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INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM:
Multilateral Conventions (1937-2001)

M. Cherif Bassiouni

"Terrorism" has never been defined in any international convention. Its political content - particularly the fact that much of what we call "terrorism" is state-conducted or state-sponsored - has led to the restriction of the term in international criminal law to strategies of violence by individuals or small groups. Nonetheless, an extensive body of law designed to control international terror violence has come into being, and it is this assembly of reports and resolutions, conventions and scattered treaty provisions that we must rely on as we move toward an enforceable, unambiguous anti-"terrorism" regime in international law. MULTILATERIAL CONVENSIONS includes all relevant conventions adopted since the League of Nations Convention of 1937; it also includes pertinent international conventions of the Organization of African Unity, the League of Arab States, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States, and the South Asian Regional Convention, as well as relevant provisions from other international conventions (governing, postal traffic, or weapons control).

Because most of the conventions came about as a result of a particular crisis or a spectacular incident, and consequently deal with the complex issues of terrorism on a piece-meal basis, International Terrorism organizes them thematically under such headings as attacks upon civil navigation and sea-based platforms, attacks upon civil aircraft, attacks upon internationally protected persons, taking of hostages, attacks involving explosives and bombings, attacks involving weapons of mass destruction, and mechanisms to curtail attacks. The editor provides insightful commentary to assist the reader in discerning the applicable norms in each of these areas.

An introductory article by the editor provides a forward-looking view of the evolving challenges in combating the ever-changing manifestations of terror violence.

Professor Bassiouni teaches law at DePaul University. He is the author and editor of 38 books on U.S. criminal law, international and comparative criminal law, and human rights and 162 articles published in law journals in the U.S. and other countries.

2001
638 Pages
Hardcover
1-57105-149-X
Price: $145.00
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