TRANSNATIONAL CRIMES

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the chapter, the student will be able to:

- Define Terrorism, what constitutes a terrorist act and terrorist group;

- Present what defines drug tracking;
- Explain the different types of cybercrimes.

Article 2 of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crimes

defines serious crime as “conduct constituting an offence punishable by a maximum
deprivation of liberty of at least four years 'or a more serious penalty”.
Moreover, Article 2 describes “organized criminal group to mean a structured group
of three or more persons, existing for a period of time and acting in concert With the aim
of committing one or more serious crimes or offences established in accordance with
this Convention, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material
benefit”.
In addition, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime states that the
“transnational nature of organized crime means that criminal networks forge bonds
across borders as well as overcome cultural and linguistic differences in the commission
of their crime.

Transnational Crimes

Transnational Crime
- An activity that is considered a criminal offense by at least two countries. It is an
offense whose inception, prevention and /or indirect effects involves more than
one country.

- “Transnational - describes crimes that are not only international, but crimes that
by their nature involve border crossing as an essential part of the criminal
activity. It also includes crimes that take place in one country, but its
consequences significantly affect another country (Allum and Gilmore, 2012).

Examples of Transnational Crime:

1. Terrorism
- A tactic or technique by means of which a violent act or threat thereof is used for
the prime objective of creating overwhelming fear for coercive purposes.

2. Trafficking in Person
 - The exploitation of vulnerable people for purposes of sex, labor, and organ
harvest by organized criminal groups.

3. Money Laundering
- is a process by which, assets primarily cash assets, which are derived from
illegal activities are manipulated in such a manner to make them look as it were
derived from legitimate sources. .

4. Drug Trafficking
- illegal movement across one or more national frontiers of psychoactive
substances.

5. Cybercrimes
- crimes that involve an information and communication technology (ICT) network.
In the Philippines, Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act divides
these typologies into

a. Crimes that target a computer network or device directly.

b. Crimes facilitated by computer network or devices.

A. Terrorism Definitions

Here are a few attempts on cleaning terrorism

- The use or threatened use of force designed to bring about a political change
[Brian Jinkins, 1 984].

- Constitutes the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective by

targeting innocent people [Walter Laqueur , 1970].

- Unlawful use of force or violence designed to intimidate or coerce a government

or civilian population in the furtherance of political or social objectives. [Omnibus
Diplomatic Security, An Anti-Terrorism Act of 1 986]

- Socially and politically unacceptable violence aimed at an innocent target to

achieve psychological effect (Martha Crenshaw, 1 983).

- Method of combat in which the victims serve as symbolic targets.

- A premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant

tar-gets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.

Any act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants
with the purpose of:

1. Intimidating a population of serious bodily harm; and

 2. Compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain doing
any act. [UN Panel .03-17-05]

● Terrorists - One who does all acts of terrorism.

● Terrorist Group - Any organization that engages in or had engaged in, terrorist activity.
This includes not only violent groups but legitimate groups that fund terrorists
operations.

● Terrorist Act any act that is unlawful, involves the use or threatened use of violence or
force against individuals or property is designed to coerce a government or society
and supports political, ideological, or religious objectives.

History of Terrorism

- Terrorism originated from the French Revolution (1789-1795) which describe the
actions of the French government during the so called ‘Reign of Terror’.

- In the political upheavals in Europe in 1848 dubbed as the Revolutions of 1848 or

the Springtime of the Peoples’, it was employed to describe violent
revolutionaries who revolted against the government.

- By the end of 1800-1900, terrorism was used to describe the violent activities of
a number of groups including: labor organizations, anarchists, nationalist groups
revolting against the foreign powers and ultranationalist political organizations -.

- After the Second World war, as the colonized people revolted from European
domination, nationalist groups were declared as terrorist group by most colonial
powers.

- From the 1960s to early 1980s, it was applied to violent left-wing groups, as well
as to nationalist groups in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and even Latin America.

- In the mid-1980, the US defmed terrorism as a violent activity of the hate

movement". Internationally, terrorism was viewed as subnational Warfare. A
number of terrorists were sponsored by rogue regimes.

- Today, terrorism also refers to a large groups who are independent from a state,
violent religious fanatics, and violent groups who terrorize for a particular cause
such as the environment
Criteria in Defining Terrorism:
- target; objective; motive; perpetrator; and legitimacy or legality of the act.

Kinds of Terrorism

1. Apolitical Terrorism - Employment of force in a terroristic manner but for non-political

ends.

Types of Apolitical Terrorism

a. Psychotic Terrorism - develops from abnormal behavior; those who attempt

bizarre, ostensibly political actions with uncertain or irrational motives.

b. Criminal terrorism-systematic use of terror for material gain. The primary

manifestation of force in this form of terrorism include kidnapping, extortion,
gangland assassinations and murders.

c. Mystical Terrorism involves the use of lethal force against symbolic victims to
influence or invoke supernatural powers. Mysticism plays a part in both the
instigation of terrorism and the enhancement of its effect.

