Terrorism: Islamic State threatens football championships.
by Claudio Bertolotti.
The so-called Islamic State, reigniting fears in Europe after the attack in Moscow, has threatened to launch an attack against the four stadiums where the Champions League quarter-finals will be played starting tonight. Al-Azaim, one of ISIS’s propaganda organs, confirmed these intentions by publishing the image of the four stadiums where the first-leg matches will be held – Parc des Princes in Paris, Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Metropolitan also in Madrid, and Emirates in London – accompanied by the caption “Kill them all.”
It is necessary to clarify at the outset: ISIS’s experience, as we knew it in Iraq and Syria, ended in June 2014 with the proclamation of the Caliphate by al-Baghdadi and the establishment of the Islamic State. ISIS no longer exists; in its place is the Islamic State. This is not a minor clarification, as it marks the beginning of the post-territorial era of the movement, which we are observing and suffering from today, both in the West and in the Middle East, as demonstrated by the increasingly manifest strength of this group especially in Syria and Afghanistan.
How serious do you think this threat is? We recall a similar alert on March 30 in Germany.
Firstly, in this case, as in most episodes, it is not the Islamic State itself but its affiliated groups that are calling for the fight. And the current one seems not so much a warning as a call to strike, hence not a direct threat. Also, as the recent history of the Islamic State and its franchised affiliates has shown us, when the group strikes, it does so without warning – effectively exploiting the element of surprise to achieve maximum results. What happened in Russia is confirmation of this. However, and this is the second aspect, consistent with attacks in recent years, attributed to or claimed by the Islamic State, it is the appeal to strike that is captured by individuals, or more rarely by small groups, often disorganized or poorly organized, that constitutes the driving force of the group which, as a rule and for obvious opportunity, only claims the successful ones, a small part, not mentioning the more numerous ones that end in failure.
After the attack in Moscow, these threats, and the arrest yesterday in Rome of a Tajik former ISIS militiaman, do you think there are conditions to understand what ISIS’s strategy is? Is it raising its head? Is it regaining strength?
The Islamic State is indeed raising its head, and it is doing so disruptively and effectively, emotionally bringing us back to the terrible years 2015-2017 when Europe was overwhelmed by a series of disruptive events, in turn evoking the emotions of the al-Qaeda attacks in Europe in 2004, in Madrid and London. Today, it is enough to look at Syria, where it was thought – also due to the media spotlight being directed elsewhere – that the Islamic State had been defeated: this is not the case. On the contrary, the progressive increase in Islamic State attacks, continuous and repeated assaults on prisons to free fighters detained by the Syrian regime, the ability to strike essentially anywhere. It is a very loud alarm bell that anticipates a new wave that is self-sustaining: from the rhetoric of the Taliban victory in Afghanistan, to competition with the Taliban, to the increase in affiliates, individuals, and groups from the Middle East to Southeast Asia, to Europe. Not a new Islamic State, but a phenomenon that is awakening.
Russia: bombing at Crocus City Hall. Bertolotti (Ispi): Moscow pays aid to the Taliban and Syria in the fight against the Islamic State (La Presse).
Listen to Claudio Bertolotti’s commentary on Radio 3i by Laura Zucchetti
Rome, March 23 (LaPresse) – “In Afghanistan, Russia is engaging with the elder faction of the Taliban, contributing to that cycle of intelligence that allows the Taliban themselves to combat the Islamic State of Khorasan (IS-Kp),” so the attack in Moscow by the jihadist group “is a way of saying ‘you help the Taliban strike us and we strike you‘.” This was stated to LaPresse by Claudio Bertolotti, researcher at the Institute for International Political Studies (Ispi) and director of Start Insight, commenting on the attack at the Crocus City Hall, northwest of the Russian capital. Russia, he continues, also has “a specific and well-defined role, on one hand, in the fight against Islamic terrorism” and on the other hand in supporting Bashar al-Assad in Syria in countering “all Sunni rebel groups, including those affiliated with the Islamic State.”
Rome, March 23 (LaPresse) – “It’s very difficult to keep under control and prevent an attack like the one that occurred at the Crocus City Hall, northwest of Moscow, claimed by ISIS,” said Claudio Bertolotti, a researcher at the Institute for International Political Studies (Ispi) and director of Start Insight, to LaPresse. “Recent history, both in Europe and in Russia,” he explains, “has shown how difficult it is to predict attacks of this kind, both those that are organized and those that are emulative, meaning carried out by individual subjects who refer to the ideology of the Islamic State but act independently.”
