*** KARINE BANNELIER, THEODORE CHRISTAKIS, OLIVIER CORTEN, BARBARA DELCOURT (Ed.): Le droit international face au terrorisme. Après le 11 September 2001. Editions Pedone (13 rue Soufflot, F-75005 Paris). "Cahiers internationaux" of CEDIN-Paris I, No. 17. 2002, 356 pp, 30 euros. ISBN 2-233-00411-6.
If there is one subject that since the unprecedented attacks of 11 September 2001 has been called upon to stimulate and nourish controversy and will do so for a long time to come, it is the rules to be respected in the intensified struggle against terrorism. Some people say there is a pre- and post-September 11. Some even argue that this gloomy date heralded the arrival of a new epoch in international relations, an epoch requiring new rules of law to replace a legal arsenal claimed to be out of date. Whence the major interest of this book aiming to verify the hypothesis of such a rupture and, more particularly, to assess the scope of changes in rules of international law. The answers provided were given at a conference in January 2002 jointly organised by the Centre de droit international de l'Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and the Centre de droit international et de sociologie appliquée au droit international de l'Université libre in Brussels.
Such a book can of course be no more than a summary given the complexity of the controversy and the wealth of contributions. The preface by Gilbert Guillaume, President of the International Court of Justice, does at least give a flavour of the issue and outlines the often heavily-laden questions that scientists are poring over. Initially, the scientists considered whether it was appropriate to define what terrorism is, and if so, how. Initially, international law carefully avoided using the word because the task of defining terrorism is beset with the problem that terrorism has had a very different nature over time and also geographically speaking. As Denis Duez of the ULB points out, the word is often used in fact to discredit adversaries and mobilise public opinion against them. It is therefore difficult to define it without condemnation or absolution, and Madjid Benchikh (Université de Cergy-Pontoise) and Marcelo Kohen (IUHEI in Geneva) explain the discussions surrounding national liberation and secession movements on the one hand and state terrorism on the other. The word "terrorism" finally appeared in conventional law at the end of the 1990s under pressure from policies, media and NGOs, but it was not any more clearly defined. From this viewpoint, 11 September was scarcely a break with the past - the resolutions adopted in its wake by the Security Council have provided no details about what should be understood by terrorism, and Anne Weyembergh (ULB) demonstrates that the European Union alone has attempted to provide a definition. Since then, several analysts have noted that if it was possible to fight terrorism without defining it only if the word was not used, then using the word without defining its scope does not come without its share of disadvantages. Gilbert Guillaume summarises it thus: "proceeding in this manner is to (…) create uncertainty and leave countries the option of unilateral interpretations oriented towards their interests".
This clearly topical judgement is found in the other two parts of the book, one looking at regulations covering the fight against terrorism and the other studying ways of repressing acts of terrorism. The authors note, for example, that progress has been made in terms of prevention, at the United Nations. However, as Théodore Christakis (Université Grenoble II) remarks, this progress is incomplete with regard to opposing biological and chemical terrorism. Karinne Bannelier (Université Paris I) notes that the same goes for the risk of nuclear terrorism. And the refusal in December 2001 by the US to accept a Protocol establishing a body for monitoring the application of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention "naturally leads one", as the writer of the preface puts it, "to ask questions about an even more pronounced phenomenon in the domain of sanctions - the development of unilateralism". Once again, this book explains and chimes with the most topical news events. After 11 September 2001, concludes Gilbert Guillaume, "states, holders of the monopoly of legitimate violence, have appeared as the best bulwarks against terror". But he immediately qualifies this: "But they still have to act in respect of the law and in particular of international law. This is the price that their legitimacy still holds". Food for thought!
Michel Theys
*** THIERRY COOSEMANS: Le renforcement de la sécurité intérieure de l'Union européenne. Centre de Recherche et d'Information Socio-Politiques (1A place Quetelet, B-1210 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2110180 - Fax: 2197934 - E-mail: crisp@cfwb.be). "Courrier hebdomadaire", No. 1173. 2002, 50 pp, 6.90 euros.
This "Courrier hebdomadaire" is a useful extension of the previous issue since it explains the catalyst role that the 11 September 2001 attacks have had in terms of judicial and police cooperation within the European Union. Before reviewing progress (which takes the name of Europol and Eurojust, and also the 2002 framework decision on incrimination of terrorism), the author outlines the situation before 11 September. He also takes account of progress in combatting organised crime.
(MT)
*** FRANCOIS JULIEN-LAFERRIERE: Le droit d'asile en question. La documentation Française (29-31 quai Voltaire, F-75344 Paris cedex 07. Tel: (33-1) 40157000 - Fax: 40157230 - Internet: http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr ). "Problèmes politiques et sociaux" series, No. 880. 2002, 84 pp, 7 euros.
Over the last fifteen years, asylum has experienced two fundamental changes. First of all, was been a sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers. In the past, until the middle of the 1970s, most asylum seekers came from Europe, being a group of people close to western states and easy to integrate. From 1975-76 onwards, however, the geographical origin of asylum seekers started to considerably diversify: armed conflict and dictatorships in Asia and Africa gave rise to large movements of people seeking refuge in Europe. Not only did these people seem more difficult to integrate into the national community, but most of them came from countries ravaged by poverty, dire poverty even. They were therefore lumped together with economic migrants.
