Wednesday 09 April 1997
TERRORISM should not be permitted to infect the 21st century. This was the message Deputy Defence Minister General Anuruddha Ratwatte stressed at a top military seminar in Hawaii on Monday.
General Ratwatte who delivered the keynote address at the Pacific Armies Management Seminar in which top military men from 40 countries participated said terrorism should not be underestimated.
``It is an insidious threat to human life, to democracy and to economic development. It must not be permitted to infect the 21st century,'' Minister Ratwatte said.
He gave nine reasons why democratic countries should grid themselves to deal better with the evil of terrorism: it is not confined to one country, targets civilians, strikes unexpectedly, undermines democracy, links itself with drug traffickers and other international criminal elements, forms links across stages, assumes different shapes, makes use of hapless groups and deters economic development.
``Regrettably,'' he said ``Perceptions of terrorism have varied. An internationally acceptable legal definition on terrorism has not been finalised. Action therefore needs to be focused on foreseeing and preventing specific acts and manifestations of terrorism as we prepare and train our forces on the threshold of the 21st century.''
General Ratwatte proposed five areas of training to strengthen the resistance to the virus of terrorism. They are training in all techniques dealing with all forms of terrorist actions, detecting explosives, action to halt the flow of finance, prevention of movement of terrorists across border and combined counter-terrorism activities.
The text of the speech:
``I greatly value this opportunity to deliver a keynote address at the 21st Pacific Armies Management Seminar.
``As the guns of World War II fell silent, the United Nations was created to save ``succeeding generations from the scourge of war''. Since then at critical moments, humanity has been poised perilously on the verge of widespread war but happily a third world war has been averted. The suspicions and the mistrust of the cold war which had led to a massive arms race, has now diminished. Radical disarmament measures have been undertaken, armies have been scaled down and the danger of a nuclear catastrophe has receded. Yet global security has not been completely ensured.
``Conventional wars and conflicts have continued and even increased although they have been largely confined to specific theatres.
``The general theme for our seminar is Training Forces for the 21st century. As we approach the new century we are confronted by new perils which are difficult to contain even difficult to identify. Military training is in a sense a process of preparation, a process of anticipating threats to national and international security and then equipped forces to successfully confront and defeat such threats. Fundamental to training and equipping forces to effectively cope with any threat is the accurate identification of the nature of the threats democratic societies face in common.
``I would like to identify and touch on what I see as one of the most complex threats to peace in the 21st century. It is a threat which has already assumed dangerous proportions and one which is as yet imperfectly understood. I speak of the threat of terrorism.
``At the 50th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly, US President Clinton called for a counter terrorism pact. Sri Lanka's President Mrs. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga speaking shortly after President Clinton asserted that ``concerted international action is essential to combat terrorism and to compel terrorists to renounce violence and enter the democratic process.''
``Attention is being drawn to the vital need to gird ourselves, to train ourselves to better deal with the evil of terrorism for a number of compelling reasons.
``One: Terrorism is not confined to any one country. In the recent past it has struck with deadly force in New York and Oklahoma (US), Paris (France), Lima (Peru), Bombay (India), Karachi (Pakistan), Cairo (Egypt), Urumji (China), London (England), Moscow (Russia), Tel Aviv (Israel) and a number of other places including my own country Sri Lanka.
Two: Terrorists deliberately, cold-bloodedly, target civilians. We in Sri Lanka for example have recently experienced devastating brutal bomb attacks on passenger trains near Colombo and, last year an attack on Sri Lanka's Central Bank which claimed over a hundred innocent lives.
Three: Terrorism strikes unexpectedly, and even the best trained forces have not been able to avert or anticipate its eruption.
Moving now to international ramifications ......
Four: Terrorism seeks to undermine the democratic processes through violence. In Sri Lanka, a group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is the sole group which continues in self-imposed isolation to spurn and shun the democratic political process in which all other political parties, groups and people participate. Terrorists thrive on violence like democratic governments thrive on the support of the free people.
Five: Terrorism is in unholy alliance with the international criminal drug traffickers and with shadowy underground profiteers who smuggle people illegally across borders.
