Research Relating to Terrorism
Reference Works
Title: Encyclopedia of Terrorism (Book)
Date Published: 2002
Author: Cindy C. Combs and Martin Slann
Publisher: Facts on File Inc.
Description: This work is organized in alphabetical order and includes descriptions of notable persons, groups, regions and events in the history of terrorist attacks in the world. Descriptions are written from a Western viewpoint and are fairly general. A bibliography and a chronology of major acts of terrorism from 1946-2000 is also provided. The work is indexed.Title: Definition of Terrorism
Date Current: Not Available.
Author: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Description: Provides an overview of United Nations conventions and resolutions which include a definition of terrorism. From these sources, a working definition of terrorism is devised.Title: Patterns of Global Terrorism
Date Current: 2003 (NOTE: Discontinued by the State Department, April 2005.)
Author: United States Department of State
Description: This report provides an overview of global terrorism, and includes regional surveys, a Chronology of Significant International Terrorist Incidents, background information on foreign terrorist organizations from a United States perspective, United States programs and policies, as well as a statistical review that includes casualty numbers.Title: Chronology of Non-Significant International Terrorist Incidents, 2003
Date Current: Revised June 22, 2004
Author: United States Department of State
Description: Provides a monthly chronology for the year 2003 of incidents that meet the criteria for non-significant international terrorist incidents. These are defined as an incidents that do not result in a loss of life or serious injury to persons, major property damage (more than $10,000). Please note: the Chronology of Significant Terrorist Attacks for 2003 can be found in Appendix A of the "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report.
Research Guides
Title: Terrorism Law and Policy
Date Current: 2004
Author: Jurist (University of Pittsburgh)
Description: Provides a search engine of terrorism laws, reports, hearings, briefings, papers and more. A directory of terrorism-related sites including: bibliographies, terrorism definitions and fact sheets, laws and commentary are all provided.Title: Special Coverage: War on Terrorism
Date Current: 2005
Author: Findlaw Legal News and Commentary
Description: This site provides comprehensive coverage of United States legislation, cases and news relating to terrorism. Commentaries, a documents collection and related links are also presented.
Document Collections
Title: The Interrogation Documents: Debating U.S. Policy and Methods
Date Current: July 13, 2004
Author: The National Security Archive.
Description: This site is devoted to United States interrogations of terrorists in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a collection of primary documents including government memorandum and reports obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. In particular, the collection includes the Taguba and subsequent reports advising the President about the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to "non-combatants" in U.S. custody.Title: Records Released in Response to Torture FOIA Request
Date Current: 2004
Author: American Civil Liberties Union
Description: Includes hundreds of released FBI documents, Department of Army documents, Department of Navy Documents, the Taguba and other reports related to allegations of torture by the United States. Documents are full-text, pdf format. For each document, the site provides the date of the document, the date it was released, the agency author and a description. Reports of investigations by various agencies as well as memorandum, interviews, emails and more are included.Title: The September 11th Sourcebooks
Date Current: Not available.
Author: National Security Archive.
Description: The September 11 Sourcebooks are presented as a seven volume collection of declassified government documents on terrorism and U.S. security policy. Volume VI is a collection of documents relating specifically to Usama Bin Laden, and Volume VII is a collection of documents in a four part series about U.S. policies towards the Taliban.
See also: Findlaw - Special Coverage: War on Terrorism - Documents
United States Actions
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9/11 Commission
Title: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Against the United States.
Date Current: September 20, 2004
Author: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
Description: Contains the full-text of the 9/11 Commission Report, as well as supplementary monographs, press releases, a list of Commission members, and more. Please note this website is no longer active, and is now managed by the National Archives and Records Administration.
Title: Vivisimo Clustering Engine - Search the full-text of the 9/11 Commission Report.
Date Current: 2005
Author: Vivisimo
Description: Provides full-text searching and folder browsing of the 9/11 Commission Report. Search results include highlighted search terms, paragraph numbers, and page numbers which link to the full-text. Subheadings for each search term are provided in the left column indicating the number of times the word appears for each subheading.
Title: Report to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
Date Current: April 14, 2004
Author: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Description: A comprehensive review of FBI policies, programs and goals in the war on terror.
Title: Written Statement for the Record of the Director of the CIA Before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
Date Current: March 24, 2004
Author: Central Intelligence Agency
Description: A full report of the history of the CIA's investigations into the threat posed by Al Qa'ida, their analysis of the threat over time and the warning system employed. The role of the CIA, its budget and resources as well as future predictions are all elaborated.
Title: Documents From Congress' Joint Inquiry into 9/11
Date Current: May 13, 2003.
