Suggesting Remedies for International Terrorism— Use of Available International Means
| Published date | 01 October 1976 |
| Date | 01 October 1976 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711787600500402 |
| Author | S.J. Chatterjee,Maureen Williams |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
1069
SUGGESTING
REMEDIES
FOR
INTERNATIONAL
TERRORISM—
USE
OF
AVAILABLE
INTERNATIONAL
MEANS
by
Maureen
Williams
and
S.
J.
Chatterjee
&dquo;Though
in
many
of
its
aspects
this
visible
world
seems
formed
in
love,
the
invisible
spheres
were
formed
in
fright&dquo;-
Herman
Melville,
Moby
Dick.
Introduction:
International
terrorism
is
not
a
novel
phenomenon’
in
international
law.
Frequent
resort
to
this
evil
has
brought
in
its
wake
the
necessity
of
having
an
effective
set
of
rules
on
the
matter.
Ever
since
the
time
of
the
League
of
Nations,
inter-
national
efforts
have
been
directed
to
this
end.2
The
United
The
authors
wish
to
express
their
sincere
gratitude
to
Mr.
J.
E.
S.
Fawcett,
President
of
the
European
Commission
of
Human
Rights
for
his
very
valuable
comments
on
some
of
the
issues
discussed
in
this
article
which
have
greatly
assisted in
its
preparation.
The
views
expressed
here
are
of
course
those
of
the
authors.
1
The
act
of
"terrorism"
was
first
used
during
the
"Reign
of
Terror"
in
France,
i.e.,
during
the
French
Revolution
with
a
view
to
intimi-
dating
the
government
in
power.
For
an
instructive
study
of the
process
of
terror
and
the
uses
of
violence,
see
E.
Walter,
Terror
and
Resistance,
1969.
This
term
was
first
used
on
the
international
level
at
the
Third
(Brussels)
International
Conference
for
the
Unification
of
Penal
Law,
June
26-30,
1930,
Actes
de
la
Conference, 1931.
2
The
Council
of
the
League
of
Nations
had
been
requested
for
an
inquiry
into
the
circumstances
which
led
to
the
assassination
of
King
Alexander
of
Yugoslavia
and
L.
Berthou,
Foreign
Minister
of
the
French
Republic
in
October,
1934.
The
League
Council,
appreciating
that
the
existing
international
law
concerning
the
repression
of
terrorist
activity
was
not
sufficiently
precise
to
guarantee
effective
international
co-operation
in
this
matter,
decided
to
establish
a
com-
mittee
of
experts
to
study
this
question.
The
1937
Convention
for
the
Prevention
and
Punishment
of
Terrorism
had
been
concluded
on
the
basis
of
the
draft
prepared
by
this
Committee.
The
scope
of
this
Convention
was
however
limited
to
terrorism
of
an
international
character
only.
See
further
"Proceedings
of
the
International
Conference
on
the
Repression
of
Terrorism",
League
of
Nations
Doc.
C.
94.
M.
47.
1938V
(1938
V.3)
at
pp.49-50.
1070
Nations
in
a
renewed
effort
to
regulate
the
problem
drafted
a
number
of
conventions
where
terrorism
was
involved.3
3
Indeed,
attempts
in
this
regard
have
been
made
by
various
organisations
of
which
mention
should
be
made
of
the
Organi-
zation
of
American
States’
and
the
International
Law
Com-
mission.’
Most
recently,
the
International
Law
Association
also
3
The
United
Nations
did
not
take
any
responsibility
for
the
Con-
vention
on
Terrorism
which
had
been
concluded
under
the
auspices
of
the
League.
No
concrete
efforts
in
this
regard
had
been
made
by
the
United
Nations
during
the
initial
period
of
its
activity.
It
may
be
observed
that
perhaps
owing
to
successive
instances
of
airline
hijackings,
the
UN
authorities,
in
concluding
the
following
inter-
national
conventions
paid
attention
to
the
problems
of
terrorism.
(a)
the
Tokyo
Convention
of
1963
(the
Convention
on
Offences
and
Certain
Other
Acts
Committed
on
Board
Aircraft,
Sep-
tember
14,
1963);
(b)
the
Hague
Convention
of
1970
(the
Convention
for
the
Sup-
pression
of
Unlawful
Seizure
of
Aircraft,
December
16,
1970);
and
(c)
the
Montreal
Convention
of
1971
(the
Convention
for
the
Sup-
pression
of
Unlawful
Acts
Against
the
Safety
of
Civil
Aviation,
September
23,
1971).
In
its
agenda
of the
Twenty-seventh
Session
(September,
1972),
the
General
Assembly
of
the
United
Nations
at
the
request
of
the
Secretary-General
included
an
item
entitled
"Measures
to
prevent
terrorist
and
other
forms
of
violence
which
endanger
or
take
innocent
lives
or
jeopardise
fundamental
freedoms"
(UN.Doc.
A/8791
(1972) ).
Since
the
above
intention
of
the
General
Assembly
met
with
contro-
versies,
it
decided
to
include
this
item
in
an
amended
form,
and
to
entrust
the
Sixth
Committee
with
the
task
of
considering
this
prob-
lem.
The
amended
version
of
the
item
was:
"Measures
to
prevent
international
terrorism
which
endangers
or
takes
innocent
human
lives
or
jeopardizes
fundamental
freedoms,
and
study
of
the
underlying
causes
of
those
forms
of
terrorism
and
acts
of
violence
which
lie
in
misery,
frustration,
grievance
and
despair
and which
cause
some
people
to
sacrifice
human
lives,
including
their
own,
in
an
attempt
to
effect
radical
changes".
See
UN.Doc.
A/C.6/418
at
p.5
(1972).
In
December,
1972
the
General
Assembly,
on
the
recommendation
of
the
Sixth
Committee,
established
an
Ad
Hoc
Committee
on
Ter-
rorism.
The
progress
of
work
on
this
Committee
had
not
unfortunately
been
very
satisfactory
owing
to
the
absence
of
unanimity
on
various
matters
related
to
terrorism,
e.g.
definition,
causes,
etc.
The
members
of
this
Committee
(35
in
number)
agreed
to
proceed
with
their
work
not
by
vote
but
by
consensus.
See
further
Draft
Report
of
the
Ad
Hoc
Committee
on
International
Terrorism,
UN.Doc.
A/AC.160/L.3
(1974),
at
p.4.
4
In
1971
the
Organization
of
American
States
concluded
a
convention
with
a
view
to
suppressing
the
kidnapping
of
diplomats.
OAS
Official
Records
Series
G,
CP/Doc.54/70
Rev.I(1970).
For
comments
on
this
Convention
see
further
Inter-American
Convention
on
the
Kidnapping
of
Diplomats,
10
Columbia
Journal
of
Transnational
Law,
1971,
p.392;
and
Terrorist
Kidnapping
of
Diplomatic
Personnel,
5
Cornell
Inter-
national
Law
Journal,
1972,
p.189.
5
The
International
Law
Commission
prepared
Draft
Articles
on
the
Question
of
the
Protection
and
Inviolability
of
Diplomatic
Agents
and
Other
Persons
entitled
to
Special
Protection
under
International
Law.
See
27
UN
GAOR
Suppl.
10
at
94
and
UN.Doc.
A/8710/Rev.1.
(1972).
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