State terrorism
State terrorism is a controversial term (see:
State terrorism. Confines and definition), which means violence against civilians perpetrated by a
national government or
proxy state. Whether a particular act is described as "
terrorism" may depend on whether the
International community considers the action justified or necessary, or whether the described act is carried out as part of an . It has to be mentioned, that the opinion of the
International community cannot be defined and determined with proper neutrality. State terrorism, where applicable, may be directed toward the population or infrastructure of the state in question or towards the population of other states. Although attacks on non-combatant civilians may occur during a time of war, they are usually considered terrorism, especially if these are not attacks on the enemy's war fighting capacity (for example an industrial port). The terrorism may be carried out by the state's own forces, such as an
army,
police, state supported
militias, or other organisations, where it is more usually called
state-sponsored terrorism.
Care should be taken to differentiate
state terrorism from acts of violence carried out by government agents, which are not specified by government policy or past conduct. A murder carried out by a policeman, for example, is not considered
state terrorism unless the government sanctioned the action by policy or conduct such as pattern of attacks by state agents in the past that has gone unpunished thus perpetrators assume impunity.
State terrorism, like
terrorism, is controversial and there is no generally accepted definition. Often acts that critics describe as terror, supporters defend as legitimate defense against perceived threats. Generally, the definition of terrorism does not extend to states in direct and open military conflict, if the actions of their armed forces are within the
laws of war.
Some terrorist groups assign military titles to their commands and combatants, for just this reason, to "legitimize" their violence.
The distinction between state and nonstate terror has been criticized as being morally relativist and as distracting from or justifying state terrorism perpetrated by "favored" states (
Chomsky and
Herman,
1979). Some, such as
Spanish judge
Baltasar Garzón, view particular
political systems as instances of state terrorism:
"State terrorism is a political system whose rule of recognition permits and/or imposes a clandestine, unpredictable, and diffuse application, even regarding clearly innocent people, of coercive means prohibited by the proclaimed judicial ordinance." It is obvious, that virtually any police or military action could be marked as the
State Terrorism, according the definition. It depends on Point Of View only. Some acts of state terrorism also qualify as
genocide,
crimes against humanity or
mass murder.
Kangaroo courts,
torture,
terror bombing,
kidnapping, and
extrajudicial execution are said to be common practices of state terror, often used to terrorize domestic and foreign populations by sovereign or proxy regimes.
Citizens of
Western nations are generally protected from unfair trial by
constitutional or legislative safeguards and the requirements of
due process, although recently in the United States,
Supreme Court intervention was required to uphold such safeguards, as in the
2004 case of
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld. Undeveloped nations may have weaker institutions and unstable political climates that allow governments to have greater influence over the judiciary than in wealthier nations, allowing dissenters to be victimized as criminals.
According to
Amnesty International (
1997), in
1996, out of 150 countries surveyed, 82 had participated in
torture.
Extrajudicial execution
Extrajudicial execution, or political murder, takes place when state agents kill citizens who are viewed as threats, or to intimidate communities. Extrajudicial execution may be carried out by the official military, police forces, or unofficial but sanctioned
paramilitaries (often called "
death squads" or euphemized as "civilian defence"). In the latter case, there may be strong ties between the paramilitaries and official forces, with an overlapping membership and/or a "blind eye" turned to illegal activities.
See also: JanjaweedSuch death squads often unpredictably attack the socially disadvantaged ("undesirables"), religious or ethnic minorities, or citizens deemed to be subversive. Their targets typically include the
homeless,
street children,
union leaders,
indigenous peoples,
clergy,
activists,
journalists, and
academics. Death squads conveniently shield their sponsors from liability, the illusion of spontaneous criminal violence providing plausible
deniability. Often, the bodies of victims are secretly disposed, typically in
mass graves, leaving no evidence of a crime and increasing the
trauma to families and communities. These cases are known as "
forced disappearances", and take place particularly in
South America. The
UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances was formed in
1980 to investigate the global phenomenon of unexplained disappearances.
See also: Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia*
Crime against humanity*
Dirty War*
false flag *
Operation Condor*
Operation Gladio*
Operation Northwoods*
Selective assassination*
State-sponsored terrorism*
terror bombing*
Terrorism*
War crime* Sluka, Jeffrey A. (Ed.) (2000).
Death Squad: The Anthropology of State Terror. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1711-X.
* Chomsky, Noam and Herman, Edward S. (1979).
The Political Economy of Human Rights - Volume I. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-090-0
*
* Chomsky, Noam.
The Culture of Terrorism ISBN 0896083349
* Chomsky, Noam.
9/11 ISBN 1583224890
* George, Alexander.
Western State Terrorism, Polity Press. ISBN 0745609317
Prevention of Terrorism*
The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism*
Human Rights First,formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
