| The application scope of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism drafted by the United Nations General Assembly is the key issue whether or not the Convention can be concluded. At present, there are two outstanding issues surrounding its application scope, one is the issue of National Liberation Movements, and the other is the issue of armed forces. Moreover, these two issues affect each other, and become the final material obstacles to complete the Convention.The issue of armed forces includes two specific problems, one is whether the activities of armed forces during armed conflicts are governed by the Convention, which is provided in paragraph 2 of draft article 18, and the other is whether the activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties are governed by the Convention, which is provided in paragraph 3 of draft article 18.As to the actions of armed forces during armed conflicts, the text circulated by the Coordinator of the Convention provides that they are not governed by the Convention, which represents the view of the West countries group. The text proposed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference provides that the activities of the parties including national liberation forces during an armed conflict are not governed by the Convention. The substance of the controversy is the relationship between international humanitarian law (IHL) and international anti-terrorism law (e.g. the Convention). This paper thinks that a feasible solution to current disagreement is that the activities of both State armed forces and national liberation forces during an armed conflict, which are governed by IHL, are expressly excluded from the scope of the Convention. According to the text circulated by the Coordinator, the activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties are not governed by the Convention. On the contrary, under the text proposed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, if those activities are not in conformity with international law, they will be governed by the Convention. The terrorism acts committed by the military forces of a State in time of peace belong to acts of State terrorism, which in theory should fall within the scope of the Convention. Morevover, the International Criminal Court can hold members of armed forces responsible for their terrorism crimes. However, since there are a lot of difficulties to punish States themselves for their terrorism acts in the present international reality, this paper thinks that, beyond the Convention, other rules of international law such as IHL and international criminal law can be applied to regulate State military forces’ acts in the exercise of their official duties. |
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