Emporium Current Essays

At the United Nations conference on the 'Prevention of Crime' held in Cairo, April-May
1995 speakers declared that international crime "threatens to undermine the foundations
of all states," and "... terrorism has become one of the most dangerous forms of
international crime.'* No one is likely to quibble over the definition of a criminal act
since it is one that breaches the law, but there is n«o single definition of terrorism that
holds true in all circumstances around the world. One man's struggle for freedom can be
considered terrorism by another. There are many sources of terrorist activity: state
terrorism was institutionalised in the Latin American states during the late 1960s and
1970s when military juntas sought to suppress political movements in the region.

Uruguay had the world's highest per capita population of political prisoners in those days.
According to America's Watch, 1 out of every 50 Uruguayans w as detained and \ out of
every 500 w as jailed, most were routinely tortured, in Argentina,, President Alfonsin
(19H9), the first civilian to complete his term in office since
1928, was blamed for a excusing \all but top officers from prosecution on such charges
and even promoted accused tortures. In Egypt, the government is reported to be
concerned about the potential of the Muslim brotherhood for emerging as a legitimate
political force, just as the F1S did in Algeria in 1991. Key figures in the MB,
professionals with money, respected and well liked were detained and presented in court
in iron eases prior to the election in
1995 because reports and forecasts predicted they would do better than the government
wanted them to in the national elections.

State terrorism can, and doe.s, extend across national boundaries. Organisations that are
sponsored .by foreign governments tend to have a momentum of their own and can slip
out of the control of the original organiser: this is what happened with the LTTE
separatists of Sri Lanka, originally trained and equipped by Indian agencies, which
eventually blew up Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, with a human
bomb. The LTTE now operates on its own and has a publicity and propaganda wing,
business enterprises, a fund-raising wing and a well-organised arms
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procurement organisation. There are many similar militant groups around the world that
are now out of the control of their original organisers.
Many tactics employed by political organisations may be used by the state itself to run
so-called cover operations. The irresponsible retired head of a sensitive agency declared
before a gathering of intellectuals and diplomats that "... I can activate 14 separatist
organisations in 'x country' within 24 hours..." In Panama it turned out that the notorious
President Noriega was a CIA agent in his previous life and last time something about him
appeared in the American Press he was being prosecuted in the United States on charges
of drug smuggling, among other things. The Golden Triangle states of the Far East are
well-knows for the easy going relationship between their Saw enforcement organisations
and the semi-political warlords who smuggle drugs to finance their operations. It has
been a standard practice in countries »f South Asia, for decades, to recruit criminal
serving life terms as assassins. As soon as the deed is done they are safely back in prison
and there is no chance they will talk. Naturally the perpetrators of criminal acts and
terrorism are never found. Whenever there is an incident and 'no clue' is found thoughts
turn towards such standard operating procedures.

Private individuals and political organisations can be responsible for terrorism that either
seeks the destruction of a specific target or merely to cause chaos and random violence
thereby undermining the writ of the government. The objective is to being about a
change. Serious organisations with,long-term political objectives never permit the general
public to become the target of their violent acts. They choose specific persons or groups
that represent what the organisation wishes to replace. Peaceful means for the
replacement of such individuals or groups, or for bringing about social and political
change may be denied by the state or other forces within the country< hence resource to
violence. For example attacks by Islamic militants on tourists in Egypt focus on the
tourism industry which is considered representative of the prostitution of culture and
values for the pleasure of Westerners.

The same organisations have militant, political and welfare wings that provide succour to
the general public and thus win their support. In Palestine, Hamas has a political, a
welfare and a militant wing. Acts of violence have a purpose. Since negotiation on
political issues is ruled out such organisations seek to make it clear that no one, not the
leadership or the general public that elects or supports such a leadership, will live in a
peace until there is a settlement of

some sort. The LTTE in Sri Lanka wanted to make it clear to the international community
that the government's claims, subsequent to the recapture of Jaffna, about the restoration
of peace in Sri Lanka were not correct. LTTE guerrillas blew up the Central Bank, the
docks and, recently a commuter train to make their presence felt after the fall of Jaffna.
The LTTE does not seek the support of the general Sinhalese public. Its constituency is
the Tamils of the world and is, therefore, unconcerned about the loss of life in such cases.

Another illustration of a difference in perception of what may be considered terrorism is

found in Serbrenica. In July 1995 Mladic, now a war criminal sought by the War Crimes
Tribunal setup by the International Court oT Justice, said that his army's , onslaught
against the enclave was undertaken to 'neutralise' what he called 'terrorist' there. He was
referring to Gen. Oric who was regarded by the Bosnian Muslims as>a kind of Robin
Hood who kept the enclave fed and defended when the UN and the word community held
back.

