NCJ Number
45547
Date Published
1977
Length
21 pages
Annotation
POLITICAL CRIME AND TERRORISM ARE EXAMINED FROM AN HISTORICAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE; INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AND EFFORTS AT PREVENTION ARE DETAILED.
Abstract
THE TWO MAJOR CLASSES OF POLITICAL CRIME WHICH HAVE COME TO THE FORE IN THE DECADE PRIOR TO THE TIME OF WRITING ARE CRIMES PERPETRATED BY THOSE HOLDING THE REINS OF POLITICAL POWER, RANGING FROM WATERGATE AND ELECTION LAW FRAUDS TO 'REIGNS OF TERROR' AS EMPLOYED IN POSTREVOLUTIONARY FRANCE, THE SOVIET UNION, AND NAZI GERMANY; AND CRIMES UNDERTAKEN BY THOSE WHO VIEW THEMSELVES AS BEING OUT OF POWER, I.E., THOSE POLITICALLY, ECONOMICALLY, RACIALLY, ETHNICALLY, OR OTHERWISE SUBJECTED TO DISCRIMINATION. IN THE COUNCILS OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND LAW, POLITICAL CRIME AND TERRORISM EQUALLY HAVE BEEN RECEIVING GROWING ATTENTION BECAUSE OF THEIR ADVERSE IMPACT ON FUNDAMENTAL INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND DOCTRINES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW. POLITICAL TERRORISTS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SERIOUSLY AFFECT INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS, TO REJECT THE HISTORICAL INVIOLABILITY AND SPECIAL PROTECTION OF DIPLOMATS BOTH IN PEACE AND IN WAR, AND TO CONTRADICT INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT AND NONCOMBATANTS FROM THE RAVAGES OF UNCONTROLLED VIOLENCE. AND EXAMINATION OF POLITICAL CRIME IN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LAW THROUGH HISTORY SHOWS THAT POLITICAL OFFENDERS HAVE BEEN ALTERNATELY DESPISED AS THE WORST OF CRIMINALS FOR DOMESTIC OFFENSES AND PROTECTED OR GIVEN REFUGE UNDER INTERNATIONAL TREATIES WHEN THE CRIME WAS COMMITTED ABROAD. DRASTIC RESTRICTION HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE POLITICAL OFFENSE CLAIM BY TREATIES AND PRECEDENT-SETTING DECISIONS. A DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN THE POLITICAL OFFENDER, WHO IS NOT NECESSARILY COMMITTED TO VIOLENCE AND WHO SEEKS TO REMOVE THE SPECIFIC CAUSES OF HIS DISCONTENT, AND THE TERRORIST, WHO BELIEVES THE SOCIAL ORDER TO BE SO CORRUPT AS TO REQUIRE ITS TOTAL DESTRUCTION. AGREEMENTS FOR THE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT OF TERRORISM RANGE FROM THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CONVENTION OF 1937, THROUGH A DRAFT CONVENTION INTRODUCED AT THE UNITED NATIONS IN SEPTEMBER 1972, TO THE 1949 GENEVA CONVENTIONS, AND THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON THE SUPPRESSION OF TERRORISM AS ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE IN 1974. THE CRUX OF THE PROBLEM OF TRANSNATIONAL POLITICAL VIOLENCE REVOLVES AROUND THE FACT THAT WHILE THE PERMISSIBLE SPECTRUM OF POLITICAL CRIME AND TERRORISM IN BEING NARROWED, THE GROWING INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS TENDS TO FURTHER LEGITIMIZE POLITICAL OFFENSES. IN THE AREA OF FUTURE INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS, THE AUTHOR ENVISIONS A LESS FORMAL RESOLUTION, SIMILAR TO THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE'S RESOLUTION ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, WHICH WOULD INCORPORATE THE PRINCIPLE OF SELF-DEFENSE AND PROPORTIONALITY TO MAINTAIN THE BALANCE BETWEEN WORLD ORDER AND HUMAN RIGHTS. HE FORESEES CONTINUED RELIANCE ON A LONG TRADITION OF EXEMPTING POLITICAL OFFENDERS FROM EXTRADITION, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THOSE WHO USE EXCESSIVE OR INDISCRIMINATE VIOLENCE. AN INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS WOULD ALSO BE POSSIBLE; IT WOULD BE SET UP BY ALL COUNTRIES THAT ADHERE TO PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND WOULD PROVIDE ADVISORY OPINIONS IN ALL CASES OF DOUBT. NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (DAS)