International Legal Dimension of Terrorism

More than ever before International Humanitarian Law needs to find new solutions to new types of conflicts. The current state of the fight against terrorism is without doubt one of the new problems facing international society and one of the concerns of International Humanitarian Law. This volume offers reflections on the international legal theory of terrorism, international responsibility, the obligation to prevent terrorist acts, terrorism in armed conflicts, the responses to terrorism by regional international organizations and the legal limits to the fight against terrorism. The contributors consist of academics (and politicians) from Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and Israel, as well as from Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and a representative for the Organisation of American States. The book thus contains a wide, multidisciplinary debate, with an emphasis on a Mediterranean perspective. In addition to examining all aspects of international terrorism, the objective of the symposium which gave rise to these essays was to establish some guidelines, in the form of a Declaration, to serve as the basis for the UN's High Level Group for the Alliance of Civilisations on the subject of international terrorism. This overall objective was achieved with the adoption of the Huelva Declaration for an Alliance of Civilisations against Terrorism, the text of which is included at the end of this book.