This phenomenon coincided with the closing of the borders of western European countries to immigrant labour after the second oil crisis. It was then a matter of protecting the national labour market and controlling migration flows. Immigration being controlled, or even halted, people suspected asylum seekers of bending the rules governing the entry and residence of foreigners. Foreigners, whoever they were, ended up being seen as a danger to social cohesion, to such an extent that the distinction between economic migrants, on the one hand, and asylum seekers and refugees on the other, has tended to evaporate. Asylum policy then became seen as an integral part of immigration policy, whose prime objective is to control flows of migrants.
In various articles, this dossier of current events looks at the genesis of the European asylum policy, the Geneva Convention, the problem of unaccompanied children, subsidiary protection, acceptance conditions and, finally, asylum rights in France.
(MF)
*** PIERRE LEQUILLER: Le mandat d'arrêt européen et la Constitution. Délégation pour l'Union européenne de l'Assemblée nationale (Kiosque de l'Assemblée nationale, 4 rue Aristide Briand, F-75007 Paris - Internet: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr ). "Les documents d'information de l'Assemblée nationale", No. 469. 2002, 20 pp, 3.50 euros. ISBN 2-11-116266-3.
Building an area of freedom, security and justice has become one of the European Union's major objectives. Against this backdrop, the creation of the European arrest warrant is a considerable advance, argues the author of this document. For the President of the Delegation, citizens' expectations in this connection are particularly demanding, which is why they must not be deceived. In this spirit, Pierre Lequiller recommends challenging various traditional principles, including constitutional principles, of the extradition laws in order to be able to fully implement the decision on the European arrest warrant. The French Conseil d'Etat, asked for its opinion, recognised that the European framework decision conforms with most of the demands of the French Constitution with the exception, however, of the fundamental principle banning extradition for political crimes. The author argues that the progress represented by the European arrest warrant justifies the setting aside of this rule between Member States.
(MF)
*** RENE ANDRE, JACQUES FLOCH: Un procureur pour l'Europe. Délégation pour l'Union européenne de l'Assemblée nationale (see above). "Les documents d'information de l'Assemblée nationale", No. 445. 2002, 75 pp, 3.50 euros. ISBN 2-11-116388-0.
Frontiers have opened up for criminals but remain closed for police and judges fighting those criminals. The authors of this report see this as a genuine paradox, especially since on 1 July 2002, the Articles of Association of the International Criminal Court came into force. And all EU Member States have accepted the Court's competence and its Prosecutor's option of collecting witness statements and inspecting public areas. Those prepared to accept it at European level are, however, rare. The idea of creatig a European Prosecutor was first formulated by Klaus Hänsch in 1996, when he was President of the European Parliament. The issue is back on the agenda today in the framework of the Convention on the Future of Europe. The authors believe that this is Europe's last chance to give itself a European Prosecutor. How in fact can this qualitative leap be made in a twenty-five member EU, since it is already so difficult with fifteen members? It is said to be indispensable, however, to ensure the protection of common European interests in an enlarged Europe. This report explains why.
(MF)
*** GEORGES BERGHEZAN (Ed.): Trafics d'armes vers l'Afrique. Pleins feux sur les réseaux français et le "savoir-faire" belge. Grip (33 rue Van Hoorde, B-1030 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2418420 - Fax: 2451933 - E-mail: admi@grip.org - Internet: http: //http://www.grip.org ). "Les livres du Grip" series, No. 261-262. 2002, 176 pp. ISBN 2-87027-930-2.
Grip (Groupe de recherche et d'information sur la paix et la sécurité) carries out research into small arms, conflict prevention and peace building in Africa. This collection of essays - Sergio Carrozzo, Pierre Richard and Sandrine Santo working under the leadership of Georges Berghezan - fits into this backdrop. It describes in a factual manner the trafficking of arms to Africa and identifies those responsible. Trafficking in which French and Belgians play a leading role alongside Russian, Calabrian and other mafia, against the background of structural collapse in the former Eastern Bloc. In parallel, we see the emergence in the West of new awareness of the millions of deaths created by this arms trafficking in Africa, subject to civil war. In the perspective of building peace and raising awareness, the authors conclude with several common sense recommendations about the useful control, by manufacturing countries, of small arms and others which are found aplenty in the hands of war-mongers, most of whom are manipulated by interests beyond their controls. (PBu)
*** BERNARD ADAM, SARAH BAYES, GEORGES BERGHEZAN, ILHAM BERKOL, FRANCOISE DONNAY, LUC MAMPAEY, MICHEL WERY: Les exportations d'armes de la Belgique. Groupe de recherche et d'information sur la paix et la sécurité (see above). "Les Rapports du Grip", No. 2002/4. 2002, 69 pp, 13 euros.
