Politically Motivated Criminal (Terrorist) Action

A Politically Motivated Criminal (Terrorist) Action is an unlawful politically-motivated act (of violence?) (performed by terrorists).

• Context:
  • It can (typically) aspire to cause Terror.
  • It can (often) affect Non-Combatant Civilians.
  • It can range from being Non-State Terrorism to being State-sponsored Terrorism to being State Terrorism.
  • It can range from being Domestic Terrorism to being Alien Terrorism.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • Sacking and Arson (and destruction of military equipment) in Ostia on 68BC by pirates [1]
  • Murdering civilians and destroying infrastructure in Cambodia on 18 March 1969 by carpet bombing from 60 B-52 Stratofortress bombers.
  • Murdering civilians in Nicaragua on Oct. 28, 1982 by "Contras" [2]
  • Terrorist Attack in Oklahoma on April 19, 1995, by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols [3].
  • rescuing abused Factory Animals from slaughter.
  • Terrorist Attacks on Canada by FLQ on ~1970-10.
  • Terrorist Attacks of the U.S. on 2001-09-11.
  • U.S. Capitol 2021-01-06 Act of Terrorism.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • a Non-Politically Motivated Criminal Action.
  • a Lawful Politically-Motivated Act of Violence.
  • an Act of War, and a Wartime Murder.
  • a Peaceful Civil Disobedience Act, such as blocking entrance to a factory slaughterhouse.
• See: Criminal Law, Non-Combatant, Military Personnel, Civilian.

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References

2023

• (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism Retrieved:2023-10-4.
  • Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of intentional violence and fear to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war against non-combatants (mostly civilians and neutral military personnel). The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" originated during the French Revolution of the late 18th century but became widely used internationally and gained worldwide attention in the 1970s during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Basque conflict, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The increased use of suicide attacks from the 1980s onwards was typified by the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States. There are various different definitions of terrorism, with no universal agreement about it. Terrorism is a charged term. It is often used with the connotation of something that is "morally wrong". Governments and non-state groups use the term to abuse or denounce opposing groups. Varied political organizations have been accused of using terrorism to achieve their objectives. These include left-wing and right-wing political organizations, nationalist groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments. Legislation declaring terrorism a crime has been adopted in many states. State terrorism is that perpetrated by nation states, but is not considered such by the state conducting it, making legality a grey area. There is no consensus as to whether terrorism should be regarded as a war crime. Separating activism and terrorism can be difficult and has been described as a 'fine line'. The Global Terrorism Database, maintained by the University of Maryland, College Park, has recorded more than 61,000 incidents of non-state terrorism, resulting in at least 140,000 deaths, between 2000 and 2014.

2014b

• (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism Retrieved:2014-10-26.
  • In the international community, terrorism has no legally binding, criminal law definition. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts that are intended to create fear (terror); are perpetrated for a religious, political, or ideological goal; and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (e.g., neutral military personnel or civilians). Some definitions now include acts of unlawful violence and war. The use of similar tactics by criminal organizations for protection rackets or to enforce a code of silence is usually not labeled terrorism, though these same actions may be labeled terrorism when done by a politically motivated group. Usage of the term has also been criticized for its frequent undue equating with Islamism or jihadism, while ignoring non-Islamic organizations or individuals. The word "terrorism" is politically loaded and emotionally charged, and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. A study on political terrorism examining over 100 definitions of "terrorism" found 22 separate definitional elements (e.g. Violence, force, fear, threat, victim-target differentiation). ...

2014b

• (Kapitan, 2014) ⇒ Tomis Kapitan. (2014). “The Reign of ‘Terror’.” In: NYTimes Blogs 2014-10-19
  • QUOTE: Part of the success of this rhetoric traces to the fact that there is no consensus about the meaning of “terrorism.” While it is typically understood to mean politically motivated violence directed against civilians, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Defense, for example, describe terrorism as the unlawful use of violence to achieve political goals by coercing governments or societies. The State Department cites a legal definition of “terrorism” as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents.” It adds: “The term ‘noncombatant’ is interpreted to include, in addition to civilians, military personnel who at the time of the incident are unarmed or not on duty.” Thus, by means of linguistic gerrymander, members of uniformed government military forces acting under government authorization are incapable of committing acts of terrorism no matter how many civilians are ground up in the process.

2011

• http://www.forces.ca/en/glossary/glossary-102#T
  • Terrorism: The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence against individuals or property in an attempt to coerce or intimidate governments or societies to achieve political, religious or ideological objectives.

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