我国刑法应增设“恐怖活动罪”——基于新疆“7·5”事件的思考

新疆7·5事件引发了对我国刑法规定的反思。我国刑法缺乏专门的反恐罪名,应将暴力破坏的犯罪类型从刑法分则各章节中分列出来,结合恐怖主义目的,合并设置为专门罪名恐怖活动罪,为反恐怖斗争提供有力的法律依据。     

浅析国际恐怖主义犯罪对我国国家安全的危害

国际恐怖主义犯罪是威胁当今国际社会安全重要的非传统安全因素。近年来,国际恐怖组织、个人以及境内外“东突”恐怖势力、“藏独”恐怖势力、邪教恐怖势力,尤其是境内外“东突”及“藏独”势力的恐怖主义犯罪,已经对我国的国家安全构成了现实威胁,其恐怖犯罪活动不仅冲击局部地区的主流价值观、宗教观,破坏我国法制,侵蚀当地民族的国家认同信念,而且直接挑战我国的国家主权。     

建立我国反恐警察的构想

恐怖犯罪活动已引起全世界的重视 ,对恐怖主义、恐怖犯罪活动、恐怖暴力活动等概念定义的不确切直接影响到对恐怖犯罪的打击。警察作为维护社会稳定 ,惩治各种犯罪活动的主要力量 ,在参与预防、打击恐怖犯罪活动中的作用是非常重要的 ,建立相应的反恐警察是当前预防、打击恐怖犯罪活动的必须。建立我国反恐警察是反恐行动分层科学化的体现 ,反恐警察的管理体制是维护社会稳定的新举措 ,反恐警察训练内容要适应社会发展的新需要。     

我国面临的国际恐怖犯罪现状与应对策略

国际恐怖主义犯罪是威胁当今国际社会安全的非传统安全因素,近年来,国际恐怖组织、个人,以及境内外“东突”恐怖势力、“藏独”恐怖势力、邪教恐怖势力,尤其是境内外“东突”及“藏独”势力的恐怖主义犯罪已经对我国构成了现实威胁。针对威胁,公安机关应积极推动我国反恐立法,完善反恐工作机制,参与国际反恐合作,重视情报、舆论引导和群众工作,加强安全防范和预案演练,以有效遏制和消除国际恐怖主义犯罪。     

国家安全治理的内外整合:以打击"东突"恐怖主义为例

国家安全是一个动态演进的概念。现代意义上的国家安全概念产生于工业社会的民族国家,并体现出以民族国家为中心、强调外部安全的特征。目前,中国正在从工业社会向后工业社会转型。在经济全球化的影响下,国家安全风险出现了高度的复杂性和高度不确定性等特征,内外界限被模糊。总体国家安全观是契合中国向后工业社会迈进时代特征的系统性、整体性的国家安全观。它具有多元性、层次性、结构性和整体性等特征,强调对内部安全与外部安全、国土安全与国民安全、传统安全与非传统安全、发展问题与安全问题、自身安全与共同安全的整合。作为一个重要的国家安全问题,中国打击“东突”恐怖主义可以在总体国家安全框架下呈现新的图景。由于“东突”恐怖主义日益被打上后工业化时代的烙印,中国反恐怖的模式必须实现从“统治”向“治理”的演变,这是因为“东突”恐怖主义日益显现出组织的松散性、风险的流动性和行为的不确定性以及思想的激进化、活动的虚拟化和联系的全球化,对既有的反恐模式提出了挑战。中国应在统筹国家治理与全球治理的基础上,构建内外整合型的治理模式,实现对恐怖主义的国家治理与全球治理良性互动。     

Hezbollah’s Global Tentacles: A Relational Approach to Convergence with Transnational Organized Crime

That terrorists, criminals, and their facilitators exploit the global marketplace is well known. While the global movement of illicit goods is well documented, robust empirical evidence linking terrorism and organized crime remains elusive. This article posits Network Science as a means of making these links more apparent. As a critical case study, Hezbollah is quite possibly the most mature globalized terrorist organization, although it thinks of itself as the “Party of God.” However, the means seem to justify the ends: this article shows that Hezbollah’s holy men have no qualms about resorting to pornography, contraband cigarettes, immigration fraud, and credit card fraud to raise funds. Beyond establishing links, Social Network Analysis reveals other important characteristics, such as the relative autonomy from Hezbollah headquarters that local fundraising networks enjoy. That finding implies a paradigm shift: Hezbollah is no less a terrorist organization than an organized crime syndicate. This is apparent in a network’s structure. Transnational Organized Crime is typically about nodes being connected to many others in the network. Yet, Hezbollah fundraising networks allow such connectivity because of the group’s typically high levels of mutual trust and familial relationships. This creates a vulnerability that can be exploited by law enforcement and intelligence organizations.     

Reading jihad: Mapping the shifting themes of Inspire magazine

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s Inspire magazine has received attention within Western academia and media for its role in inspiring and instructing a series of homegrown terrorist attacks. Reporting on the magazine often characterises it as a Western-centric instrument of jihadi discourse. This characterisation, while broadly accurate, is in need of refinement. Using a modified version of Jennifer Attride-Stirling’s method of thematic network analysis, this research visualises and analyses the narrative themes contained within fourteen issues of Inspire magazine. It demonstrates that the magazine’s narrative extends well beyond the Western world. In reality, Inspire’s themes centre not only on the West and its Muslim populations, but on local politics and broader religious issues. The magazine’s thematic focus has also shifted over time—particularly in response to (a) political volatility in the Middle East and North Africa, (b) the killing of prominent jihadists, and (c) the execution of successful individual jihad operations. Throughout these periods of change, Inspire struggled to maintain focus on its anti-Western narrative and proved easily distracted by local issues and the “martyrdom” of Al Qaeda leaders. Understanding Inspire’s thematic landscape and its shifting character prove important in understanding and responding effectively to its jihadi discourse.     

The Isolated Islamists: The Case of the Allied Democratic Forces in the Ugandan-Congolese Borderland

This study investigates the absence of substantive linkages between locally based Salafi Jihadist movements and their more transnational counterparts such as Al-Qaeda or ISIS. While studies have addressed the heterogeneity in Jihadi alliances, the question of why inter-Jihadi ties are completely absent or tenuous at times is under-theorized in the literature. Given ISIS’s recent inexorable advance through the Middle East and North Africa and its ever-growing ties with local Jihadists, it is timely to investigate under what conditions locally based militant Islamists are less likely to forge ties with global Jihadists. Using the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)—a militant Islamist group in the Ugandan-Congolese borderland—as an illustrative case study, the research sheds light on conditions under which inter-Jihadi ties are less likely. These include the extent of ideological divergence between local and global Jihadists, the degree of relevance to the local community, and the fear of attracting new enemies in the form of more stringent counter-terrorism operations.