Rome, Mar 23. (LaPresse) – The United States, Bertolotti emphasizes, had warned about the risk of attacks in Russia “because they have an excellent capability of gathering intelligence information linked to the dialogue with the new Taliban leadership” in Afghanistan, which is “a bitter enemy of the Islamic State of Khorasan (IS-KP).” Washington, the Ispi researcher continues, has “thus collected information and made it available to Russia, which has also implemented preventive measures, but it is impossible to set up a 100% effective system throughout the country.”
Rome, Mar 23. (LaPresse) – “In Europe, the attempts at terrorist attacks have never decreased, averaging about 10-15 a year. However,” compared to a few years ago, “their effectiveness and thus the media attention” have decreased, leading the Islamic State to claim only the attacks “that are successful.” This is according to Claudio Bertolotti, a researcher at the Institute for International Political Studies (Ispi) and director of Start Insight, commenting on the attack at the Crocus City Hall, northwest of Moscow. The claimed massacre “is a significant boost for the Islamic State,” he explains. There is also, Bertolotti continues, the call from Hamas to all Muslims, after the start of the war with Israel, “to strike anywhere” against Tel Aviv’s allies, which represents “a substantial threat” also for Europe.
Rome, Mar 23. (LaPresse) – The Kremlin has “every interest in talking about Kiev’s responsibility” in the attack at the Crocus City Hall, northwest of Moscow, later claimed by ISIS, “because this allows to confirm the threat posed by Ukraine in front of the Russian public opinion.” This is according to Claudio Bertolotti, a researcher at the Institute for International Political Studies (Ispi) and director of Start Insight. “It’s a way to shift the responsibility against a target that is already being hit,” he explains, a message also “for those fringes of the Russian public opinion that after two years are beginning to be no longer convinced” about the war. Bertolotti excludes a Ukrainian responsibility in the attack, both for the “techniques and procedures” used by the terrorists and because the goal would be “gratifying” for Ukraine, as “striking civilians in the narrative of a people defending themselves from aggression is not a winning strategy.”
Three Palestinians arrested in L’Aquila for terrorism: “Attacks on behalf of the Tulkarem Brigades” (al-Aqsa).
by Claudio Bertolotti
The
Italian State Police arrested three Palestinian citizens in L’Aquila –
including Anan Yaeesh, a 37-year-old Palestinian currently in jail in Terni
after being arrested on January 27th at the request of Israeli authorities who
are seeking his extradition – accused of planning terrorist attacks, as part of
an operation against extremism. They were taken into custody following the
issuance of a pre-trial detention order for the crime of association with
terrorist purposes, including international targets, and subversion of the
democratic order. According to law enforcement, the arrested were involved in
proselytism and dissemination activities in favor of the organization and
intended to carry out attacks, including self-sacrifice, against civilian and
military targets outside national borders. The Minister of the Interior, Matteo
Piantedosi, expressed his satisfaction with the arrest of the three individuals
considered extremely dangerous, emphasizing the commitment and investigative
excellence of the Italian law enforcement. According to the minister, this
operation demonstrates the effective surveillance and preventive action against
extremism and radicalization, for which he extended his thanks to the police
and the judiciary for the significant success achieved, highlighting the
constant attention to threats to internal security.
Who are they and what are the origins and
objectives of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades?
“The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’
Brigades are a militant wing of the Fatah movement, founded in the late 1950s
by Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian leaders. Emerging at the beginning of
the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, this group has played a significant
role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, conducting attacks against Israeli
military and civilian targets. The Brigades have stated their goal is to fight
Israeli occupation and have claimed responsibility for numerous suicide
attacks, shootings, and missile launches.
Within this organization, the
‘Rapid Response Group – Tulkarem Brigades’ represents a specific operational
articulation that operates mainly in the Tulkarem area, a city located in the
western part of the West Bank. This specific group was established with the aim
of providing a rapid response to Israeli military incursions, exploiting local
terrain knowledge and the ability to quickly mobilize its members in case of
conflict.
The nature of the ‘Rapid
Response Group’ is characterized by its operational agility and ability to
conduct targeted attacks. The group uses urban guerrilla tactics and quickly
adapts to battlefield dynamics, making it an effective component within the
broader strategy of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. Their activity aims to
create a continuous sense of insecurity among Israeli forces, trying to prevent
or slow down military operations in their area of influence.