Author: The Memory Hole
Description: Acrobat files of all publicly released statements from the 9/11 Commission hearings. The site also includes rare transcripts of the open sessions, as well as the summary and recommendations that were released at the end. Documents are listed as they appear on the Intelligence Committees Websites. These transcripts are only one small part of the 9/11 coverage by The Memory Hole. Their main page also presents a wide variety of other hard-to-find documents, transcripts, police reports, video clips, news releases and more. -
Legislation
Title: United States Anti-Terrorism Laws
Date Current: 2004
Author: Jurist (University of Pittsburgh)
Description: Provides citations and links to the full-text of laws, pending legislation, legislative history and/or backgrounders, notable government statements, links to key provisions of the U.S. Code, Executive Orders, Decisions and Declarations, a few state laws and more. -
Cases
Title: Civil and Criminal Terror Cases
Date Current: 2005
Author: Findlaw Legal News and Commentary
Description: This website provides full-text copies of a wide variety of documents filed on terrorism cases in the United States. On the main page are hot topics and most recent case documents. An alphabetical listing of cases is provided for ease of use. The site also provides a listing by subject matter. Subject categories include: Terrorism Cases Prior To Sept. 11th; Airplane / Airport Security Cases; Civil Cases; Criminal Cases; Hate Crimes Cases and Terrorist Hoax Cases. -
Civil Liberties
Title: The Lawsuit Against Donald Rumsfeld Over U.S. Torture Policies
Date Current: 2005
Author: American Civil Liberties Union
Description: Includes the full-text of the complaints against Donald Rumsfeld by detainees. Documents oulining the legal basis of the case, as well as press releases, list of plaintiffs, a timeline and a video.
Title: National Security
Date Current: 2005
Author: American Civil Liberties Union
Description: The ACLU has also put together an action website with analysis of the importance of protecting civil liberties in the National Security arena. -
Government Departments and Agencies
Title: Response to Terrorism
Date Current: 2005
Author: U.S. State Department
Description: Includes news articles, full-text of "Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003" report and "The National Strategy for Combating Terrorism" report, as well as the list of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Other articles, analysis and fact sheets are available.
Title: War on Terrorism: Counterterrorism
Date Current: Not available
Author: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Description: This website provides major speeches by the FBI, Press Releases, the full-text of the FBI Report to the 9/11 Commission, a list of most wanted terrorists, a tip line, terrorism warnings and more.
See also: Findlaw - Special Coverage: War on Terrorism - Federal and State Government Websites -
Domestic Preparedness
Title: Long-Term Legal Strategy Project for Preserving Security and Democratic Freedoms in the War on Terrorism
Author: Juliette Kayyem and Philip Heymann
Date Current: 2004
Description: The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and Law School convened a bi-partisan group of experts to consider the challenges ahead and how to design our laws to preserve both our security and our democratic way of life. The final report of the Long-Term Legal Strategy Project for Preserving Security and Democratic Freedoms in the War on Terrorism includes analysis and specific legislative recommendations.
Title: Executive Session on Domestic Preparedness
Author: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Date Current: 2003
Description: Provides news reports, and links to Reports and Commissions Government Links Congressional Hearings Legislation General Accounting Office (GAO) Reports Harvard Links Think Tanks and Institutes Professional Associations as well as Chemical and Biological Weapons Resources.
International Legal Actions
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General
Title: International Terrorism Agreements: Documents and Commentary (BOOK)
Date Published: 2004
Author: Donald Musch
Publisher: Oceana
Series: Terrorism: Documents of International and Local Control Second Series
Description: This book provides the full-text plus commentary of international conventions, regional conventions, and proposed international agreements relating to terrorism. A chronology of significant terrorist incidents from 1961-2003 is also compiled. Conventions in the main text are also presented in chronological order. No index is provided.
Title: Terrorism and Human Rights
Date Current: 2005
Author: International Commission of Jurists
Description: Includes the The Berlin Declaration: the ICJ Declaration on Upholding Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Combating Terrorism. The ICJ Biennial Conference: Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, and the ICJ E-Bulletin on Counter-Terrorism & Human Rights. Also presented is a searchable database of the ICJ's press releases, reports, legal documents & key external legal materials. A separate section on Torture is also available. -
International Criminal Court
Title: Coalition for an International Criminal Court
Date Current: 2005
Author: Coalition for an International Criminal Court
Description: This is the best page on the web for information and primary source materials about the International Criminal Court. This group has been in place long before the ICC Official Website came into being and as such, contains a comprehensive collection of primary source full-text pdfs from the court's inception to date. Included are articles and analysis, news pieces, fact sheets, papers and official reports from the Assembly of States Parties, non-profit position papers, Preparatory Commission official documents, resolutions and decisions from various NGOs and regional bodies in support of the ICC, statements by officials, and a special section on the relationship between the United States and the ICC. A very valuable section provides the full-text of implementation legislation for a number of countries. The site also tracks the status of signatures and ratifications of the Statute of Rome.
Title: International Criminal Court
Date Current: 2005
Author: International Criminal Court
Description: This is the Official Website of the ICC. It contains good general descriptions of the organization of the court and its functions. Descriptions of the various organs of the court are provided. A historical collection of official records from the Assembly of States Parties is provided. News and current cases under investigation, as well as the Official Journal of the ICC are presented.
