Unit IX contemporary terrorism and measures to combat it

Task 1. Make sure you know the words and word combinations below

hijack	take control of smth.(especially an aircraft) using the threat of force, usually in order to make political demands
assassination	a political murder
kidnap	take someone away illegally, and usually by force
abduct	take a person away illegally, often by force
extortion	getting money from someone by force or by threat
secession	formal separation from (a group or organization)
imposition	force an acceptance of, usually smth difficult or unwanted
drug traffic	trade in illegal goods (drugs)
illegal arms dealing	illegal trade in arms
atrocity	great evil, cruelty
intimidate	frighten, especially by making threats
ransom	a sum of money paid to free a prisoner who is being held illegally
hostage	a person who is kept as a prisoner by an enemy
assailant	an attacker

Task 2. Read and translate the text.

“Terrorism” is a term used to describe violence or other harmful acts committed against civilians by groups or persons for political, religious or other ideological goals.

Terrorism is the sustained, clandestine use of violence, including hijacking of passenger aircraft, political assassinations, kidnappings, urban bombings to achieve a political purpose.

Types of contemporary terrorism are as follows: State, Religious, Nationalist, Racist, Left-wing, Right –wing, Narcoterrorism, Eco-terrorism etc.

Causes of terrorism are diverse. First of all, it is a large-scale, unresolved political conflict. The types of conflict vary widely. Certain historical examples are as follows:

- secession of territory to form a new sovereign state;

- imposition of a particular form of government, such as democracy, anarchy, etc.;

- opposition to a domestic government or occupying army, and so on.

Then there are sociological factors (poverty, discontent with society or own community, exposure to criminal activity, upbringing) and psychological factors (anti-social personality disorder or even psychopathic personality disorder, religious problems, etc.) that also provoke recent terrorist acts.

Features and tactics of modern terrorism have some specific characteristics. One important feature of modern terrorism is its quest for spectacular horror effects in order to attract media coverage. Terrorist attacks are often targeted to maximize fear and publicity. They usually use explosives or poison, but there is also concern about terrorist attacks using weapons of mass destruction.

Terrorism atrocities like the destruction of civilian airlines and murder of helpless athletes at the 1972 Olympics and schoolchildren were committed to publicize a cause. The choice of New York City’s World Trade Center as a target of a terrorist bomb was made for symbolic reasons.

Another feature of modern terrorism is its international dimension. That means the ability of terrorists to slip across national frontiers, the support given to certain terrorist groups by a few countries dedicated to revolutionary change, logical ties that exist between terrorist goups of different ideologies and objectives, etc.

The tactics some terrorist organizations adhere to are: hijacking, assassination, car bombing, suicide bombing, kidnapping, bioterrorism, cyber-terrorism, nuclear terrorism, etc

There are three categories of terrorist crimes that may be distinguished not in legal terms, but by intention.

1) First of all, it is the use of violence and the threat of violence to create public fear.

Terrorists seek to demoralize and paralyze their enemy with fear.

a) This may be done by making random attacks to injure or kill anyone who happens to be in the vicinity when an attack takes place. As long as such crimes deny the unique worth of the individual, being directed at innocent bystanders, terrorism is said to be a form of crime that runs counter to all morality.

b) Another tactic generating fear is the abduction and assassination of heads of state and members of governments in order to make others be afraid of taking positions of leadership and so to spread a sense of insecurity. Persons in responsible positions may be abducted or assassinated on the grounds that they are “representatives” of some institution or system to which their assailants are opposed.

2) The second category of terrorist crime is actual rule by terror. It is a common practice for leaders of terrorist organizations to enforce obedience and discipline by terrorizing their own members. A community, whose collective interests the terrorist organization claims to serve, may be terrorized so that their cooperation, loyalty, and support are ensured. When governments engage in illegal and clandestine kidnapping or murder to intimidate their people the term “state terrorism” is appropriate, for example in case of the Nazis in Germany. Groups that come to power by this means usually continue to rule by terror.

3) Thirdly, crimes are committed by terrorist organizations in order to gain the means for their own support. Bank robbery, kidnapping for ransom, extortion, illegal arms dealing, and drug trafficking are among the principal crimes of this nature. In the Middle East, hostages are frequently sold as capital assets by one terrorist group to another.

From the1960s international terrorist crimes constituted a phenomenon of increasing concern to people of the world and made them seek measures to combat it.

Responses to terrorism are broad in scope. They may include:

• targeted laws, criminal procedures, deportations, enhanced police powers, additional traffic barriers;

- preemptive or reactive military actions;

- increased intelligence and surveillance activities;

- preemptive humanitarian activities;

- more permissive interrogation and detention policies.

Prevention of domestic terrorism is a matter for local law enforcement agencies or security forces. Prevention of international terrorism is a matter of the international community as a whole. International efforts to counter terrorism have led to the following international conventions:

- the Tokyo and Montreal Conventions (1963 and 1971) on hijacking and sabotage of civilian aircraft;

- the Hague Convention of 1979 on hostage taking;

- the 1973 Convention on crimes against diplomats.

These conventions established categories of international crimes that are punishable by any state regardless of the nationality of criminals or victims or locality of the offence.

In 1987 six industrial democratic countries pledged themselves to take joint actions against terrorism. These nations are: the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France and Japan. They promised:

- to deny terrorist suspects entry into their countries;

- to bring about close cooperation between police and security forces in their countries;

- to place strict restrictions on diplomatic missions suspected of being involved in terrorism;

- to cooperate in other ways.

On 8 September 2006 the UN Member States adopted the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The Strategy – in the form of a Resolution and an annexed Plan of Action – is a unique global instrument that will enhance national, regional and international efforts to counter terrorism. The practical steps the countries agreed on include measures ranging from strengthening state capacity to counter terrorist threats to better coordinating United Nations system’s counter-terrorism activities.