Perspectives on International Manhunts for Terrorists (From Moeglichkeiten und Grenzen der Fahndung - Arbeitstagung des Bundeskriminalamtes Wiesbaden, P 137-145, 1980 - See NCJ-78924)

• NCJ Number: 78935
• Author(s): H Herold
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: German
• Country: West Germany (Former)
• Note: Lecture given at Working Conference of the Federal Bureau of Criminal Matters, November 12-15, 1979.

Annotation

Reasons for the internationalism of terrorism and problems of West German police in dealing with international terrorism are explored.

Abstract

Terrorism has become an international problem because of shared revolutionary, usually Marxist-Leninist ideology, of various national groups. The terrorist groups provide moral and material support to their counterparts in other countries, seeking to mobilize sympathizers against what they portray as the repressive state. Differences in the legal systems allow terrorists to escape across borders to evade manhunts on a national level. Various ethnic groups scattered in colonies throughout the world provide terrorists with a cohesive framework for their activities. No international system of law and defense exists to counteract supranational terrorism. Only a few international agreements and bilateral treaties deal with complex issues such as airplane hijackings and extradition. INTERPOL, which is the only international agency for crime control, is limited in its effectiveness because it has no basis in international law and is without substantial financial and technical resources. Within Germany, a number of regulations reduce still further the avenues for international terrorist control. For example, direct legal assistance to the police is not permitted when use of official judicial channels is required by international agreements or national laws. Police requests for legal assistance can only be made when the measures in question are permissible at home. New data protection laws impose limits on information exchange. Newly developed forms of searches, such as large-scale checking of persons of a similar type in a particular area, surveillance of suspected terrorists, and location of terrorists based on knowledge of objects they are likely to need, frequently cannot be extended abroad because of legal limitations in other countries. International search efforts can be more effective if data exchange is improved among nations in areas not affected by data protection laws such as object search information, technical data, and information on explosives. Most important, differing national laws governing legal assistance to police and police powers must be brought into agreement.