2. Revolutionary Terrorism - Its primary purpose is to destabilize and topple the

incumbent regime, replacing it with a political apparatus more acceptable to the
revolutionaries. [e.g. Chinese Revolution; and the Vietnamese Revolution]

3. State Terrorism- involves the employment of lethal force by state governments upon
civilian populations for the express purpose of weakening or destroying their will to
resist. It could be internal or external.
- Internal state terrorism is the use of lethal force by the state government against
its own civilian population with the purpose of repressing the people, making
them apolitical or politically malleable, and/or weakening the population's
willingness to support revolutionary or, other anti-government forces.

Types of State Terrorism

a. Repression Terrorism - engaged in by a terrorist state regime against elements

of its own population to create conditions enough for that regime to remain in
political control.

b. Military Terrorism - employment of terrorism by a nation’s military instrument

against the civilian population of an enemy nation for the purpose of undermining
the population’s will to support its own government or shattering the cohesion of
the population making it unable to support its government. Thus, where
repression terrorism seeks to control the population, military terrorism seeks to
make that target population unmanageable.
 c. State-Sponsored Terrorism-involves the employment of lethal force across
international borders for the purpose of destroying or weakening the political
cohesion of a targeted political entity. The state employing state-sponsored
terrorism does not use its own military instrument to deliver the lethal force, but
harness social elements within the targeted entity to do so.

Sub-Type of State-Sponsored Terrorism

1) National Revolutionary Terrorism - Can be supported by sovereign states wishing

to weaken or topple the incumbent regime of the target state. [e.g. Italian Red
Brigades; German Red Army Faction, etc.]

2) International Revolutionary Terrorism - Those that employ terrorism targets

controlled and operated by persons other than terrorists own fellow countrymen.
[e.g. Palestinian Liberation Organization; Islamic Jihad; or other radical Islamic
terrorist group]

3) Minute Political Terrorist Gangs - Micro-political terrorist gangs likely to receive

state sponsorship. They do not have popular support but support for them can
cause disruption in the targeted entity. [e.g. German Red Army factions]

Traditional Terrorist Tactics

1) Bombing

2) Hijacking

3) Arson

4) Assault

5) Kidnapping

6) Hostage-taking

Basic Organizational Structures of Terrorist Groups

1. Command - The smallest group, is at the top, and responsible for the command. '

2. Active Cadre [military term] - They are the people who we call “terrorists”. They are
responsible for carrying out the mission of the terrorist organization. They have one or
more specialties. Other terrorists support each specialty, but the active cadre is the
striking arm of the terrorist group.
3. Active Supporters - They are the people who keep the terrorists in the field. They
maintain communication channels, provide safe houses, gather intelligence, and ensure
all other logistical 'needs are met. This is the largest internal group in the organization.

4. Passive supporters - They complement active supporters. People who do not readily
join terrorist groups but simply represent a favorable element of the political climate.
Many times they were used without their knowledge.

The Al Qaeda
- Arabic for “The Base”- founded by Osama bin Laden, Muhammed Atef, and
Ayman al-Zawahiri to continue the Jihad Internationally.

Al Qaeda’s Organizational Structure

1. The Emir (chief)
2. The chief counsel
3. Shura or Consultation Council – this is a group of seasoned terrorists and
confidants known as Majilis al shura who approve major decisions such as
terrorist attacks and the issuance of fatwas (edicts).
4. The committees.
a. The military committee – oversees recruitment, war, training and the
purchase of arms.
b. The Islamic study committee – makes ruling on religious law and trains all
recruits in the teaching of the Koran and Jihad.
c. The finance committee – oversees corporate holdings, including the travel
office and several companies
5. The cells – the network of terrorist recruitment and training has sites throughout
the world. Each cell engages in missions independent of the others, and the
members and activities of the other cells are kept secret.

The Islamic State Of Iraq And Syria (ISIS)

History

- Formerly, the Islamic State of lraq and the Levant [ISIL] , it is a self- proclaimed
Islamic State (IS) composed of Sunni, extremist, jihadist unrecognized state and
caliphate based in Iraq and Syria.
- Later on it renamed as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria {[1818] Arabic acronym
Dā'ish or Daesh}

- Originated as Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999 and the forerunner of Tanzim

Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, commonly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).
 - During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, it took part in the Iraqi insurgency against
coalition forces and Iraqi security forces.

- In 2006, it joined other Sunni insurgent groups to form the Mujahideen Shura
Council, which consolidated further into the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). It gained a
significant presence in Al Anbar,Nineveh, Kirkuk and other areas, but around
2008, its violent methods led to a backlash from .Sunni Iraqis and other insurgent
groups and a temporary decline.

- In April 2013, the group changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant. It grew significantly under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
gaining support in Iraq in the context of perceived economic and political
discrimination against Iraqi Sunnis. After entering the Syrian Civil War, it
established a large presence in the Syrian governorates of Ar-Raqqah, Idlib, Deir
ez-Zor and Aleppo. It had close links to al-Qaeda until February 2014 when, after
an eight month power struggle, aL-Qaeda cut all ties with the group, citing its
failure to consult and notorious intransigence.

Cause

- Originally, it aimed to establish an Islamic state in Sunni-majority regions of Iraq.

