Topics Covered:
- Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.
‘Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism’ (CCIT)
What to study?
- For Prelims: CCIT- key facts.
- For Mains: Significance and the need for convention, terrorism- threats, concerns and need for international cooperation in curbing.
Context: In the wake of growing threats and acts of terrorism across the world, India and Bolivia have called for an early finalisation of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).
CCIT:
What is it?
The Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism is a proposed treaty which intends to criminalize all forms of international terrorism and deny terrorists, their financiers and supporters access to funds, arms, and safe havens. It is a draft proposed by India in 1996 that is yet to be adopted by the UNGA.
What does it call for?
- Universal definition of terrorism: no good terrorist or bad terrorist.
- Ban on all groups regardless of country of operation, cut off access to funds and safe havens.
- Prosecution of all groups including cross border groups.
- Amending domestic laws to make cross-border terror an extraditable offence.
- It also addresses, among other things, the issue of Pakistan’s alleged support for cross-border terrorism in south Asia.
Concerns expressed by various countries:
- US + allies: concerns over definition of terrorism, including acts by US soldiers in international interventions without UN mandate.
- Latin American countries: concerns over international humanitarian laws being ignored.
- There are also concerns that convention will be used to target Pakistan and restrict rights of self-determination groups in Palestine, Kashmir etc.