Terrorism and challenge to Human Rights

  • South Asia has been impacted by the activities of terrorist organizations such as Al‑Qaida and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The growing interlinkages between terrorist groups, cross-border operations, including financing networks, and the exploitation of modern technologies — means that no country can stay aloof from the effects of terrorism.
    • Loss of civilian life and uncertainty on the security of life is a gross human rights violation.
  • In 2017, terrorist attacks in conflict countries averaged 2.4 deaths, compared to 0.84 deaths in non-conflict countries. Terrorist attacks are more lethal on average in countries with a greater intensity of conflict. In 2017, countries in a state of war averaged 2.97 deaths per attack, compared to 1.36 in countries involved in a minor armed conflict.
  • Global Counter‑Terrorism Strategy has witnessed little practical impact on the ground. A comprehensive convention will provide a strong legal basis for tackling terrorism.
    • Non-agreement on counter-terror strategy is a collective failure of nations in the realm of human rights.
  • There was no change in the five countries most impacted by terrorism, which include Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Syria and Pakistan. All of these countries have been ranked in the worst five every year since 2013.
  • Conflict continued to be the primary driver of terrorist activity for the countries most impacted by terrorism in 2017.
  • There are numerous possible reasons for this difference. Countries in conflict have a greater availability of more military-grade small arms and bomb-making capabilities.
  • Countries that are not in conflict tend to be more economically-developed and spend more on intelligence gathering, policing and counter-terrorism. This shows the importance of human rights in governance.