The role of international criminal law in responding to the crime–terror nexus
| Published date | 01 May 2019 |
| Author | Harmen van der Wilt,Christophe Paulussen |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370819828934 |
| Date | 01 May 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370819828934
European Journal of Criminology
2019, Vol. 16(3) 315 –331
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370819828934
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The role of international
criminal law in responding
to the crime–terror nexus
Harmen van der Wilt
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Christophe Paulussen
T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Netherlands
Abstract
This article seeks to map the possible bottlenecks for international legal cooperation in the
context of terrorism and/or organized crime. The assumption is that – because of the crime–
terror nexus – any obstacle encountered in that area with respect to the suppression of one form
of criminality will backfire on the other form as well. After addressing the indefinite concept of
terrorism, and its connection with organized crime, we will look at extraterritorial jurisdiction
and international cooperation in criminal matters. In the final section, we will offer a number of
concluding observations.
Keywords
Crime–terror nexus, extraterritorial jurisdiction, international cooperation in criminal matters,
international criminal law
Introduction
Although the crime–terror nexus has recently received increasing attention, references to
(alleged) connections between terrorism and (transnational) organized crime have been
made before. In March 1982, Peruvian President Fernando Belaúnde Terry used the term
‘narco-terrorism’ to describe ‘the union of the vice of narcotics with the violence of
terrorism’ (United Press International, 1982). The most well-known ‘narco-terrorist’ is
Corresponding author:
Christophe Paulussen, Research Department, T. M. C. Asser Instituut, R.J. Schimmelpennincklaan 20–22,
The Hague 2517 JN, The Netherlands.
Email: c.paulussen@asser.nl
828934EUC0010.1177/1477370819828934European Journal of Criminologyvan der Wilt and Paulussen
research-article2019
Article
316 European Journal of Criminology 16(3)
probably Colombian national Pablo Escobar, not only the head of the powerful Medellin
drug cartel, but also (or perhaps even especially so)1 the mastermind behind a terrorism
campaign that killed and injured hundreds of people.2
In 1994, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (1994: Preamble) expressed its
concern ‘at the growing and dangerous links between terrorist groups and drug traffickers
and their paramilitary gangs’ and, in 2001, the UN Security Council (2001: para. 4) made
a more general reference to the nexus, when it noted ‘with concern the close connection
between international terrorism and transnational organized crime, illicit drugs, money-
laundering, illegal arms-trafficking, and illegal movement of nuclear, chemical, biological
and other potentially deadly materials’ and emphasized ‘the need to enhance coordination
of efforts on national, sub-regional, regional and international levels in order to strengthen
a global response to this serious challenge and threat to international security’.
One of the earliest scholarly works on the nexus is by Alex Schmid (1996: 66), who
noted that, even though there are similarities between terrorism and organized crime (for
example when it comes to tactics), there are also clear differences, with terrorist groups
usually being ‘ideologically highly motivated’ and with organized crime groups being
more interested in having ‘a bigger share of (illegal) markets’. For that same reason, he
also found the term ‘narco-terrorism’ vague and problematic (Schmid, 2004: 11).3
Even though the nexus between terrorism and (transnational) organized crime has
thus been made and discussed at least since the 1980s, especially in the last few years
there has been an increased interest in the topic by scholars, practitioners and interna-
tional/regional organizations alike. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq, including the so-
called foreign (terrorist) fighters they have attracted from more than 100 countries around
the world (see also UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee, n.d.), have con-
tributed to this. Four examples will be provided here.
First, in its Resolution 2195 of 2014, the UN Security Council (2014: Preamble), also
referring to the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters, expressed its concern
that terrorists benefit from transnational organized crime in some regions, including from the
trafficking of arms, persons, drugs, and artefacts and from the illicit trade in natural resources
including gold and other precious metals and stones, minerals, wildlife, charcoal and oil, as
well as from kidnapping for ransom and other crimes including extortion and bank robbery.
Second, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence
(ICSR) 2016 report Criminal Pasts, Terrorist Futures: European Jihadists and the New
Crime–Terror Nexus (Basra et al., 2016: 3), which looked at the profiles of 79 recent
European jihadists with criminal pasts, concluded:
[W]ith Islamic State and the ongoing mobilisation of European jihadists, the phenomenon [that
is, the presence of former criminals in terrorist groups] has become more pronounced, more
visible, and more relevant to the ways in which jihadist groups operate. In many European
countries, the majority of jihadist foreign fighters are former criminals.4
Third, in January 2017, the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Coun-
terterrorism Dick Schoof (Groenendijk and Rosman, 2017) stated that the connections
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