TERRORISM
DEFINITION
• 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”
TYPES OF TERRORISM
• Establishment
• Revolutionary
• Sub-revolutionary
Establishment
• 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.
• Is very common, but very difficult to identify because the
government usually offers its support secretly.
Revolutionary
• 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-revolutionary
• 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.
EFFECTS/IMPACT OF
TERRORISM
• 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.
Terrorism has the following
effects:
• 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
