Terrorism as organised crime
Given the rising crisis of transnational organised crime globally, the concept of terrorism becomes very topical. The Parisian and other incidents remind us of the global outcry in relation to the fear of terror and the capacity of criminals who can through very small means commit very dangerous and shocking crimes. Bangladesh too has not been spared from this crisis. We grew up reading about non-violence and Satyagraha. My fear and angst is our children will read about violence, terrorism and indifference.
Scholars have debated about the definition of organised crime for decades. Block and Chambilss defined organised crime as a “set of activities” which are albeit criminal in nature ranging from networking, collaboration to making profit and sustaining groups. However, this is not a definition of organised crime that encompasses every element of it. The term 'transnational' creates issue when it comes to organised crime because it indicates its association with cross-border activities excluding the State. This constitutes the theoretical foundation of the definitions.
Historically, there has been a focus on drugs, fraud and counterfeiting, human trafficking that transcended its interest from the local level to global context with an estimated worth of approximately one trillion dollars out of which half is consisted of narcotics, for instance, the notion of 'PaxMafiosa'. The interest of this article is on the newest addition, 'terrorism'. In light of the 1971 war, one can state that 'one state's terrorist is another's freedom fighter'. So where does one draw the line in relation to national/lingual and/or religious identity and their emotional outburst in relation to it?
The climate of transnational organised crimes has become so threatening that it is able to impact national security resources undermining the morale and disciple. As a result, they can be termed the agents for instability and insecurity such as the Balkan arms race, so, is known to be creating 'states-within-states'. It is also instrumental in fuelling political insurgencies. With this growth, the line between protest and revolution and crime and terrorism is increasingly becoming blurred, dividing the 'us' and 'them'.
We are constantly reminded to choose one. The lens we use to see the so-called terrorists today have been different in the way we saw Naxals, Muktibahinis and Shantibahinis. Furthermore, if we give up to the torment of making a choice and accept an either 'us' or 'them', then how do we stand up against 'state-induced' terrorism?
The United Nations' response to transnational organised crime has been the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime or the Palermo Convention along with its protocols. In practice, it has been left at a corner in the international regime to be a child's toy. A more interesting example is the legislative anti-terrorism regime of Bangladesh which has the potential to undermine freedom of expression.
There is quite understandably hesitance from the states to ratify treaties which brings the acts of the states into question. So, can it be deduced from this that states want the flexibility to carry on activities that fall within the remit of the theoretical definition of organised crime and only call it a 'crime' when the targeted group is inconvenient for it? Should a group refuge to be killed in genocide to avoid being called terrorists?
The 9/11 terrorist attack raised more questions in the context of international terrorism than ever. If analysed, it can be invariably understood that the entire incident involved quite a sophisticated level of planning, cooperation, financing and sacrifice. The rise of transnational organised crime and international networked terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda has given rise to much panic among states due to its increased insecurity towards states being threatened by non-state actors. The truth is none of the international regimes or the states have ever seen the dynamic landscape of 'oil-driven' politics with a humane eye.
The writer is a BPTC Student.
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