TERRORISM
• Terrorism is the unlawful or illegal use of violence and intimidation,
usually against civilians for political reasons.
• Terrorism is commonly understood to refer to acts of violence that
target civilians in the pursuit of political or ideological aims. In legal
terms, although the international community has yet to adopt a
comprehensive definition of terrorism, existing declarations,
resolutions and universal “sectoral” treaties relating to specific
aspects of it define certain acts and core elements.
• In 1994, the General Assembly’s Declaration on Measures to
Eliminate International Terrorism, set out in its resolution 49/60,
stated that terrorism includes “criminal acts intended or calculated
to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of
persons or particular persons for political purposes”
• The Security Council, in its resolution 1566 (2004), referred to
“criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent
to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with
the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a
group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or
compel a Government or an international organization to do or to
abstain from doing any act”.
• In the same year, the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on
Threats, Challenges and Change described terrorism as any action
that is “intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians
or noncombatants, when the purpose of such an act, by its nature
or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a
Government or an international organization to do or to abstain
from doing any act”
• Establishment
• Revolutionary
• Sub-revolutionary
• Establsihment
• Is also called state or state-sponsored terrorism, is when
governments or more often groups within governments commit
acts of terrorism against that government’s citizens, against
offshoots within the government, or against foreign governments
or groups.
Revolutionary
• Is very common, but very difficult to identify because the
government usually offers its support secretly.
• Revolutionary terrorism is perhaps the most common form.
• Perpetrators of this type of terrorism aim for the complete
abolition of a political system and its replacement with new
structures.
Sub-revoltuionary
• Sub-revolutionary terrorism is less common. It is used not to
overthrow an existing government but to change the existing
sociopolitical structure.
• Since this change is often accomplished through the threat of
overthrowing the existing regime, sub-revolutionary groups are
slightly more difficult to identify.
• An example is the case of the ANC and its campaign to end
apartheid in South Africa.
• Effect/Impact of Terrosim
• Terrorism has a direct impact on the enjoyment of a number of
human rights, in particular the rights to life, liberty and physical
integrity. Terrorist acts can destabilize Governments, undermine
civil society, jeopardize peace and security, threaten social and
economic development, and may especially negatively affect certain
groups. All of these have a direct impact on the enjoyment of
fundamental human rights
• Threatens the dignity and security of human beings everywhere,
endangers or takes innocent lives, creates an environment that
destroys the freedom from fear of the people, jeopardizes
fundamental freedoms, and aims at the destruction of human
rights;
• Has an adverse effect on the establishment of the rule of law,
undermines pluralistic civil society, aims at the destruction of the
democratic bases of society, and destabilizes legitimately constituted
Governments
• Has links with transnational organized crime, drug trafficking,
money-laundering and trafficking in arms, as well as illegal transfers
of nuclear, chemical and biological materials, and is linked to the
consequent commission of serious crimes such as murder,
extortion, kidnapping, assault, hostage-taking and robbery;
• Has adverse consequences for the economic and social
development of States, jeopardizes friendly relations among States,
and has a pernicious impact on relations of cooperation among
States, including cooperation for development
• Threatens the territorial integrity and security of States,
constitutes a grave violation of the purpose and principles
of the United Nations, is a threat to international peace and
security, and must be suppressed as an essential element for
the maintenance of international peace and security
