MRF second Presentation:
Terrorism and the Targeting of Civilians under International Law
While there is no agreed upon definition of terrorism under Int’l Law, there are certain key ingredients which constitute the core concept of terrorism, particularly in domestic jurisdictions. The sina qua non components of these definitions include at least the following:
(a). the threat or use of force against civilians or non-combatants;
(b). the threat or use of force against non-military targets (i.e. hospitals, public transport, shopping centres, cafes and other civilian infrastructure);
(c). For the purpose of bringing about some political, religious or ideological change.
Several areas will be explored in this paper. The first part will look at the value of the concept of ‘terrorism’. The term is, more often than not politically loaded which has rendered int’l consensus impossible for the purposes of definition. I will attempt to navigate through some of the hazards that recent scholarship has pointed out.
The second part of this paper will deal with those tactics which legally allow States to target civilians (almost exclusively) in order to bring about political and ideological change during peace time.
The third part will look at the reasons why belligerents target civilians in armed conflict. The final part of this chapter will look at ‘terror’ as strategy. Contrary to conventional wisdom (which is far more convention than it is wisdom), terror is not an irrational strategy pursued solely by fundamentalists with politically and psychologically warped visions of a new political, religious or ideological order. It is in fact, it is a rational and well calculated strategy that is pursued with surprisingly high success rates.
Time and Venue: Wednesday, 14 Jan 2015, 5.15 pm, 22 Russell Square, Room 102
The Muslim Research Forum 