Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism - Report of the Secretary-General, Addendum

  • Author: United Nations General Assembly; International Law Commission (ILC)
  • Document source:
  • Date:
    18 October 1996

UNITED
NATIONS A

General Assembly         Distr.
GENERAL

A/51/336 Add.1
ENGLISH
ORIGINAL: ARABIC

INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION
Fifty-first session
Agenda item 151

MEASURES TO ELIMINATE INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
Report of the Secretary-General - Addendum

III. MEASURES TAKEN AT THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS REGARDING THE PREVENTION AND SUPPRESSION OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND INFORMATION ON INCIDENTS CAUSED BY INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

A.    Information received from Member States

Lebanon

45 bis.

Lebanon indicated that, on 6 June 1996, Act No. 513 amending certain provisions of the Penal Code was promulgated. The Act specifies various offences of a terrorist nature that are noted in the aforesaid conventions and also stipulates heavier penalties for the perpetrators of such offences.

Lebanon's position on this matter is represented by two constants:

1.         Terrorism is a dangerous scourge which constitutes a major threat to democratic societies. It should therefore be suppressed in the same way as organized crime. Lebanon is against terrorism in its various guises and forms.

2.         The concept of terrorism, however, should be properly defined, as a distinction must be made between acts of pure terrorism and acts of killing aimed at liberating territory and resisting armies of occupation. A distinction must also be made between violence practised against civilians for political, racist or religious reasons and acts of war practised against enemy armed forces which are occupying national territory, the latter acts being a legitimate right of peoples for the restitution of freedom, sovereignty and independence.

On the basis of those two fixed principles, Lebanon welcomes the call for an international conference to define a unified concept of terrorism. It also emphasizes its right to resist the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa and recalls the terrorist massacres of civilians perpetrated by the Israeli army there, most recently the Qana massacre. It renews its support for all measures aimed at combating terrorism, implementing the existing international conventions in that connection and strengthening international cooperation in that field. Lebanon further emphasizes the need to address the causes of terrorism and not only condemn the results and impose punishments.

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