('Bombings Convention') 1
CHAPTER TWELVE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF TERRORIST BOMBINGS 1999 (‘Bombings Convention’) 1. The Convention was a response to the increasingly widespread use of bombs in terrorist attacks, particularly in public places. It was a US initiative, one of the more immediate reasons being the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. The Convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 December 1997. It entered into force on 23 May 2001. As of September 2002 it had 70 Parties, including 18 Commonwealth States, and two more had signed, but not yet ratified it. The text of the Convention is at page 249 below, and the complete list of signatures, ratifications and accessions at September 2002 is at page 258 below. The offence 2. Article 2(1) provides that ‘Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person unlawfully and intentionally delivers, places, discharges or detonates an explosive or other lethal device in, into or against a place of public use, a State or government facility, a public transportation system or an infrastructure facility: (a) With the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury; or (b) With the intent to cause extensive destruction of such a place, facility or system, where such destruction results in or is likely to result in major economic loss.’ 3. ‘Unlawfully’ was inserted because armed forces and police have to employ explosives and other lethal devices in the proper discharge of their duties. Whether the activities of police fall within the Convention if they use excessive force is a nice question, but although the purpose of the Convention is to deal with terrorist outrages, there does not seem to be any reason why a totally unjustified use in a confined space by police of, say, tear or CS gas might not be caught.
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