This report on Belgium's arms exports arose after the case of the most recent export of arms to Nepal, which encouraged the Belgian government to amend its legislation. Belgium remains one of the major players in arms sales around the world. Exploring the profiles of the main countries importing Belgian arms, lingering over the ones with a dodgy ethical policy towards their own people, this highly documented report aims to demonstrate the need to review Belgium's current legislation which, the authors say, still leans too far in the direction of the those promoting export policy without a strict control of the real destination of the exported arms. In conclusion, the report puts forward a few proposals with this in mind and also to improve the possible controls into such practice, both in terms of labelling and tracing arms manufactured in Belgium.
(PBu)
*** Erased in A Moment. Suicide Bombing attacks against Israeli Civilians. Human Rights Watch (15 rue Van Campenhout, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 732.2009 - Fax: 7320471 - E-mail: hrwbe@hrw.org - Internet: http: //http://www.hrw.org ). 2002, 160 pp. ISBN 1-56432-280-7.
"Erased in a moment" in the words of an Israeli victim in March 2002. As a preamble, HRW invites the protagonists of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to return to reason, to moderation and respect of international conventions. This book first makes a descriptive review of suicide attacks and then looks at the issue of how the official authorities and the media mirror this situation. It also analyses the structures and strategies of the organisations involved, their resources and where they get their resources from, and the role of the Palestinian authorities.
(PBu)
*** THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official Publications Office of the European Communities, L-2985, Luxembourg. Internet: http: //publications.eu.int) has published the following document:
*** Le Courrier. Magazine on Development Co-operation ACP-EU. DG Development (12 rue de Geneva, B-1140 Brussels. Fax: (32-2) 2993002 - Internet: http: //europa.eu.int/development/ publicat/courier/index_en.htm). November-December 2002, No. 195, 84 pp.
An article on "rural development" and a report on South Africa constitute the main thrust of this edition, which tackles a number of different interesting subjects, such as food safety dangers, "the sad reality some ACP countries". Development is now in the hand of the General Affairs Council, the Commission is consolidating the link between trade and development and rural and agricultural development, the challenges of the urban millennium, biotechnology which could prove the solution to famine in southern Africa, "challenges of peace " in Angola, the decline of cotton, African producers accuse subsidies been handed out to the North, an on-line guide to co-funding projects with NGOs and decentralised co-operation.
*** Revue du marché commun et de l'Union européenne. Editions Techniques et Economiques (3 rue Soufflot, F-75005 Paris. Tel: (+33-1) 55426130 - Fax: 55426139 - E-mail: editecom@starnet.fr - Internet: http://www.editecom.com ). January 2003, No. 464. 71pp. Annual subscription: EUR 165.
To summarise this issue: "A Danish marathon for the fifth enlargement", "competition (mergers): after the end of Airtours, three more warnings to the Commission", "Zimbabwe, human rights and the Joint Parliamentary Assembly ACP-EP", "The Union and Sustainable Development", a review of the debate on legal protection and the Community's financial interests and the setting up of a European Prosecutor, "The effects of the reports from the body responsible for resolving WTO disputes", freedom of movement (goods, capital, service providers and real estate) between June 2001 and June 2002, the regular chronicle of the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice.
*** Réalités industrielles. Editions ESKA (12 rue du Quatre-Septembre, F-75002 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 42865573 - Fax: 42604535 - Internet: http: //http://www.eska.fr ). November 2002, 79 pp, EUR 22.11. ISBN 2-7472-0446-4.
This issue particularly addresses questions lined to standards and certification, namely the standardisation system being developed. In this publication, structures and standards at national, European and international levels are changing. What are the stakes at play in this earth shattering change in the sector? The responses in this publication provide us with some examples: the Afnor group, which is always seeking to be "at the service of and in the construction of disseminating knowledge and performance", is ready to meet the challenge, a British economic and standardisation study, a renewed French strategy, specific balances sheets such as standardisation in establishing norms and references for assessing conformity, the role of accreditation in a global context, the legal framework for notification of the competent organisations and the evaluation of corporate ethics.
*** Revista de derecho comunitario europeo. Centro de Estudios politicos y constitucionales (Madrid). September/December 2002.
Union immigration policy is studied in all its aspects in this investigation carried out by Enrique Gonzales Sanchez, Director of "Asylum and Immigration" at the Secretariat General of the Council. The author highlights a "European model for immigration", without attempting to conceal the difficulties involved.
In brief
*** Ministère des Affaires économiques. 2002, No.12A. Brussels. This economic forum would be of interest to the non-extractive energy industry in Belgium from the point of view of sustainable development; the problems linked to e-commerce, trade implantation and industrial compensation are also examined. *** Bulletin. Central Bank of Luxembourg. 2002, No. 4 Luxembourg. To summarise,: the long-term sustainability of the general pension system in Luxembourg, macro-supervision indicators, statistics for all financial areas of the Euro-zone. *** Look Japan. February 2002, No. 563, Tokyo. For its 50th anniversary publication, things are looking festive: "The Joy of Music " felt by young Japanese, The Japanese Foundation is also celebrating its 30th anniversary, cars of the future.