NCJ Number
98748
Date Published
1984
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The United Nations Charter and multilateral international agreements are limited in their proscription of and capacity to deal effectively with state-sponsored terrorism against other states and against a state's own citizens.
Abstract
The United Nations Charter indicates that aggression will not be conducted among states. The charter, however, does not detail the particular forms of force that are proscribed, specifically, a state's support of organized terrorist groups or individual terrorists. United Nations members apparently expect such issues to be resolved between the involved states. Also, the charter provisions do not apply to terrorism by governments against their own citizens. A multitude of major international agreements define human rights in such a way as to proscribe arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, torture, inhumane treatment and punishment, and other forms of state conduct generally abhorred by the international community. These agreements, however, have not been effective in deterring certain states from using such terrorist methods to force compliance with government policy and suppress political opposition. The legal regulation of international terrorism depends upon the willingness of states to accept and abide by antiterrorist norms and laws. Twenty-four notes are provided.