Six: Terrorists from links across continents.
Seven: Terrorism assumes different shapes, often projecting itself as national liberation movements as does the LTTE in Sri Lanka, in vain efforts to win hearts and minds.
Eight: Terrorist lurk within, and fester among hapless groups of so-called asylum seekers and refugees and expatriates, forcibly extorting large sums of money from them in order to finance the purchase of arms and other materials to pursue their violent acts of terror against the people and government of Sri Lanka.
``And finally, terrorism in its most virulent manifestation weakens the stability of states, holds back economic development and seeks to threaten the territorial integrity of democratically constituted states.
``In June last year, the group of seven industrialised countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, US) and Russia meeting at level of Heads of States in Lyons, France, recognised the horrendous nature of terrorism and its international reach.
``The summit underlined the fundamental premise that no single country, nor group of countries, however powerful, could alone combat this evil.
``The summit was followed by a ministerial meeting in Paris the following month which undertook ``a thorough review of new trends in terrorism throughout the world''. It appealed to all nations to join in a global campaign against terrorism.
``The recommendations of the Paris Declaration received wider, indeed almost universal, endorsement with the adoption of the 1996 United Nations Declaration of Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism. It incorporated major recommendations of the Paris Declaration. It specifically obliged States to prevent the abuse of asylum and fund-raising activities on their soil and the abuse of electronic communication systems and information networks by terrorist groups. Among the practical measures recommended to member states was the need for consultations by security officials to improve the capability of governments to prevent, investigate and respond to terrorist attacks on public facilities and in particular, means of public transport. The UN Ad-Hoc Committee on Terrorism in presently engaged in the task of preparing a legally binding International Convention for the suppression of terrorist bombings.
``It is important for this seminar to look closely at the decision taken at these two landmark conferences as well as the UN Declaration.
``Regrettably, perceptions of terrorism have varied. An internationally acceptable legal definition on terrorism has not been finalised. Action therefore needs to be focused on foreseeing and preventing specific acts and manifestations of terrorism as we prepare and train our forces on the threshold of the 21st century.
``I would strongly urge this seminar to strengthen our resistance to the virus of terrorism by identifying and developing practical measures of co-operation among governments and armed forces.
``As President Clinton stated ``nowhere is co-operation more vital than in fighting the increasingly inter-connected groups that traffic in terror, organised crime, drug smuggling and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.''
``Let me conclude by leaving with you some concerted actions by our forces.
One: training of forces, should include techniques of dealing with all forms of terrorist action including those which utilise chemical, biological, toxic and even radioactive substances. Tokyo and Colombo understand the dangers that lurk in crowded public transport systems.
Two: scientific methods of detecting explosives and other harmful substances need to be advanced and the expertise gained should be shared among democratic governments.
Three: where expatriate groups abuse their refugee or asylum status, or are exploited by terrorists as a cover for their own evil schemes, governments need to take firm action. It is particularly important to halt the financing of terrorism carried out through laundering of funds contributed to so-called charitable, social or cultural organisations which are ``fronts'' for terror-groups.
Four: effective measures need to be taken to prevent the movement of terrorists across borders including ending the activities of organised groups which promote illegal migration.
``Finally, a thorough briefing on all the ramifications of terrorism should be included, if they are already not, in the training curriculum of security forces. We recall the wisdom of the Chinese General Sun Tzu in his ``Art of War'': ``Know the enemy. Know yourself. Your victory will never be endangered''. Specialised consultations at bilateral levels on counter-terrorism should be organised between democratic countries.
``Distinguished delegates,
``There are around 40 countries participating at this seminar. The contacts and inter-personal relations among you all, I am sure, facilitate the exchange of experiences, deepen your understanding of the evils of terrorism and serve to strengthen co-operation among the forces you represent. As I indicated before, training is a process of preparation and understanding. It is a process of perfecting skills. It is a process of sharpening our vigilance to foresee fast-breaking dangers. Make no mistake. Terrorism must not be under-estimated. It is an insidious threat to human life, to democracy and to economic development. It must not be permitted to infect the 21st century''.