Warming-up.

Do you think news stations are neutral when they report on terrorism?

Do you think terrorism is here to stay?

What three adjectives would you choose to describe terrorism?

Which is worse, terrorism or climate change?

What do you think of the fact that trillions of dollars are spent fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, but only millions are spent on killer diseases like malaria and AIDs?

What do governments learn from terrorism?

What do you know about suicide bombers?

Do you think that abusing a group of people can make them into terrorists?

     Read the text. What are the main legal instruments to fight international terrorism?

Make sure you understand the meaning of the following words and word-combinations:

to elaborate international legal instruments

under the auspices of the United Nations

to impose reasonable measures

supplementary to the Convention

the airports serving international civil aviation

to use civil aircraft as a weapon to cause death

 to cover different forms of aircraft hijackings

to commit the offence of taking of hostage

to cause substantial property damage.

to locate and recover stolen or smuggled nuclear material

to mitigate any radiological consequences or sabotage

to endanger the safe navigation of the ship

 to control and limit the used of unmarked and undetectable plastic explosives

 International Legal Instruments (Conventions and Protocols) to Combat International Terrorism

Since 1963, the international community has elaborated 19 international legal instruments to prevent terrorist acts. Those instruments were developed under the auspices of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and are open to participation by all Member States.

Here is a very short summary of the 19 universal legal instruments and additional amendments dealing with terrorism.

INSTRUMENTS REGARDING CIVIL AVIATION

1. 1963 Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed On Board Aircraft

• Applies to acts affecting in-flight safety;
• Authorizes the aircraft commander to impose reasonable measures, including restraint, on any person he or she has reason to believe has committed or is about to commit such an act, where necessary to protect the safety of the aircraft.

2. 1970 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft

• Makes it an offence for any person on board an aircraft in flight to "unlawfully, by force or threat thereof, or any other form of intimidation, [to] seize or exercise control of that aircraft" or to attempt to do so.

3. 1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation

• Makes it an offence for any person unlawfully and intentionally to perform an act of violence against a person on board an aircraft in flight, if that act is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft; to place an explosive device on an aircraft; to attempt such acts; or to be an accomplice of a person who performs or attempts to perform such acts.

4. 1988 Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation

• Extends the provisions of the Montreal Convention to encompass terrorist acts at airports serving international civil aviation

5. 2010 Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation

• Criminalizes the act of using civil aircraft as a weapon to cause death, injury or damage;
• Criminalizes the act of using civil aircraft to discharge biological, chemical and nuclear (BCN) weapons or similar substances to cause death, injury or damage, or the act of using such substances to attack civil aircraft.

6. 2010 Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft

• Supplements the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraftby expanding its scope to cover different forms of aircraft hijackings, including through modern technological means;

7. 2014 Protocol to Amend the Convention on Offences and Certain Acts Committed on Board Aircraft

INSTRUMENT REGARDING THE PROTECTION OF INTERNATIONAL STAFF

8. 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons

• Defines an "internationally protected person" as a Head of State, Minister for Foreign Affairs, representative or official of a State or international organization who is entitled to special protection in a foreign State, and his/her family; and

INSTRUMENT REGARDING THE TAKING OF HOSTAGES

9. 1979 International Convention against the Taking of Hostages

• Provides that "any person who seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure, or to continue to detain another person in order to compel a third party, namely, a State, an international intergovernmental organization, a natural or juridical person, or a group of persons, to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the hostage commits the offence of taking of hostage within the meaning of this Convention". 

INSTRUMENTS REGARDING THE NUCLEAR MATERIAL

10. 1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material

• Criminalizes the unlawful possession, use, transfer or theft of nuclear material and threats to use nuclear material to cause death, serious injury or substantial property damage.

11. 2005 Amendments to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material

• Makes it legally binding for States Parties to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage as well as transport; and
• Provides for expanded cooperation between and among States regarding rapid measures to locate and recover stolen or smuggled nuclear material, mitigate any radiological consequences or sabotage, and prevent and combat related offences.

INSTRUMENTS REGARDING THE MARITIME NAVIGATION

12. 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation

• Makes it an offence for a person unlawfully and intentionally to seize or exercise control over a ship by force, threat, or intimidation; to perform an act of violence against a person on board a ship if that act is likely to endanger the safe navigation of the ship; to place a destructive device or substance aboard a ship; and other acts against the safety of ships.

13. 2005 Protocol to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation

• Criminalizes the use of a ship as a device to further an act of terrorism;
• Criminalizes the transport on board a ship various materials knowing that they are intended to be used to cause, or in a threat to cause, death or serious injury or damage to further an act of terrorism/

14. 1988 Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf

• Establishes a legal regime applicable to acts against fixed platforms on the continental shelf that is similar to the regimes established against international aviation.

15. 2005 Protocol to the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Fixed Platforms located on the Continental Shelf

• Adapts the changes to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation to the context of fixed platforms located on the continental shelf.

INSTRUMENT REGARDING EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS

16. 1991 Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection

• Designed to control and limit the used of unmarked and undetectable plastic explosives
• Parties are obligated in their respective territories to ensure effective control over "unmarked" plastic explosive, i.e., those that do not contain one of the detection agents described in the Technical Annex to the treaty.

INSTRUMENT REGARDING TERRORIST BOMBINGS

17. 1997 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings

Creates a regime of universal jurisdiction over the unlawful and intentional use of explosives and other lethal devices in, into, or against various defined public places with intent to kill or cause serious bodily injury, or with intent to cause extensive destruction of the public place.

INSTRUMENT REGARDING THE FINANCING OF TERRORISM

18. 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism

• Requires parties to take steps to prevent and counteract the financing of terrorists, whether direct or indirect, through groups claiming to have charitable, social or cultural goals or which also engage in illicit activities such as drug trafficking or gun running;

INSTRUMENT REGARDING NUCLEAR TERRORISM

19. 2005 International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism

• Covers a broad range of acts and possible targets, including nuclear power plants and nuclear reactors;
• Covers threats and attempts to commit such crimes or to participate in them, as an accomplice;
• Stipulates that offenders shall be either extradited or prosecuted.

Questions to discuss:

1. What motivates groups or individuals to engage in acts of terrorism?
2. What makes terrorism different from other forms of violence?
3. In what ways have terrorist tactics and strategies changed over time? What are some possible reasons for these changes?
4. Account for the increase in the number of terrorist attacks and deaths around the world in recent years. What are some reasons behind this trend?
5. It is possible to limit the threat of terrorism, but terrorism as a whole can never be defeated. To what extent do you agree with this statement, and why?