Материал: Гольцева О.Ю. Международное право в официальных документах. Под ред. И.А. Горшеневой

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Exercise3. Complete these sentences.

1.Terrorism has been described variously as both _____

2.Preemption is being considered to be so important because ___________

3.The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as ________

4.The FBI uses the following definition _____________

5.The U.S. Department of State defines "terrorism" to be _____________

6.The United Nations produced this definition ________

7.The most commonly accepted academic definition is __

8.The strategy of terrorists is _____________________

9.The effectiveness of the terrorist act lies in ________

Exercise 4. Debate these questions.

1.Why do you think there are such a variety of terrorism definitions?

2.Which of the definitions do you like most? Give your reason?

3.What objectives do terrorists pursue?

4.Why do their attacks turn out to be so effective?

5.What measures should be taken to suppress terror, in your opinion?

Exercise 5. Analyze different definitions of state involvement in terror presented in the text. Why does this difference exist? What definition do you consider to be the most appropriate and why?

State involvement

Three different ways that states can engage in the use of terror are:

•Governmentalor "State" terror

•Stateinvolvementinterror

•Statesponsorshipofterrorism

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Governmental or "State" terror: Sometimes referred to as "terror from above", where a government terrorizes its own population to control or repress them. These actions usually constitute the acknowledged policy of the government, and make use of official institutions such as the judiciary, police, military, and other government agencies. Changes to legal codes permit or encourage torture, killing, or property destruction in pursuit of government policy. After assuming power, official Nazi policy was aimed at the deliberate destruction of "state enemies" and the resulting intimidation of the rest of the population. Stalin's "purges" of the 1930s are examples of using the machinery of the state to terrorize a population. The methods he used included such actions as rigged show trials of opponents, punishing family or friends of suspected enemies of the regime, and extra-legal use of police or military force against the population.

Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons on his own Kurdish population without any particular change or expansion of policies regarding the use of force on his own citizens. They were simply used in an act of governmental terror believed to be expedient in accomplishing his goals.

State involvement in terror: These are activities where government personnel carry out operations using terror tactics. These activities may be directed against other nations' interests, its own population, or private groups or individuals viewed as dangerous to the state. In many cases, these activities are terrorism under official sanction, although such authorization is rarely acknowledged openly. Historical examples include the Soviet and Iranian assassination campaigns against dissidents who had fled abroad, and Libyan and North Korean intelligence operatives downing airliners on international flights.

Another type of these activities is "death squads" or "war veterans": unofficial actions taken by officials or functionaries of a regime (such as members of police or intelligence

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organizations) against their own population to repress or intimidate. While these officials will not claim such activities, and disguise their participation, it is often made clear that they are acting for the state. Keeping such activities "unofficial" permits the authorities deniability and avoids the necessity of changing legal and judicial processes to justify oppression. This is different than "pro-state" terror, which is conducted by groups or persons with no official standing and without official encouragement. While pro-state terror may result in positive outcomes for the authorities, their employment of criminal methods and lack of official standing can result in disavowal and punishment of the terrorists, depending on the morality of the regime in question.

State sponsorship of terrorism: Also known as "state supported" terrorism, when governments provide supplies, training, and other forms of support to non-state terrorist organizations. One of the most valuable types of this support is the provision of safe haven or physical basing for the terrorists' organization. Another crucial service a state sponsor can provide is false documentation, not only for personal identification (passports, internal identification documents), but also for financial transactions and weapons purchases. Other means of support are access to training facilities and expertise not readily available to groups without extensive resources. Finally, the extension of diplomatic protections and services, such as immunity from extradition, diplomatic passports, use of embassies and other protected grounds, and diplomatic pouches to transport weapons or explosives have been significant to some groups.

An example of state sponsorship is the East German Stasi providing support and safe-haven to members of the Red Army Faction and neo-fascist groups that operated in West Germany. Wanted members of the RAF were found resident in East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

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Exercise 6. Fill in the appropriate prepositions

1.Governmental "State" terror is referred ___ as "terror from above", where a government terrorizes its own population ___ control or repress them, making use ___ official institutions such ___ the judiciary, police, military.

2.State involvement ___ terror is the activities where government personnel carry ___ operations directed ___

other nations' interests, its own population, or private groups viewed ___ dangerous ___ the state.

3.State sponsorship of terrorism is known ___ "state supported" terrorism, when governments provide supplies, training, and other forms ___ support ___ non-state terrorist organizations.

Exercise 7. Fill in the chart. Add some more examples to the chart.

the East German Stasi

USSR (Stalin's "purges")

Libyan and North Korean intelligence operations

Germany (Nazi policy)

OVER TO YOU

Terrorists do not see themselves as evil. They believe they are legitimate combatants, fighting for what they believe in, by whatever means possible. A victim of a terrorist act sees the terrorist as a criminal with no regard for human life. The general public’s view is the most unstable. The terrorists do their best trying to foster a “Robin Hood” image in hope of swaying the general public’s point of view toward their cause. This sympathetic view of terrorism has become an integral part of their psychological warfare and needs to be countered vigorously.

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Analyse the phrase “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. What do you think of it? can you agree with it? Are there any situations where it can be considered just?

Exercise 8. Analyze the following categories of terrorism and terrorist groups. What specific criteria lie in the basis of this classification?

Separatist Separatist groups are those with the goal of separation from existing entities through independence, political autonomy, or religious freedom or domination. The ideologies separatists subscribe to include social justice or equity, anti-imperialism, as well as the resistance to conquest or occupation by a foreign power.

Ethnocentric Groups of this persuasion see race as the defining characteristic of a society, and therefore a basis of cohesion. There is usually the attitude that a particular group is superior because of their inherent racial characteristics.

Nationalistic The loyalty and devotion to a nation, and the national consciousness derived from placing one nation's culture and interests above those of other nations or groups. This can find expression in the creation of a new nation, or in splitting away part of an existing state to join with another that shares the perceived "national" identity.

Revolutionary. Dedicated to the overthrow of an established order and replacing it with a new political or social structure. Although often associated with communist political ideologies, this is not always the case, and other political movements can advocate revolutionary methods to achieve their goals.

Political Political ideologies are concerned with the structure and organization of the forms of government and communities. While observers outside terrorist organizations may stress differences in political ideology, the activities of groups that are diametrically opposed on the political spectrum are similar to each other in practice.