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![handle is hein.journals/cjtl29 and id is 637 raw text is: Note
International Terrorism and Islamic Law
INTRODUCTION
International terrorism defies both democracy and peace.I The
accounts of civilians held against their will, of political officials bru-
tally murdered, of tourist-filled buses attacked or airplanes blown
apart in mid-flight have become so frequent that one would almost
suspect these atrocities to be routine-were they not so outra-
geous.2 Acts of terror-violence are indeed the ultimate abuse of
human rights.'3 And, at least in the West, acts of terror-violence are
against the law.4
1. The vast majority of terrorist attacks are inflicted against the citizens of democratic
states. Terrorists very rarely strike against totalitarian regimes. Schultz, The Challenge to the
Democracies, in TERRORISM: How THE WEST CAN WIN 16, 20 (B. Netanyahu ed., 1986)
[hereinafter WEST CAN WIN]; R. ERICKSON, LEGITIMATE USE OF MILITARY FORCE
AGAINST STATE-SPONSORED INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM 39 (1989).
2. During the 1980's, over two thousand terrorist incidents were reported, resulting in
many more thousands of persons killed or wounded. See BUREAU OF DIPLOMATIC SECURITY,
U.S. DEP'T OF STATE, PUB. No. 9718, SIGNIFICANT INCIDENTS OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE
AGAINST AMERICANS: 1988 (1989) [hereinafter SIGNIFICANT INCIDENTS]; ERICKSON, supra
note 1, at 35-37. A yearly average of over 250 American civilians were the targets of violent
attacks, not including the many others who were seized as hostages around the world.
Approximately 20% of the victims were diplomats, envoys, or similar internationally pro-
tected persons. A. SELTH, AGAINST EVERY HUMAN LAW: THE TERRORIST THREAT TO
DIPLOMACY 182 (1988).
The significance of terrorist action, moreover, exceeds the mere raw numbers of casual-
ties. Widespread fear and reaction generated by terror-violence weaken confidence in govern-
ment, and divert money and attention from other concerns. A. NORTON & M. GREENBERG,
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESEARCH GUIDE 1-3
(1980). In 1985 alone, the U.S. government spent over two billion dollars combatting terror-
violence, and expended more than eighteen thousand work years in terrorist-related concerns.
ERICKSON, supra note 1, at 38-39.
3. Levitt, International Counterterrorism Cooperation: The Summit Seven and Air Terror-
ism, 20 VAND. J. TRANSNAT'L L. 259, 259-60 (1987) (citing Transcript of a Press Conference
with U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig (Jan. 28, 1981)), reprinted in U.S. DEP'T OF
STATE, AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY CURRENT DOCUMENTS, 395 (1984).
4. There are six international covenants relating to international terror-violence: Con-
vention on Offenses and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, Sept. 14, 1963, 20](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/cjtl29&div=34&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)