What Is "terrorism" Depends On Target -italy Judge

[Antoninov]

What is "terrorism" depends on target -Italy judge

21 Apr 2005 18:29:27 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Emilio Parodi

MILAN, April 21 (Reuters) - Militants who attack military or state targets, even with suicide bombers, cannot be considered terrorists in times of war or occupation, an Italian judge said in a ruling released on Thursday.

Judge Clementina Forleo outraged Italian authorities earlier this year by dropping charges against suspected Islamic militants accused of helping to recruit suicide bombers for Iraq -- saying the alleged crimes amounted to foreign guerrilla activity, which is not illegal in Italy.

But the reasoning behind her ruling was only released on Thursday.

Besides a lack of evidence linking them to an international terrorism network, alone enough to clear the defendants, Forleo ruled the alleged crimes could not be considered "terrorist" under conventional international doctrine.

"The dividing line between guerrilla activity and terrorism is drawn almost unanimously from international doctrine," she wrote in the 69-page document.

"The differentiating factor … does not appear to be the instrument used (to attack), but the target in one's sights," she said, adding that "terrorists" attack indiscriminately instead of distinguishing between civilian and military targets.

Foreign guerrilla activity, not a crime in an Italian court, instead targets "a foreign occupying army or against a state structure held by the combatants as illegitimate."

She also warned that defining "every violent act" by irregular forces as terrorist risked "comprising people's right to self-determination and independence".

Her January ruling was seen as a legal defeat for the Italian government which has sent more than 3,000 troops to Iraq and has tried, in coordination with the United States, to step up anti-terrorism policing at home.

Earlier this year, Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli called Forleo's decision "stomach turning" and Communications Minister Maurizio Gasparri said she was "extremely wrong".

She is suing then for defamation.

Justice Minister Roberto Castelli opened a disciplinary investigation into Forleo for possible negligence.

[Chitah]

Elle n'a pas complètement tort cette dame. Et je trouve ça plein de bon sens en première analyse.

Le terme "terroriste" gagnerait à être clairifié, au moins soulève-t-elle la question ce qui est déjà bien.

[timburton]

Elle n'a pas complètement tort cette dame. Et je trouve ça plein de bon sens en première analyse.

Le terme "terroriste" gagnerait à être clairifié, au moins soulève-t-elle la question ce qui est déjà bien.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

D'autant plus qu'il y a deux sortes de cibles : les cibles institutionnelles = guerilla ( armée US et administration iraquienne ) et les cibles de déstabilisation = terrorisme ( journalistes, ONG, chiites dans la rue ou dans les mosquées, chrétiens, etc…)

Mais il y a sans doute des gens qui visent les deux types de cibles.

[Chitah]

Les cibles institutionelles, je m'en tape, ils n'avaient qu'à pas être des hommes de l'Etat, après tout.

Pour le reste, évidemment, c'est répugnant, il faut vraiment être complètement à la masse pour faire un attentat dans une eglise ou une mosquée, il faut vraiment n'avoir rien compris à rien, et ne rien respecter pour faire des trucs comme ça.

[Evildeus]

Son analyse semble intéressante