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Terrorism and Organised Crime
Terrorism
There are many definitions of terrorism. The definition that the UN (United Nations) uses is:
Terrorism is an act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, with the intent to intimidate a population or coerce a government or an international organisation.
Keep in mind that terrorism is not just performed by one specific type of group, it could be anyone and they do not have to have a specific appearance.
Even at the time of Christ's birth, there were organisations that could be said to have been terrorists. However, the concept of terrorism was not used before the 1700s. Since then, every century has had its terrorists using violence or the threat of violence, attempting to force people to perform acts that they would otherwise not have done.
In the 1960s, almost 50% of all terrorist acts were aircraft hijackings. This resulted in metal detectors being installed in airports. Our time's most serious terrorist acts took place in New York in September 2001, when two hijacked airliners were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The terrorist network al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks. This attack is nowadays referred to as 9/11. International regulations, for the shipping industry among others, tightened sharply after this event. You can learn more about this in our course "Security Awareness Training for Yachts".
The causes of terrorism are, however, not quite so easy to identify. Poverty, inequality, oppression, religion, and nationalism are mentioned as common causes. Something that is described as terrorism by someone may be referred to by someone else as a fully acceptable fight for freedom.
In countries such as Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, where terrorist attacks are a part of daily life, terrorism has decreased. Although, terrorism has, at the same time, spread out and is more common in all parts of the world. But as a light in the darkness, if you look at it globally, overall terrorism has decreased. This does not mean that the threats of terrorism are erased, so you still need to be alert and look for potential risky behaviours.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security, there are some indicators that you should be aware of. Keep in mind that even though a person fulfils all of the criteria, it is not for sure that a person is a terrorist.
Keep an extra eye for these three criteria and report to your supervisor:
UN says: “Terrorism is an act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, with the intent to intimidate a population or coerce a government or an international organization."
Organised Crime
Organised crime is a crime committed by people that interact in a more long-term form than criminals normally do. Collaboration takes place in loosely connected networks or hierarchical structures. The purpose is to make money. Common crimes are:
- Bribery,
- Corruption,
- Extortion,
- Money laundering, and
- Smuggling of drugs or weapons.
Today a lot of organised crime consists of mobile criminal networks, criminal motorcycle clubs, ethnically composed criminal groups or ideologically motivated organised crime.