UNITED NATIONS: West Leads Fight Against Terrorism

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 7 1996 (IPS) - Britain, France, and the United States are leading a drive at the United Nations for multilateral action against the spread of domestic and international terrorism.

A U.N. resolution sponsored by Britain seeks to bar political asylum to terrorists who masquerade as refugees, and to those who plan, fund, or incite terrorism.

“The aim of our proposal is to emphasise that access to the asylum process might not be available to those carrying out or actively supporting terrorism,” says Elizabeth Wilmhurst of Britain.

The United States, which was experienced a rash of bombings at home in the last few years, is also seeking international cooperation against terrorist acts. One of the most recent bombings on U.S. soil came during the summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.

“The use of bombs or similar devices by terrorists is a significant problem that must be dealt with effectively,” Carolyn Willson of the U.S. delegation said last week. Those devices accounted for 304 of 440 international terrorist incidents during 1995, she said.

Washington is calling for a U.N. convention for the suppression of terrorist bombings. France, on the other hand, is calling for a U.N. convention to eliminate all forms of terrorism. And Russia wants a separate convention to combat acts of nuclear terrorism.

The British proposal, which is expected to receive overwhelming support in the 185-member U.N. General Assembly, also aims to crack down on organisations that ostensibly raise funds for charity but divert them for terrorist activities.

The British government has complained that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has raised most of its funding from sympathisers overseas, including from the United States.

A Third World diplomat pointed out to IPS that the sudden interest in terrorism has really been prompted by the rising violence in Western nations.

“For the first time, we are seeing Western countries taking more than an academic interest in something that has plagued developing nations for years,” he said.

Indian Foreign Minister I.K. Gujral told the General Assembly last week that his country took the lead in raising the issue of terrorism as a threat to human rights almost five years ago.

“We are happy to note that despite initial and sometime vocal opposition by some Western countries, terrorism is now accepted as the most important threat to the enjoyment of human rights today,” he said. Gujral said India will pursue its call to adopt a binding international convention to combat terrorism.

Disagreements are, however, surfacing at the world body over the terms “terrorist” and “terrorism”.

Pakistan, accused of supporting Kashmiri separatist movements against India, wants the United Nations to make “a clear distinction between terrorism and the legitimate struggle for national liberation.”

And Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto told the General Assembly last week she was concerned that, in some quarters, the “one billion peace-loving Muslims” in the world were being unfairly blamed for terrorism.

“These quarters are trying to present terrorism as something peculiar to the followers of Islam,” Bhutto said. “This is wrong. There is no place in Islam for acts of terrorism.”

“Whether it is the rise of Hindu fundamentalism, Islamic militancy, Judaic extremism, Le Pen’s racism in France, or the Oklahoma bombing in America, a number of youths are turning to acts of violence,” she added.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said the epithet “terrorist” has been too often hurled unjustifiably at genuine liberation movements, particularly those which struggled against foreign occupation or apartheid. “The legitimacy of such organisations has been recognised by the United Nations,” he said.

Kadirgamar said the international community should not therefore spend time seeking to evolve a comprehensive definition of “terrorism” lest “we become helplessly mired in a semantic minefield.”

“An international consensus against terrorism based on the recognition of stark reality has matured over the years. It is imperative now to implement this consensus,” he added.

Meanwhile in a report to the General Assembly, Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali says there are 13 global or regional treaties pertaining to terrorism. But most of these conventions, including those relating to seizure of aircraft, taking of hostages and wanton acts of terrorism, have not been ratified by most of the U.N. member-states.

U.N. spokeswoman Sylvana Foa said that among the issues high on the agenda was the need for collective action to eliminate the concept of “safe haven” for terrorists.

She also said the United Nations was undertaking a comprehensive review of all conventions related to terrorism to determine their status: how many of them have been ratified but not implemented, and how many of them have been signed but not ratified.

The United Nations is to initiate a process to convince member states to sign and ratify conventions gathering dust in the U.N. Office of Legal Affairs.