Terrorism in Guise of Faith

A terrorist group, as designated by Security Council of the United Nations under Resolution 2170, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has become synonymous with extreme violence directed against civilians and captured fighters.[1]

ISIS can trace its roots back to 2002, when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi – a Jordanian who was to gain notoriety in the Iraqi insurgency from 2003-2006 – founded a jihadi organization called Tawhid wal-Jihad in the north of Iraq.[2] On June 29, 2014 - ISIS announces the creation of a caliphate (Islamic state) that erases all state borders, making al-Baghdadi the self-declared authority over the world's estimated 1.5 billion Muslims.[3]

The United Nation’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic came up with a report on November 2014 entitled: Rule of Terror: Living under ISIS in Syria. The report enumerated a long list of violence that ISIS had perpetrated to civilian population.  The public execution of 15-year-old Mohammed Qatta, a coffee seller in Aleppo on 9 June 2013 was an early demonstration of the brutal way in which ISIS punishes and uses terror to ensure discipline among children, in particular boys. ISIS has beheaded, shot and stoned men, women and children in public spaces in towns and villages across northeastern Syria.

In a video posted on YouTube, U.S. journalist James Foley, missing in Syria since 2012, is decapitated by ISIS militants.[4] The mutilated bodies of male victims are often placed on display, a warning to the local population of the consequences of failure to submit to the armed group’s authority. A group of boys in Yemen reportedly burned their friend in a reenactment of the Islamic State murder of Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh.[5]

The use of force in the territory of another state is prohibited under the UN charter and customary international law.[6] Among the universally recognized exceptions is a UN Security Council authorization. In international law, an armed attack implies more than isolated criminal acts against a state’s citizens, however brutal. Rather, it implies hostilities of a certain magnitude that have a cross-border element.

There are several states that have begun sustained military measures to counter ISIS “terroristic” acts. In a letter dated 23 September to the UN secretary general, the US noted that “states must be able to defend themselves, in accordance with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence, as reflected in article 51 of the UN charter, when, as is the case here, the government of the state where the threat is located is unwilling or unable to prevent the use of its territory for such attacks”.[7]

On the basis of its legal findings, the UN Security Council makes the recommendations[8]  to all parties to the conflict: (1) Take immediate steps to de-escalate the violence and to increase the protection of civilians; (2) End all human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law; (3) Comply with international humanitarian law and prioritize the protection of civilians and children recruited into ISIS; and (5) Comply effectively with Security Council Resolution 2139 including through facilitating the expansion of humanitarian relief operations and allow rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners.

Expression of religious belief is an internationally respected practice. However, terrorism in guise of the faith should not be tolerated and must be addressed with the firm stance of justice.

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[1]United Nation’s Independent International Commission of

Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic Report (November 2014)  http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/HRC_CRP_ISIS_14Nov2014.pdf

[2] Tony Blair Foundation’s Website - http://tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/religion-geopolitics/commentaries/backgrounder/what-isis?gclid=CjwKEAiAmuCnBRCLj4D7nMWqp1USJABcT4dfLrgVybko37uXr7hjwWxDtHddEZlmMlaV-dRtDf6N9xoCigXw_wcB

[3] CNN - http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/isis-fast-facts/

[4] CNN - http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/isis-fast-facts/

[5] Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/05/yemeni-boys-reportedly-reenact-isis-burning-death-jordanian-pilot/

[6] United Kingdom’s The Guardian - http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/06/legal-basis-war-isis-syria-islamic-state

[7] United Kingdom’s The Guardian - http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/06/legal-basis-war-isis-syria-islamic-state

[8] http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/HRC_CRP_ISIS_14Nov2014.pdf