Terrorist Threats to International Civil Aviation Submitted By

Committee: Security Council Issue title: Terrorist Threats to International Civil Aviation Submitted by: Arife Yesilöz, President of SC Edited by: Kamilla Tóth, President of the General Assembly Introduction Although terrorism is a phenomenon deeply rooted in history, aviation terrorism is considerably new as it is associated with the fast-paced expansion of civil aviation in the second half of the twentieth century. From the outbreak of the jet age, terrorists have tried, tested and enhanced numerous techniques for attacking civil aviation. They inaugurated a wave of aviation terrorism with a course of aircraft hijackings in the 1960s, instigated a long period of airport and ground attacks in the 1970s, introduced a short but fatal mid-air sabotaging cycle in the 1980s, and initiated a phase of suicide missions in the 1990s, which culminated in the 11 September 2001 (9/11) attacks that massacred thousands of people with hijacked aircraft.1 Thereafter, the 9/11 attacks stiffened the will of the United Nations (UN) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Member States to combat aviation terrorism and to establish more efficient aviation security.2 For more than 50 years, the ICAO - with the help of other organizations - has promoted the establishment of the legal and regulatory framework (LRF) to stop the wave of criminal and terrorist assaults against aviation. Regardless of advances in security screening technology and the deployment of significant human and commercial resources over the years, the civil aviation sector still remains exposed to terrorist attacks. It is also important to include, that prevailing these threats recognize no national boundaries, are connected, and must be addressed at the global and regional as well as national levels.3 Definition of Key Terms Aircraft Hijacking: The unlawful act of seizure or the wrongful exercise of control, by force or violence or threat of force or violence, or by any other form of intimidation, and with wrongful intent, of any aircraft. Aircraft Suicide Mission: An attack when an individual or a group of individuals intentionally commit suicide to destroy an aircraft or an aviation installation, with the objective of killing people. Aviation: The design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier- than-air aircraft. Aviation Terrorism: Aviation terrorism is a political act against civil aviation carried out by non-state actors who systematically target civilians and intentionally use violence in order to create terror and coerce authorities, at times, by making demands. Cyber terrorism: Deliberately attacking or threatening targets by means of utilizing the internet as a common conduit by which computers and smart phones are intimately connected. GACID: Global Aviation Criminal Incidents Database Jet Age: A period in the history of aviation defined by the advent of aircraft powered by turbine engines, and by the social change this brought about. MO: Modus Operandi (Method of Operating). Sabotage: The deliberate destruction or damage of property and is typically carried out for military or political objectives. General Overview Despite the fact that the emergence of aviation brought great assistance to the independent and increasing movement of people and goods, it also generated several unanticipated issues. Aviation was originally developed on an extensive scale in a military context, however their military benefits were short-lived, as every nation eventually acquired its own air force. Civil aviation was subjected to similarly rapid improvements. In just over one hundred years, aviation has gone from tiny prototype airplanes to full-scale aircraft carrying approximately three billion passengers per year, generating a business activity estimated to US$ 2.4 trillion.4 Such data show that civil aviation has granted an unprecedented level of mobility, facilitating travel to the most remote territories within hours rather than months. However, this greater mobility displays a weakness. An aircraft is a compact vehicle filled with a lot of people, making it alarmingly susceptible to becoming a target of interest for terrorists. In these circumstances, managing such a fragile industry is a complex operation in which three main types of actors play a crucial role: (1) sovereign states, whose laws and regulations lay the foundations for the industry; (2) intergovernmental organizations (e.g., ICAO), administered by sovereign states to fulfill particular assignments in the development of civil aviation; and (3) airline organizations, such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is the trade association for the world’s airlines.5 The history of terrorist attacks against civil aviation can be divided into three fundamental stages: 1931-1967, 1968-2002, and 2003-2011. The long terrorist campaign that began in 1968 started declining in 2003. From then on, the number of attacks remained below the mean level of 13 attacks per year. In fact, only 46 attacks were committed between 2003 and 2011 (an average of 5 attacks per year), the majority of them being ground attacks. (See Annex) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The next segment will cover the main reasons why airport and aircraft attacks are ideal for terrorists and other criminals.䈊 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • Air carriers are national symbols National airlines are remarkably visible symbols of a country, as are great corporations with brand names; these are, statistically, the two most cherished targets of terrorists.6 Aviation terrorism is an optimal way to embarrass the targeted nations, and to attack their national pride, which helps them to coerce the state authorities into conceding to specific demands. • Powerful economic consequences In addition to the loss of life and damage to the aircraft, an attack on aviation can have both direct and indirect fall-out effects on other industries and their economies as well. The 9/11 attacks embody the best modern example of the large-scale economic desolation succeeding terrorist attacks against civil aviation. The full cost of losses after the attack was an estimated $ 200 billion, not counting the costs of the psycho-economical domino effect that the physical destruction triggered worldwide.7 Turmoil in the transportation system following the attacks concluded in significant revenue losses not only for air carriers but also for several industries, most notably tourism. • High lethal potential In contrast to trains or ships, aircrafts are compact and maintain perfectly enclosed environments, resulting in extremely credible threats of destruction by crash or explosions that are feasible to cause large-scale casualties.8 In fact, having a large number of people concentrated in a relatively limited area, whether in the vehicle itself or in an airport terminal, is a sure way for a small group of terrorists to simply seize control over the environment they choose to attack. Acts of mid-air sabotage have justified to be especially lethal, considering that merely five attacks were accountable for 992 deaths (70 percent of all deaths associated with sabotage). These five acts of sabotage are: 䈊䈊 (1) Gulf Air 771 on 23 September 1983 (112 killed), (2) Air India Flight 182 on 23 June 1985 (329 killed), 䈊 (3) Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988 (270 killed), 䈊 (4) UTA Flight 772 on 19 September 1989 (171 killed), and 䈊 (5) Avianca Flight 203 on 27 November 1989 (110 killed) (see Annex). 䈊 Terrorists take benefit from the fact that, once airborne, an aircraft becomes a place where passengers and crew members are without appropriate security. Moreover, since civil aviation brings together people from an extensive variety of different nationalities onboard an aircraft or airport, this has the supplementary benefit of formally impacting a great number of various governments. • The hesitation of authorities to confront terrorists Many terrorist groups have taken advantage of the hesitancy of certain governmental authorities to either engage them or to order a rescue operation to put an end to a terrorist attack. The hijacking of Egypt Air Flight 648 to Malta on 23 November 1985 was a stark notice of harsh prices paid by authorities when showing reluctance to abide quickly by terrorist demands. During a 20-hour long negotiation with the Maltese government six people were shot and thrown onto the runway by the hijackers to demonstrate their unyielding determination.9 This tragedy showed that, if not managed, a terrorist crisis can create havoc and shake the trust citizens have in their government. Arguing an exception to Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations allowing military intervention within the territorial integrity of another state, Israel made the decision to launch a military action to rescue hostages held at the Entebbe, Uganda airport on 4 July 1976. The Israeli intervention team rescued 106 passengers and the crew taken hostage during the hijacking of Air France Flight 139 a week before (27 June 1976).10 • Media exposure In the first part of the wave of aviation terrorism in the late 1960s, terrorists were confident that attacks against civil aviation did more than just create devastation—it also intrigued a lot of media attention to their cause. This vicious cycle of perpetrating more attacks to gain more media coverage escalated. Garnering attention and publicity is presented to be useful for the

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