NCJ Number
114518
Journal
Security Management Volume: 32 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1988) Pages: 128-132
Date Published
1988
Length
5 pages
Annotation
In the face of organized national and international terrorist campaigns, Governments should show both the resolution and the capacity to respond with only the necessary force and not overreact or underreact.
Abstract
Their actions should be governed by two major principles: to use the minimum of violence, and to demonstrate respect for the legal process. These principles have been adhered to by three Governments. In Uruguay, actions against the Tupamaros included public demonstrations and professional interrogations that resulted in the imprisonment of over 26,000 Tupamaros and the flight abroad of hundred of others. In Canada, rapid, forceful, and decisive action within the process of law and with minimal violence stopped the bombing and kidnapping campaign mounted by the Front de Liberation du Quebec. In West Germany, the Government responded to the terrorist threat of the Red Army Faction by applying security force countermeasures, enacting new antiterrorist laws, and demonstrating a firm stance against terrorism. These strategies include strengthening the Federal Frontier Protection Force, establishment of a special commando unit, technical support, and establishment of a central information and communication office. Legal countermeasures included enactment of stiffer penalties for terrorist acts and for supporting and encouraging terrorism introduction of wider search powers, and restraints on lawyer-terrorist interactions.