There is a great deal of difference between the origin and purpose of violent, terrorist
attacks that were perpetrated by militant groups in the hue 1960s and 1970s in Europe,
the terror that was seen in Latin America and the present waves of terrorism that are
sweeping across the world today. Revelations made during the 1990s by responsible
personnel, now retired, of intelligence agencies of many countries and institutions
indicate that leftist university groups in the west were penetrated by their operatives and
actually trained to achieve the objectives of certain states. Their purpose was stated to be
to seek a reaction, shake states. Another
• objective was to use these organisations as a cover to eliminate those political elements
that were considered a threat to European security by NATO. New information has
emerged about the Baader Meinhoff gang and the Red Brigade. There are shadowy links
between many semi-political extremist organisations and governments. Many such
organisations may originally have been sponsored by agencies in the countries in which
they exist, neighbouring or third countries. An extremely interesting episode was the
kidnapping of a USIS officer by some Palestinians when the PLO and other extremist
groups were apparently abhorred by the US. Actually he was under the protection of Mr.
George Habash with whom he had studied in Beirut but some renegades in the movement
lifted him. While US officials went crazy looking for him, his wife finally managed to get
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released -- he was being hold in garage a few houses away from his home and was
perfectly well. He walked over to his home.

There has always been a differentiation between freedom movements and terrorist
activity in discussion at the United Nations but the acceptance of dialogue with the PLO
was a watershed in the relations between militant organisations and governments. This
acceptance also meant that elements that were unwilling to compromise on
certain issues would have to intensify their activities. Two categories emerged:
organisations that government may negotiate with and those that governments
were unwilling to acknowledge. The activities of such organisations have become
increasingly sophisticated. Business activities span the legitimate and the illegal,
including investment in business enterprises s well as the smuggling of arrm and drugs
across national boundaries. This is done with the co-operation of governments in
industrialised countries that tend to look the other nay when their people are making a
fast buck.
The focus of terrorist activity is believed to have shifted in both geographic, political and
ideological terms. Isolated instances such as the bombing of the Federal Building of the
United States suggest that inequities within capitalist societies have created the potential
for terrorism by those who have been marginalised. Consequently, the recent crash of
the TWA flight from New York to Paris was not immediately laid at the door of one
Muslim country or other. However, in the final analysis the incident led to added severity
in sanctions against Iran by the United States Extreme frustration with political and
social systems that appear impervious to change is leading to an escalation in violence
within societies ami against the symbols of inequity. Instead of beating up -someone:
marginalised elements are likely to torture and instead of just killing someone they are
likely to mutilate as well.

The proliferation of militant political organisations and subnational groups in the post
Cold War cr;t i* wen as an opportunity by arms industries and mercenaries not just in the
industrialised countries but in Third World as well. An Australian arms dealer and Israel
are believed to have supplied arms to the Tamil Tigers in the past. Dealers in Hong Kong
and Singapore supply dual purpose equipment such as computers, electronic equipment
and the like. The Croat National guard are believed to have been supplied Hungry,
Romania, South Africa and Singapore. The Afghan theatre has been an important source
of arms for many such groups. According to one Press report the civil authorities in
Pakistan were planning to purchase armoured vehicles for use in-Sindh from the

Afghans. India increased exports of light weapons from USS 28.9 million in 1991-92 to
USS 156 million in 1994-95.

The incremental increase in expenditure by governments seeking to combat terrorism can

be of added benefit to arms dealers and their ilk. For instance, in order to combat the
insurgency, Sri Lanka had to increase military expenditure from USS 25 million in
1982 to USS 583 million by 1988. The budget was down to USS 450 million in 1991. In
Pakistan, the allocation for law and order was doubled from Rs. 5.093 billion in 1994-
1995 to Rs. 11 billion in 1995-
1996. However, by April 1995, Rs. 13 billion had already been spent. Theje was no real
improvement in the incidents decreased but their intensity, the parts of the country
affected and the destruction caused when they did occur, increased.

A G-7 meeting to discuss the prevention of terrorism concluded on July 30,1996. A

dual track policy that will encompass
25 measures ranging from bilateral, multilateral and international co-operation between
institutions, security services and the judicial has been approved. An expert committee is
to prepare a new international convention on terrorism involving explosive.
Nevertheless, most states agree that the dimensions of the problem have changed and the
relationship between political, social and economic change. These new dimensions of
terrorism need to be examined before affection ag-ainst individuals states such as that
taken by the United States recently is not the answer. Similarly pinning terrorist acts on
individuals or groups is not the long term answer to terrorism or violence, unless it is
actually the act of a single lunatic. Pressured classes of people who may being to fed that
peaceful change is not possible. Many political groups with militant wings have large
numbers of adherents. It is fortunate for society that only a few have the means to
perpetuate terrorist acts.
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