In the article, State Actors in an International Definition of Terrorism from a Human Rights Perspective, Bruce Broomhall suggests that the way terrorism is defined currently may be insufficient to fully encapsulate the intricate aspects of the activities that occur under the title of “terrorism.” The article highlights the principles of international humanitarian law as it pertains to terrorism on an international level, rather than domestic. According to Broomhall, terrorism consists of acts such as hostage taking, genocide, war crimes, and the indiscriminate targeting of civilian individuals in an attempt to make a large impact or bring attention to the cause and beliefs held by the terrorists.
Broomhall makes a very convincing argument in the introduction and the first few paragraphs, as he sets out the major downfalls in the current definition of terrorism, as the present one appears to lack focus on the humanitarian law front. The main goal of the article is to establish the need for an examination of the types of activities that should be labelled under the term, “terrorism,” which the author suggests should include genocide and crimes against humanity which are covered under the Nuremberg principles.
As for the style of the article, it is rather complex, as it is located within a law journal, utilizes footnotes, which can take up half a page or more, which while useful, can make reading it possibly more complex that it needs to be to convey the same message. The information contained within the article is well organized and the author makes several recommendations, but the reader is left with an uncertainty about what the next steps will be in making a uniform definition of terrorism. While the topic is rather important, perhaps the author could have presented the information in a different way and format, without footnotes.
Reference
Broomhall, B. (2004). State actors in an international definition of terrorism from a human rights perspective. Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 36(2-3), 421-441.
