Crime of Terrorism During Armed Conflict

• In Event: Blind Spots of International and Transitional Justice Research? (ECACTJ Working Group)

Abstract

Terrorism in peacetime is generally defined as criminal violence intended to instill fear in a population or coerce a government for political or ideological ends. In contrast, under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), terrorism has a specific meaning. The Geneva Conventions, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols, prohibit acts or threats of violence whose primary purpose is to spread terror among the civilian population. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not contain a distinct crime of terrorism, but related acts are prosecuted as war crimes, such as deliberate attacks on civilians.

Terrorism during armed conflict is characterized by key legal elements: attacks or threats of violence against persons not taking part in hostilities, the willful targeting of civilians, and the specific intent to spread extreme fear among the population. International tribunals have affirmed this crime. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in *Prosecutor v. Galić* prosecuted a campaign of sniper attacks and shelling against Sarajevo civilians as the war crime of terror, requiring proof that the primary purpose of the attacks was to terrorize the civilian population. Similarly, the Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted leaders for acts of terrorism in a civil war context, such as widespread mutilations intended to intimidate civilians.

These legal frameworks distinguish wartime terrorism from ordinary war crimes by requiring proof of intent to terrorize, rather than just unlawful attacks on civilians. They also differentiate it from crimes against humanity, which require a broader, systematic attack on civilians. Prosecuting terrorism in armed conflict remains challenging due to the difficulty of proving specific intent, the overlap with other war crimes, and political sensitivities surrounding the classification of certain acts as terrorism.

Author

• Violeta Vasiliauskienė, Mykolas Romeris university