International treaties against terrorism

1. In the present, international treaty law (concerning terrorism) not only covers acts affecting civilians, but it also covers some acts of terrorism against military personnel and installations: Convention against the Taking of Hostages: covers the taking of hostages of military personnel if the act in question is not covered by the Geneva Conventions or its Additional Protocol I or II Convention against terrorist bombings: covers the use of explosives or certain other lethal devices in a public place or against a state facility to cause death, serious injury or serious economic loss Convention against nuclear terrorism: covers the use of nuclear material or a nuclear device with the intent to cause death, serious injury or substantial damage to property, or damaging a nuclear facility or device in a way that entails a risk of releasing radioactive material Convention against financing terrorism: covers financing activities intended to kill or injure members of an armed force during peacetime, or to kill non-combatants during an armed conflict is Expanding the concept of terrorism to include attacks against military targets weakens somewhat the moral opprobrium attached to it. The use of the term ‘‘terrorist’’ as a propaganda tool has a long history, and expanding the legal definition of terrorism so that it applies to certain attacks that may be used by irregular forces against enemies who enjoy an overwhelming technological advantage facilitates such abuse.

2. The scope of international treaties against terrorism:

2.1. Conventions provide some protection to military, civilian personnel and installations. Its scope is generally circumscribed by reference to international humanitarian law.

2.1.1. Treaties concerning terrorism were elaborated with the main purpose of combat international terrorism. In recent conventions it has been established some important and new obligations. Acts of terrorism need to have an international dimension, involve crime against the person and knowing the specific intent with which and act is committed.

3. The obligations established by international treaties against terrorism:

3.1. The principal obligation is to incorporate the crimes defined in the treaty into the domestic criminal law, make them punishable and reflect the gravity of the offence. Participate in the construction of "universal jurisdiction"

3.2. Give their courts very broad jurisdiction, including jurisdiction based on territoriality, nationality, on the mere presence of a suspect in the territory of the state. Accept the obligation either to extradite any suspected offenders found in their territory

3.3. Contain dispositions concerning the protection of human rights. Are of three kinds: general provisions, provisions concerning the right of accused or detained, and provisions establishing conditions regarding extradition and the transfer of prisoners.

4. International treaties against terrorism

4.1. The Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, adopted in Tokyo in 1963 1970: The Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft 1971: The Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation 1973: The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents 1979: The International Convention against the Taking of Hostages 1979: The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material 1988: The Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, Protocol to that Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf, Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation 1991: The Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection 1997: The International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings 1999: The International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 April 2005

5. There are several provisons in humanitarian law that prohibit acts of terrorism as it comes in the article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention provides in part that ‘‘Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.’’ Also in two additional protocols to the Geneva Convention these acts of violence and terror against civilizers are prohibited.

6. Four of the treaties against terrorism, the Conventions against hostage-taking, against terrorist bombings, against the financing of terrorism and against nuclear terrorism, contain provisions referring to international humanitarian law, or to concepts derived from it. Most of them are designed to ensure that they act within the scope of both international humanitarian law and international law against terrorism.

7. - Mines are sometimes used to limit access to restricted facilities; explosives are used to obtain entrance to a fortified room or building, and certain gases to control riots, to incapacitate dangerous individuals or to force someone to surrender. - The armed forces of repressive regimes have been known to use explosives to destroy the offices of opposition groups or the media, to assassinate political leaders and to punish communities suspected of support for opposition movements against targets in foreign countries in isolated acts not forming part of an armed conflict. - About the 1979 Convention against hostage-taking: * When armed forces detonate explosives in the territory of another state, rules of international law such as the prohibition of aggression apply. * International human rights law also would be applicable in most cases, whether the perpetrators act within their own country, in an occupied territory or elsewhere. * Human rights violations (such as war crimes or crimes of aggression that meet the definition of acts of terrorism) cannot be dealt with under this Convention.

8. However, Article 12 establishes that only acts that a State is obliged to prosecute (or extradite) are excluded, under the Geneva Conventions or one of its Protocols. Therefore, the scope of this clause of Exclusion is relatively straightforward: if a State has an obligation to prosecute or extradite a hostage-taker under one of the Geneva Conventions or Protocols, the Hostage-Taking Convention will not apply; but if there is no such obligation, then the Convention against the Taking of Hostages should apply. It should be noted that, although the prohibition of hostage-taking is considered a rule of customary international humanitarian law, 49 this exclusion clause would not prevent the Convention against the taking of hostages from being applied to an act of hostage-taking covered by the law. customary international humanitarian, but not by one of the Conventions or Protocols.