Title: Bibliography on International Criminal Law
Date Current: 2004
Author: Peace Palace Library
Description: This bibliography provides a keyword searchable database of articles and books at the Peace Palace Library on the subject of International Criminal Law. Citations are provided and a resource locator will link directly to the library's catalog, other library catalogs, resources under the same subject heading, or Amazon.com.
Title: National Prosecution of International Crimes
Date Current: September 2004
Author: Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law
Description: This page provides documents on domestic war crimes prosecution laws of individual states including instruments of ratification of Rome Statute of the ICC, provisions on cooperation with the ICC, and provisions for national prosecution of international crimes. Links to the full-text are provided where available.
Title: War Crimes Research Portal
Date Current: 2005
Author: Frederick K. Cox International Law Center, Case School of Law
Description: This site contains over a thousand links to websites related to international humanitarian law which are arranged alphabetically by subject area including a summary of each site. Keyword searching is available. A very special feature is the access it provides to student-written research memoranda on issues pending before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the International Criminal Court. Analysis articles and a bibliography are also provided. -
United Nations
Title: Conventions on Terrorism
Date Current: 2003
Author: United Nations Treaty Collection
Description: Contains a list of terrorism-related United Nations Conventions Deposited With the Secretary General, including links to the Conventions in various languages and the date of signature.
Title: United Nations Acts Against Terrorism
Date Current: 2004
Author: United Nations Department of Public Information
Description: Contains a current list of Security Council Resolutions and Actions on terrorism beginning in 1989, as well as General Assembly Resolutions and Actions and Secretary General Statements and Reports on terrorism.
Title: United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee
Date Current: 2003
Author: United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee
Description: On 28 September 2001, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1373 (2001), reaffirming its condemnation of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and expressing its determination to prevent all such acts. The Resolution also established the Counter-Terrorism Committee (the CTC), made up of all 15 members of the Security Council. The CTC monitors the implementation of resolution 1373 by all States and tries to increase the capability of States to fight terrorism. The website contains links to international codes, standards and best practices, as well as information on technical assistance to countries and much more. -
Universal Jurisdiction
Title: Universal Jurisdiction Information Network
Date Current: 2005
Author: REDRESS and the Center for Justice & Accountability
Description: The most comprehensive site about Universal Jurisdiction on the internet. Contains: definitions and history of Universal Jurisdiction; links to databases of national legislation which employ Universal Jurisdiction - a database of domestic ICC implementation legislation searchable by country, keyword and language; a database of domestic cases where Universal Jurisdiction was employed -- searchable by country and keyword; a glossary and much more.
Title: Universal Jurisdiction
Date Current: Not Available
Author: Amnesty International
Description: This website provides an introduction to Universal Jurisdiction. 14 Principles for the Effective Exercise of Universal Jurisdiction are set out. The important report, Universal Jurisdiction: The Duty of States to Enact and Enforce Legislation from September 1, 2001 is also included here. This report contains a world survey of domestic laws that employ Universal Jurisdiction. A legal memorandum on Universal Jurisdiction as well as a collection of case law are also presented.
Title: Princeton Principles on Universal Jurisdiction
Date current: 2001
Authors: Program in Law and Public Affairs and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. International Commission of Jurists. American Association for the International Commission of Jurists. Netherlands Institute of Human Rights. Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights.
Description: Sets out principles to guide and lend legitimacy to the exercise of universal jurisdiction to promote greater accountability for perpetrators of serious crimes under international law.
Global Law and Policy
Title: World Anti-Terrorism Laws
Date Current: 2004
Author: Jurist (University of Pittsburgh)
Description: Provides links to the full-text of or citations to, anti-terrorism laws from a few countries including, Canada, Australia, France, India, Israel, Japan, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. United Nations conventions and regional conventions are also cited.Title: South Asia Terrorism Portal
Date Current: 2005
Author: Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi, India
Description: This is a very valuable resource which covers South Asian countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Of particular interest are the full-text english translations of anti-terrorism laws for each of these jurisdictions. They are listed on the "Documents" page for each country. A bibliography of articles and books for each country; country reports; government speeches, reports and letters; datasheets; chronology of events; maps; current news from the region, and a list of terrorist groups operating in each country are all provided here.
Articles
Title: Resources on Terrorism
Date Current: 2004
Author: American Society of International Law -- Taskforce on Terrorism
Description: Reports of the Taskforce on Terrorism as well as ASIL Insights on Terrorism. The list of Roundtable Project meetings and a description of their topics are provided. ASIL documents in the news are listed.Title: Terrorism
Date Current: 2005
Author: Foreign Policy (magazine)
Description: This website provides a wealth of articles about terrorism policy published in Foreign Policy magazine. Paid subscribers have access to both the print and online magazine contents (contents differ depending on format). Online guest subscribers can access the online magazine for free. A current awareness email list is available also.
News Sources
Title: Fighting Terrorism
Date Current: 2004
Author: United Nations News Centre
Description: Includes news stories, statements, press releases, briefings and recent UN actions on terrorism. Links to General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions on terrorism. A link to the latest report entitled "High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change" from December 2, 2004 is also provided.
See also: Findlaw - Special Coverage: War on Terrorism - News