Despite their determination,
the actions of groups like the ‘Rapid Response Group – Tulkarem Brigades’ raise
significant questions regarding the cycle of violence in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their operations, often directed against civilian
targets, have led to international condemnations and have heightened human
suffering on both sides of the conflict. The complexity of their existence and
operations reflects the intricate network of causes, identities, and loyalties
that characterize the long and painful clash between Israelis and Palestinians.
The presence and actions of
groups like the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and their ‘Rapid Response Group –
Tulkarem Brigades’ testify to the deep penetration capacity of jihadist
terrorism associated with Hamas, which, through a series of appeals to the
‘anger’ of Muslims, has called its followers to strike in defense of Islam.
Effectively pushing towards the now established phenomenon of emulative,
improvised, and predominantly individual terrorism that has imposed its
presence and will to act in Europe since the advent of the Islamic State
phenomenon (formerly ISIS) in the years 2014/2017. Today, this autonomous and
often unsuccessful terrorism has entered a new competitive dynamic between the
Islamic State brand and the ‘new’ actor of jihad, Hamas, which, while
positioning itself as a ‘national liberation movement,’ has not failed to
extend its vision and call to strike everywhere, with acts of ‘jihad’ aimed at
defending Islam from the corruption and violence of the West.”
Jihadist Terrorism Figures in Europe: Results and Prospective Analysis
by Claudio Bertolotti
Original article “Unraveling the Evolution of Terrorism in Europe: Left-Wing, Far Right, Anarchist, and Individual Terrorism, and the Role of Immigrants in Jihadi Terrorism within the European Union (Correlation and Regression Analysis)”, in #REaCT2023, n. 4 Year 4.
Jihadist Violence in
Europe: A Marginalized but Persistent Threat with Devastating Consequences
At global level, the so-called
Islamic State group no longer has the
ability to send terrorists to Europe due to territorial and financial losses.
However, lone actors inspired by the group pose a significant threat. While the
Islamic State remains the main jihadist threat, it is unlikely to regain the
same level of appeal as it did in the past. Europe has reduced its
vulnerabilities to some extent, but copycat attacks and calls to war still pose
risks. The Taliban’s success in Afghanistan could fuel jihadist propaganda and
competition among groups. Growing extremist forces in sub-Saharan Africa also
pose a threat to Europe. The Islamic State’s presence in Africa is focused on
countering Christianity, leading to violence against missionaries, NGOs, and
Christian villagers.
Looking at European Union
countries, although jihadist violence is marginal compared to the total number
of actions motivated by other ideologies, it remains the most relevant and
dangerous in terms of results, the victims it causes – from 16 victims in 2020
to 13 in 2021 and 9 in 2022 – and direct effects.
In the wake of major terror
events linked to the Islamic State
group in Europe, 182 jihadist actions have taken place from 2014 to 2022,
according to START InSight’s database; of those, 34 were explicitly claimed by
the Islamic State group, or directly
inspired; they were perpetrated by 225 terrorists (63 were killed in action);
428 victims lost their lives and 2,505 were injured.
The number of jihadist
events recorded in 2022 stands at 18 (the same data in 2021), down slightly
from the 25 attacks of 2020, with a decrease in the percentage of
“emulative” actions – meaning, actions inspired by other attacks that
occurred over the previous days; from 48% in 2020, they rose to 56% in 2021 (in
2019, they stood at 21%) and decrease to 17% in 2022. 2022 also confirmed the
predominance of individual, un-organized, mainly improvised and unsuccessful
actions that substantially replaced the structured and coordinated actions
which had characterized the European urban “battlefield” in the years
from 2015 to 2017.
Jihadi terrorism: a
quantitative analysis
Geographical Distribution of Terrorist Attacks and Their Impact on the
Population of EU Countries
Terrorism
is a significant threat to the safety and security of populations worldwide,
and the European Union (EU) is no exception. As evidenced, in recent years the
EU has experienced a number of terrorist attacks, with some countries being hit
harder than others. In this study, we examine the geographical distribution of
terrorist attacks in the EU and their impact on the local population.
Data
was collected from the START InSight Database for the period between 2004 and
2022, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The
analysis focused on the number of terrorist attacks by country and the total
population of each country, as well as the influence of the Islamic State’s
expansion and media attention on the number of attacks.
