Document on terror acts at the UN Security Council.

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• Recently India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations circulated a document on terror acts at the UN Security Council. 

More about the document highlights

• Categorising terrorism:
  • The document stated that the era of classifying terrorists as “bad” or “good” on the basis of “political convenience” must end immediately.
  • It also stated that categorising terror acts as “bad” or “good” on intent as religious or ideologically motivated will dilute the shared global commitment to fighting terrorism.
• Recent history of terror attacks:
  • The terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, were a turning point in the global approach to counter-terrorism. 
  • Since then, London, Mumbai, Paris, and many parts of West Asia and Africa have also experienced terrorist attacks.
• Transnational threat of terrorism:
  • Terrorist actors and their supporters, facilitators, and financiers collaborate while remaining in different jurisdictions to organise acts anywhere in the world. 
  • A transnational threat can be defeated only by the collective efforts of all States Members of the United Nations.
  • It said that existing and emerging threats call for a renewed collective approach to terrorism.
• Terrorism sheltering in Afghanistan:
  • The threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent and terrorist groups sheltering in Afghanistan has increased following the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in August 2021.
• Terrorism from Africa:
  • Africa’s home-grown terrorist groups have found ideological support from global terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida and ISIL.
• Radicalisation through the internet:
  • The risk of radicalisation through the Internet and social media, and terror financing using cryptocurrencies and crowdfunding platforms, was heightened, particularly during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Terrorism

• An offence to intimidate a population or to compel a government or an international organisation to do or abstain from doing any act, which causes:

• Death or serious bodily injury to any person.
• Serious damage to public or private property, including a place of public use, a State or government facility, a public transportation system, an infrastructure facility or the environment.
• Damage to property, places, facilities, or systems resulting in or likely to result in a major economic loss.
• It encompasses a range of complex threats like organized terrorism in conflict zones, foreign terrorist fighters, radicalised ‘lone wolves’, etc.

• Factors Responsible for Growth of Terrorism:
  • State-sponsorship and safe havens.
  • State-of-the-art communication systems.
  • Access to advanced technology.
  • Networking of terrorist groups with the criminal underworld.

Source: TH