9. The draft comprehensive convention against international terrorism:

9.1. There is no specific agreement on the definition of terrorism within the UN and its various assemblies. The UN as whole have not reached a conclusion, various committees have attempted yet have failed nonetheless; International Law Commission (attempted yet failed).

9.2. 1996 the UN General Assembly follows through wit the Ad Hoc development where in 2000 Ad Hoc committee tried to specially draft a definition for terrorism yet despite efforts their achieved definition since 2005 yet it was labeled as problematic.

9.3. It's labeled as problematic because there are various factors that aren't always necessary in the scope of attention when being defined. Due to the various definitions of terrorism is much more complicated to achieve a specific term, as most “terrorist” acts and actions vary depending on their senior and or case specific “ Where specific intent is an element of the crime, the intent required is usually that of terrorizing the public or obliging a state or international organization to take a certain course of action” there are certain levels and or extent where the word terrorism can be defined as … “While many acts are classified as terrorist crimes only if they affect civilian facilities or installations, others are classified as terrorism if they affect military personnel or facilities in peacetime or if they take place during an armed conflict but are not covered by humanitarian law”.

9.4. Although there may not be a specific cited definition of terrorism within the UN “The working definition of terrorism under consideration by the Ad Hoc”... is demonstrated nd explicitly referred within their committee articles…

9.4.1. “ 1. Any person commits an offense within the meaning of the present Convention if that person, by any means, unlawfully and intentionally, causes: (a) Death or serious bodily injury to any person; or (b) Serious damage to public or private property, including a place of public use, a State or government facility, a public transportation system, an infrastructure facility or the environment; or (c) Damage to property, places, facilities, or systems referred to in paragraph 1(b) of the present article resulting or likely to result in major economic loss, when the purpose of the conduct, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act. …. 2. Any person also commits an offence if that person makes a credible and serious threat to commit an offence as set forth in paragraph 1 of the present article”. (873)

9.5. The acquired and developed definition of terrorism embodied the international perception and or notion of accepted general international definition of terrorism, Ad Hoc's main target is to redefine the international definition and or notion of the concept of terrorism in order to make it more applicable for specific case to case scenarios.

9.5.1. “The term ‘‘state terrorism’’ has two meanings. One refers to the adoption by a state of a policy of systematic use of violence and intimidation, including practices such as torture, extrajudicial execution and enforced disappearances, in order to eradicate a political or other opposition movement.”(875) “The other, broader meaning includes any deliberate resort by a state to acts that a priori satisfy the legal definition of terrorism, such as the taking of hostages or the use of explosives in ways described by the relevant international treaties.” (875)

9.5.2. .

10. Act of terrorism, war crime or act of state? The interplay between international humanitarian law, international law concerning terrorism and international human rights law.

11. Acts targeting armed forces

11.1. -An armed force must fulfill the following conditions:

11.1.1. 1. to be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates,

11.1.2. 2. to have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance

11.1.3. 3. to carry arms openly

11.1.4. 4. to conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war

11.2. The inhabitants of a territory that spontaneously take up arms, carry them openly at the approach of enemy forces and respect the laws of war are regarded as “belligerents”.

11.3. The definition of armed forces was adapted by the international community in 1977 with the adoption of two Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. Procol I, regarding the protection of victims in armed conflicts, implies that compliance with humanitarian law is an obligation binding upon all armed forces, but it is not an element of the definition of an armed force.

12. Conclusion:

13. International humanitarian law comprises numerous rules:

14. The rules that limit armed forces during an armed conflict are based upon international humanitarian law. International humanitarian law comprises numerous rules:

15. Acts committed by armed forces in the absence of an armed conflict:

16. --prohibition of all attacks against the civilian (attacks against the civilian population can be considered acts of terrorism). --prohibit the use of certain types of lethal devices even during armed conflict --restrict the way in which explosive devices may be used against enemy forces during armed conflict. --The First Geneva Convention, prohibits attacks of any kind against hospitals or other medical facilities or personnel. --The prohibition of acts of perfidy, including feigning civilian status in order to carry out an attack, applies to the use of explosive devices. --The 1980 Protocol on the use of mines and other explosive devices prohibits a number of perfidious uses of explosive devices, such as hiding them in toys, food, medical equipment and human remains. --The use of certain types of devices or substances is banned by treaties adopted for that specific purpose, such as the 1925 Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare --the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction --the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on their Destruction

17. Acts committed by armed forces during an armed conflict

18. .