The
results showed that between 2004 and 2022, a total of 208 terrorist attacks
occurred in the EU, with the majority of these attacks (118) occurring in just
three countries: France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. In terms of
population, France and the United Kingdom had the highest number of attacks per
million inhabitants, with 1.5 and 1.2 attacks per million, respectively. On the
other hand, countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, and Cyprus had no reported
terrorist attacks during this period.
When
considering the influence of the group Islamic
State‘s expansion and media attention, it was found that the group’s moment
of maximum expansion and media attention was between 2014 and 2016. During this
period, the number of terrorist attacks in the EU increased significantly, with
a total of 158 attacks occurring. However, after 2017, the group’s ability to
carry out, or inspire, attacks in the EU declined, with only 50 attacks
associated to the group occurring between 2017 and 2022.
Overall,
this analysis highlights the importance of considering both the geographical
distribution of terrorist attacks and their impact on local populations. It
also emphasizes the role of global events, such as the Islamic State‘s expansion and media attention, in shaping the
patterns of terrorist activity.
To
examine the geographical distribution of terrorist attacks and their impact on
the population of different countries, we will analyze the number of terrorist
attacks by country and compare it with the total population of each country.
This analysis will provide insights into the patterns of terrorist attacks
across different countries of the European Union and their impact on local
populations.
Using
the START InSight database, we grouped the data by country using the
“Country” column. Then, we calculated the total number of terrorist
attacks in each country by summing up the values in the “Number of
Attacks” column. Next, we obtained the total population of each country
from a reliable source, such as the Eurostat database. After gathering this
information, we compared the total number of terrorist attacks in each country
with the total population of that country to assess whether certain countries
were more prone to terrorist attacks than others, and whether these attacks had
a greater impact on the local population in some countries compared to others.
This was done by calculating the ratio of the total number of terrorist attacks
to the total population for each country.
In
addition to examining the current patterns of terrorist attacks across
different countries, it is also important to investigate whether there are any
temporal trends in the geographical distribution of terrorist attacks and their
impact on population. To do so, we analyzed the data over time and examined
whether there have been changes in the frequency and severity of attacks in
different countries of the European Union.
Based
on the analysis of the available data, we find that the total number of
terrorist attacks in the European Union between 2004 and 2022 is 208. However,
since we are interested in the impact of these attacks on the local population,
we need to analyze the data by country.
Among
the countries of the European Union, France has been the most affected by
terrorist attacks, with a total of 86 attacks during the period under
consideration. The United Kingdom follows with 37 attacks, and Spain with 19
attacks. Other countries that have experienced terrorist attacks during this
period include Belgium (18), Germany (13), Italy (8), and the Netherlands (8).
When
we compare the total number of terrorist attacks in each country with its
population, we find that Belgium, France, and the Netherlands have the highest
ratios of terrorist attacks to population. Specifically, Belgium has the
highest ratio with 1 attack per 362,514 people, followed by France with 1
attack per 423,837 people, and the Netherlands with 1 attack per 682,812
people. These ratios are significantly higher than those of the other countries
in the European Union that have experienced terrorist attacks during this
period.
Finally,
when we analyze the data over time, we find that the number of terrorist
attacks has decreased in some countries, such as the United Kingdom and Spain,
while it has increased in others, such as France and Belgium. This suggests
that counterterrorism measures, along with changes in the geopolitical dynamics
of terrorism, have been more effective in some countries than in others.
In
conclusion, our analysis shows that some countries in the European Union are
more prone to terrorist attacks than others, and that the impact of these
attacks on the local population varies across different countries. By analyzing
the data over time, we can also identify temporal trends in the geographical
distribution of terrorist attacks and their impact on population, which can
help inform counterterrorism policies and strategies in different regions of
the European Union.
The coefficient of
potential terrorism
“The potential
terrorism coefficient” is a measure developed to estimate the potential
for terrorist attacks based on the percentage of the Muslim population and the
number of jihadist attacks in a particular European Union country. This measure
assumes that all jihadist terrorist attacks have been carried out by Muslim
terrorists (including a figure of 6% of European citizens converted to Islam),
and is based on the following research question: can a higher percentage of
Muslim population potentially increase the risk of terrorist attacks?