Following its involvement in the Syrian Civil War however, this expanded to
include controlling Sunni-majority areas of Syria.
- It proclaimed a worldwide caliphate on 29 June 2014, and Abu Baht al-Baghdadi-
known by his supporters as Amir al-Mu’minin. Caliph Ibrahim-was named as its
caliph, and the group was renamed the Islamic State [IS].

- In its self-proclaimed status as a caliphate, it claims religious authority over all

Muslims worldwide, and aims to bring most traditionally Muslim-inhabited regions
of the world under its political control, beginning with the Levant region, which
approximately covers Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus, and part
of southern Turkey.

Founder

- Founded by Abu Bakr aJ-Baghdadi, who is known to his supporters as Amir al-
Mu’minin Caliph Ibrahim. Formerly known as Abu Du’ a. He claims descent from
the Islamic prophet Muhammad, he is called Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Al-Husseini
Al-Qurashi.

- He is listed by the US State Department as a Specially Designated Global

Terrorist on 4 October 2011 and announced a reward of up to US$ 10 million for
information leading to his capture or death.

- Al Baghdadi was born near Samarra, Iraq, in 1971; obtained a BA, MA and PhD
in Islamic studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad.
 - Helped to found the militant group Jamaat Jaysh Ahl alSunnah wa-l-Jamaah
(JJASJ) in 2003, in which he served as head of the sharia committee.

- His group joined the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) in 2006, which he served
as a member of the MSC’s Sharia Committee. Later on, the MSC was renamed
as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in 2006, and al-Baghdadi became the general
supervisor of the ISI’s Sharia Committee, and a member of the group’s Senior
Consultative Council. ‘

- The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), also known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), was the
Iraqi division of al-Qaeda, and Al-Baghdadi was announced as its leader on 16
May 2010, following the death of his predecessor Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

- Al-Baghdadi was responsible for masterminding large-scale operations such as

28 August 2011 attack on the Umm al-Qura Mosque in Baghdad, which killed
prominent Sunni lawmaker Khalid al-Fahdawi. Between March and April 2011,
the ISI claimed 23 attacks south of Baghdad, all allegedly carried out under al-
Baghdadi’s command.
I

- On 5 May 2011, al Baghdadi claimed responsibility for an attack in Hila, 62 miles

south of Baghdad, that killed 24 policemen and wounded 72 others.

- Al- Baghdadi rremained leader of the ISI until its formal expansion into Syria in
2013, when in a statement on 8 April 2013, he announced the formation of the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - translated from the Arabic as the
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Legal Framework and Investigation of the Crime of Terrorism

1. Legal definition of Terrorism or Terror Acts
- R.A. NO. 9372 (AN ACT TO SECURE THE STATE AND PROTECT OUR
PEOPLE FROM TERRORISM), also known as " Human Security Act of 2007'
defined Terrorism as ' Any person who commits an act punishable under' any of
the following provisions of the Revised Penal Code:

a. Article 122 (Piracy in General and Mutiny in the High Seas or in the Philippine
Waters);

b. Article 134 (Rebellion or Insurrection);

c. Article 134-a (Coup de etat), including acts committed by private persons; Article
248 (Murder);

d. Article 267 (Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention);

 e. Article 324 (Crimea Involving Destruction);

f. Presidential Decree No. 1613 (The Law on Arson);

g. Republic Act No. 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste
Control Act of 1990);

h. Republic Act No. 5207, (Atomic Energy Regulatory and Liability Act of 1968);

i. Republic Act No. 6235 (Anti-Hijacking Law);

j. Presidential Decree No. 532 (Anti-piracy and Anti-highway Robbery Law of 1974)
; and,

k. Presidential Decree No. 1866, as amended (Decree Codifying the Laws on Illegal
and Unlawful Possession, Manufacture, Dealing in, Acquisition or Disposition of
Firearms, Ammunitions or Explosives)thereby sowing and creating a condition of
widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, 'in order to
coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand shall be guilty of the
crime of terrorism and shall suffer the penalty of forty (40) years of imprisonment,
without the benefit of parole as provided for under Act No. 4103, otherwise
known as the Indeterminate Sentence Law, as amended. (Section 1 and 3, RA
9372)

Persons Liable for the Commission of Terrorism

1. Persons who conspire to commit the crime of terrorism.

2. Any person who, not being a principal under Article 17 of the Revised Penal
Code or a conspirator as defined in Section 4 hereof, cooperates in the execution
of either the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism by previous or
simultaneous acts.

3. Any person who, having knowledge of the commission of the crime of terrorism
or conspiracy to commit terrorism, and without having participated therein, either
as principal or accomplice under Articles 17 and 18 of the Revised Penal Code,
takes part subsequent to its commission in any of the following manner: (a) by
profiting himself or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the crime; (b)
by concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects, or instruments
thereof, in order to prevent its discovery; (c) by harboring, concealing, or
assisting in the escape of the principal or conspirator of the crime.

- Notwithstanding the above paragraph, the penalties prescribed for accessories

shall not be imposed upon those who are such with respect to their spouses,
ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural, and adopted brothers and sisters,
or relatives by affinity within the same degrees, with the single exception of
accessories falling within the provisions of subparagraph (a).