the United Nations to end terrorism from
1979 to 1994. In 1994, Article 4, paragraph 1 declaration
was accepted by the General Assembly in which international terrorism was
condemned and it was said that terrorism is a crime and an unjust act. If it is
done by any person and it is done by any person then it should be condemned. It
was also made clear in the declaration that this provision of the declaration
should be implemented by all the states.
On the measures to eradicate international terrorism, only in the year
1994, the supplementary declaration was announced in 1996 and in which all acts
and behaviours of terrorism were condemned in criminal and inappropriate form,
whenever and whoever causes and All states have requested to take measures at
the national and international levels to eradicate international terrorism.
The ad hoc committee resumed talks on a comprehensive international treaty
on terrorism in 2002. The committee started a discussion on various topics
including the definition of international terrorism and its relation with the
freedom struggle, possible immunity from the area of the treaty, especially
concerning the functioning of the armed forces and how to fight terrorism
To increase the difference and effect of international aid. A format of the
Convention on International Terrorism was also introduced by India, but no
convergence has yet been created.
How successful the General Assembly has been to reduce international
terrorism, it is a question which is difficult to answer positively. It has
been discussing this topic since 1972 without any success. The different
opinions adopted by the states before the ad-hoc committee are evident that
unless a state agrees to achieve international cooperation in this regard, the
general recommendations will not be of any significance. Therefore, the most
important step to end terrorism is to get international co-operation.
