INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
by
DR. MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO
(Lecture on 19 February 2002 at Colegio de San Juan de Letran)

INTERNATIONAL CRIME

     Terrorism is an international crime, like piracy, war crimes, crimes against humanity (genocide), torture, and aggression. An international crime is one which violates values considered important by the whole international community. When an act is characterized as an international crime, this implies that the criminals may be prosecuted and punished by any state.

DEFINITION OF TERRORISM

     Terrorism is the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. (1998 Oxford Dictionary.) Terrorism is the use of violence for purposes of political extortion, coercion, and publicity for a political cause. (U.S. State Department.) Terrorism is the threat, practice, or promotion of force for political objectives by organizations or a person whose actions are designed to influence the political attitudes or policy decisions of a third party. (Richard Chasdi.) Terrorism is a criminal act intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public. (1994 U.N. General Assembly resolution.)

ELEMENTS OF TERRORISM

 Thus, there are four elements of terrorism, as follows

GOALS OF TERRORISM

 Among the goals of terrorist groups are the following:

PROBLEMS IN COUNTERTERRORISM

      Terrorism is not a new phenomenon. The term "terrorism" was first used after the so-called Reign of Terror during the French Revolution in the 18th century. Terrorism first attracted international attention, when a terrorist assassinated an Austrian archduke, thus setting off World War 1. Terrorism became familiar to the peoples of the world with the terrorist struggle of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), to pressure Britain to grant independence to Northern Ireland.

     Although there has been terrorism in the past, terrorism is more serious today because the targets are more spectacular, such as world-famous buildings, jumbo jets, nuclear power stations, and computer networks. There is an epidemic of terrorism, because modern communications technology enables terrorists to receive instant publicity through the world's mass media.

     In past decades, terrorism took the form of hijackings and kidnappings. Today, terrorism now takes the form of bombings, and even of suicidal bombings. But terrorism is politically effective not so much because of mass killings. Terrorism is politically effective, because of the psychological effect of not knowing where and when the killing will take place. Another psychological effect is that the attackers have the capability of choosing prominent and highly valued targets.

     Terrorism is extremely difficult to combat as a political tactic. One problem is that many terrorist groups are tightly organized by cells. Within the cells, the members do not know the activity of members of other cells, or even the identity of those in command. The advance team of planners is separated from those who will execute the plans. Only the top leaders know the various members of the organization. Hence, a terrorist cannot expose his colleagues or his leader under interrogation or torture.

     Another problem is that antiterrorist work sometimes runs the risk of violating basic human and civil rights. For example, antiterrorist campaigns may involve troops lining the streets, conducting searches in public places and private homes.

COUNTERTERRORISM TACTICS

     In fighting terrorism, the states of the world are divided. The developed states take the position that terrorists are criminals, and hence the world community shares a responsibility to arrest them and bring them to trial. The developing states take the position that before terrorism is outlawed, measures should be adopted to rectify the political and economic injustices perpetrated by the developed states and their allies. Often, the developing states view terrorism as the only available weapon of the oppressed states.

 The various counterterrorism tactics include the following:

     States have responded to the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001, now known as "9-11," by installing more electronic search devices, making fuller use of international police agencies such as Interpol, and of information from national computer databanks.

     The 9-11 incident that shocked the whole world has triggered a spate of studies on counterterrorism. Previous studies show that terrorism achieves very little, beyond publicity. Terrorism has failed to force governments to take the direction that terrorists want. For example, after 9-11, the U.S. led an international coalition by launching a war on terrorism in Afghanistan, which resulted in a change of the pro-terrorist Taliban government. After 9-11, more than 112 states have issued blocking orders and have frozen assets which they believed were being used to finance terrorism. This proves that terrorism merely serves to harden the victim state, and persuades the victim state to go in the opposite direction.

COUNTERTERRORISM AND THE VFA

      The Constitution, Article 18, Section 25, provides: "Foreign military bases, troops, or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate, and recognized as a treaty by the other contracting State." Pursuant to this constitutional provision, in 1999 the governments of the Philippines and the United States entered into a Visiting Forces Agreement. The VFA, Article 1, provides that U.S. personnel may visit the Philippines "temporarily" in connection with the activities approved by the Philippine government." Article 2 provides that it is the duty of the U.S. "to abstain from any activity inconsistent with the spirit of this agreement and, in particular, from any political activity in the Philippines."

     The term "Abu Sayyaf" in Arabic means "Sword of God." This group has kidnapped tourists and beheaded civilians. Its stated goal is to establish an Islamic homeland in Mindanao or somewhere in the South China Sea. It was founded by Abdulrajak Janjalani, who previously joined the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, where he reportedly met Osama bin Laden. Janjalani was killed in a firefight in 1998. After his death, Abu Sayyaf was divided into two factions. One faction is headed by his brother Khalif Janjalani and is based in Basilan. The other faction is headed by Kumander Robot and is based in Jolo.

     Officials say that Abu Sayyaf has had ties to bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. The Abu Sayyaf has reportedly received money from Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, the brother-in-law of bin Laden. Reportedly, Khalifa had links to another agent of bin Laden who used to come to the Philippines, Abdul Hakim Murad. In 1995, Murad was arrested for plotting to kill Pope John Paul 2.

     Another charge against Murad was that he planned with Ramzi Yousof, who was his roommate, to blow up 12 U.S. airlines simultaneously. Yousof reportedly used to visit Abdulrajak Janjalani, the founder of the Abu Sayyaf. Yousof reportedly used Manila as a hiding place after allegedly serving as the mastermind of the first 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Manila is believed to be a prime hideaway for undetected al-Qaeda cells scattered throughout Southeast Asia.

     Philippine troops have been hunting the Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of Basilan Islands for months. But the militants always manage to escape, thus raising suspicions that corrupt Philippine commanders have accepted bribes to allow the escape of the militants. The 5,000 Philippine troops in Basilan are looking for the last 80 or so heavily armed members of the rebel gang.

      Last January, Mrs. Arroyo made a decision to let U.S. special operations forces help Philippine troops to hunt Islamic extremists. Her announced policy is to let U.S. advisers train Philippine troops pursuing the Abu Sayyaf. Mrs. Arroyo's critics protest what they see as a threat to Philippine sovereignty. Mrs. Arroyo argues that the U.S. troops are in the country not to fight, but to conduct training exercises with Philippine troops tracking the Abu Sayyaf.

     In theory, the 650 U.S. GIs, including 160 special forces, are being sent to teach the local troops better ways to search out and destroy Abu Sayyaf. The GIs will find it difficult to find a balance between training and fighting. Their formal job is to teach 1,200 Philippine soldiers the latest in antiterrorism tactics and intelligence-gathering tactics. They will bring along sophisticated sensors and tracking devices.

 There are important questions that should be raised about the RP-US Balikatan exercises under the VFA:

[back]

The Isulong Team: Isulong SEOPh, Isulong Seoph by Benj, Pinoy Isulong by Seoph Martinez and Useless Isulong