State terrorism is the systematic use of force and terror by the government to control the citizens of its country, or the creation and support of destabilizing processes in other states.
What is DOMESTIC STATE TERRORISM – meaning and definition in simple words.
Domestic state terrorism is a type of terror characterized by the fact that violence is used against citizens of their country. The government uses all methods available to it to put pressure on its citizens:
- Laws and courts;
- police;
- regulatory authorities;
- militarized institutions.
The government changes laws, reducing the rights and freedoms of citizens, instead introducing new laws that prohibit certain previously permitted actions. The state becomes police and totalitarian, where citizens are imprisoned for reasons of dissent and having their view of certain events.
Rallies or protests are prohibited, and the media are aggressively censored. Propaganda activities are carried out at the state level, creating an enemy in the minds of citizens.
Under the pretext of fighting terrorism and extremism, the rights of citizens are being curtailed by changing the constitution.
The government simulates or carries out terrorist attacks within its own country to create an atmosphere of general fear. Which, in turn, gives the government powers that supposedly should ensure security.
Examples of domestic state terrorism:
- After Adolf Hitler came to power, the official Nazi policy was aimed at cleaning up the so-called “enemies of the state”, as a result of which many Germans who disagreed with the policy of the authorities were imprisoned or shot.
- Stalin’s “purges” of the 1930s, as a result of which a huge number of people were killed or sent to labor camps.
- Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons on his own territory against the Kurdish population.
- Vladimir Putin killed or imprisoned many oppositionists or opponents of his dictatorship. (Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, Poisoning of Alexander Skripal, murder of Boris Nemtsov, arrest of Alexei Navalny and many others). In addition, to justify the start of the war in Chechnya, Putin’s special services staged a series of terrorist attacks with blowing up houses, blaming the Chechens. This incident is called “Ryazan sugar”. In addition, all rallies and protests that do not support Putin’s state policy are banned in Russia. You can even go to jail for commenting or “Liking” an anti-government or anti-war post on a social network. For calls for peace in modern Putin’s Russia, you can get 15 years in prison for discrediting the Russian army.
What is External State Terrorism – meaning, definition in simple words.
This activity is characterized by the covert creation or financing of terrorist gangs on the territory of other countries. The purpose of these groups is to destabilize or destroy the sovereignty of another country. This type of terrorism also includes covert military operations on foreign territory. It does not matter whether mercenaries or military personnel with hidden signs of military affiliation are used for this.
An example is the use by the Russian Federation of its army and collaborators to occupy the Crimean Peninsula and parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine.
Also, the signs of external state terrorism include:
- Secret sale and delivery of weapons to countries in which there is a military conflict;
- Financing and material support of illegal armed formations on the territory of other countries;
- Conducting military maneuvers or exercises in close proximity to foreign borders, which in turn may be provocative or a threat to sovereignty;
- Conducting propaganda information campaigns in other countries, the purpose of which is disinformation that can destabilize the situation.
- Assassination or attempted assassination of state leaders of other states.
- Abduction of citizens of other countries.
These criteria for defining state terrorism were formulated in the 1987 Geneva Declaration on Terrorism.
