U.N. General Assembly and Terrorism

U.N. General Assembly has been studying the adoption of The Comprehensive Convention On International Terrorism. Outcome remains in doubt due to the definition of terrorism. However, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is urging that the U.N. General Assembly to “unite behind the clear definition of terrorism” proposed by U.N. High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. That panel called for a definition that would make it clear that “any action constitutes terrorism if it is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a Government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act.” This definition of terrorism is supported by the G-8 and other governments. However, this definition of terrorism is not supported by several Middle East governments and other governments that continue to support so called “freedom fighters” even though they continue to employ terrorism tactics.