MEDIA
Some countries, like India, have struggled with the demon of terrorism for many years and have probably lost more civilians to terrorism than any other nation. But ever since the United States and its allies have declared €œWar on Terrorism,€ the character of terrorism has changed substantially and its incidence all over the world has increased tremendously.
Terrorists are now using methods of communicating with each other, which are difficult for the authorities to intercept. They are employing weapons, which are hard for the security forces to detect. They are choosing targets, which are easier by them to access. Terrorists appear to be attracting more willing recruits than ever before. Meanwhile, in the United States there is steady encroachment upon civil rights of its citizens, while around the world the country seems to be losing friends and making enemies.
A strategy, which complicates the targeted problems rather than resolving them, needs to be revised. Also ideology that drives it must be reexamined.
In this context recommendations of the Second International Roundtable on Constructing Peace, Deconstructing Terror,€ may be helpful to us. The conference was held June 26-27, at Brussels, Belgium, according to a press release from Semu Bhatt of the Mumbai-based think-tank Strategic Foresight Group.
Thirty-five eminent leaders from many Islamic countries as well as Europe and the Americas participated in it. They included Saudi Arabia€™s Prince Turki al Faisal, Oman€™s Deputy Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr, Nahdatul Ulama Chairman Lamine Ba, Senegal€™s Cooperation Minister Hasyim Muzadi, Malaysia€™s former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Leader of European Parliament€™s Liberal Democratic Group Graham Watson, Belgium€™s Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht, and Northern Ireland Parliament€™s former Speaker Lord Alderdice. Several former Foreign Ministers including Gareth Evans of Australia, Yasar Yakis of Turkey, Kamel Abu Jaber of Jordan, and Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli of Iran also attended the meeting.
The group defined terrorist act as €œany politically motivated action that is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, when the purpose of such an act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.€
They declared, €œNo cause or grievance, no matter how legitimate, justifies the deliberate killing of civilians and non-combatants.€ They recommended that all such acts must be €œtotally rejected€ and punished in accordance with relevant international conventions and laws of the affected state.
They suggested that eradicating terror and cultivating peace require a global, multidimensional strategy.
The roundtable was of the view that religion is often €œmisappropriated€ by individuals or groups for a violent purpose, and that it is €œinappropriate and misleading€ to identify any religion with terrorism.
The participants noted that often punitive and coercive measures are used exclusively to deal with terrorism. They recommended that the strategy be based on principles of justice and human dignity, and should reflect an appreciation of conditions that engender terrorism. It should include dialog, negotiation, and persuasion as well.
The participants called for a summit of world leaders to deliberate on their recommendations labelled €œThe Brussels Consensus.€
The Brussels Roundtable was part of the Sustainable Global Security Initiative of Strategic Foresight Group (SFG). It was co-hosted by SFG (www.strategicforesight.com) and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament and Strategic Foresight Group, in co-operation with Friedrich Naumann Stiftung.
More information about the Roundtable can be found at: http://www.strategicforesight.com/conference_inner.php?id=18#.UeY0zNL7Br8
(Dr. Rohila is the Executive Director of the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia, and can be reached at pritamr@open.org )