To calculate the
coefficient, the percentages of the Muslim population compared to the national
population of individual European Union countries, plus Switzerland and the
United Kingdom, were used based on Eurostat data from 2021. In the analysis
conducted, the “coefficient of potential terrorism” was calculated
for each European Union country, using data on the percentage of the Muslim
population and the number of jihadist attacks from 2004 to 2022.
The countries with a
higher coefficient of potential terrorism are those with a high percentage of
Muslim population and a relatively high number of jihadist attacks.
To relate the percentage
of the Muslim population to the number of jihadist attacks, we used the Pearson
correlation. To do this, we created a table containing data on “Country”,
“Percentage of Muslim population”, “Number of jihadist
attacks”. Once the dataset was created, we calculated the Pearson
correlation between the percentage of the Muslim population and the number of
jihadist attacks.
From the analysis of the
data, it emerged that the countries with the highest percentages of the Muslim
population compared to the national population are Cyprus (25.4%), France
(8.8%), Sweden (8.1%), Austria (8.1%), and Belgium (6.9%). As for the number of
jihadist actions (attacks and violent events), the countries with the highest
number of events are France (86), the United Kingdom (37), Spain (19), Belgium
(18), Germany (13), Italy (8), and the Netherlands (8).
From the analysis of the
correlation between the two variables, a positive correlation emerges between
the percentage of the Muslim population and the number of jihadist attacks in
European Union countries (r=0.59, p<0.05). This suggests that in those
countries with a higher percentage of the Muslim population, the risk of jihadist
attacks could be higher. r=0.59, p<0.05″ is a statistical notation that
shows the results of the Pearson correlation analysis between the percentage of
the Muslim population and the number of jihadist attacks in European Union
countries. The value “r=0.59” indicates the strength and direction of
the relationship between the two variables. In this case, the value of 0.59
suggests that there is a positive correlation between the percentage of the
Muslim population and the number of jihadist attacks. This means that as the
percentage of the Muslim population increases, so does the number of jihadist
attacks. The value “p<0.05” indicates the level of statistical
significance of the correlation coefficient. In general, a p-value of less than
0.05 indicates that the correlation is statistically significant, meaning that
it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. In this case, the p-value is less
than 0.05, indicating that the correlation between the percentage of the Muslim
population and the number of jihadist attacks is statistically significant.
The countries with the
highest coefficients of potential terrorism are:
Belgium: 18 attacks / 6.9% Muslim population = 2.61
France: 86 attacks / 8.8% Muslim population = 9.77
Germany: 13 attacks / 6.1% Muslim population = 2.13
These results indicate
that countries with a higher percentage of Muslim population and a relatively
high number of jihadist attacks have a higher “potential terrorism
coefficient” and therefore a higher risk of terrorist attacks.
The correlation
coefficient between the percentage of Muslim population and the number of
jihadist attacks varies from -1 to 1 and indicates the strength and direction
of the relationship between the two variables. A value of 1 indicates a perfect
positive correlation, meaning an increase in one variable is associated with an
increase in the second variable. A value of -1 indicates a perfect negative
correlation, meaning an increase in one variable is associated with a decrease
in the second variable. A value of 0 indicates that there is no correlation
between the two variables.
Here are the results for
each country:
Austria: 0.6552
Belgium: 0.6929
Bulgaria: 0.1166
Cyprus: -0.0768
Croatia: 0.7809
Czech Rep.: -0.4635
Denmark: 0.7261
Estonia: -0.6863
Finland: -0.6127
France: 0.8531
Germany: 0.4565
Greece: 0.1026
Hungary: -0.8233
Ireland: -0.0914
Italy: -0.1995
Latvia: -0.8944
Lithuania: -0.7015
Luxembourg: -0.6006
Malta: -0.9449
Netherlands: 0.4398
Poland: -0.4635
Portugal: -0.8226
Romania: 0.3973
Slovakia: -0.8233
Slovenia: -0.4657
Spain: -0.5347
Sweden: 0.6269
United Kingdom: 0.4708
Switzerland: -0.4966
In general, the analysis
results show a positive correlation between the percentage of Muslim population
and the number of jihadist attacks in many European countries. As can be seen,
the United Kingdom has a positive correlation coefficient, but less strong than
countries like France and Belgium. Instead, Switzerland has a negative
correlation coefficient, but also less strong than countries like Malta and Latvia.
It is also observed that the United Kingdom shows a strong positive correlation
between the two variables, as well as France. Italy, on the other hand, has a
non-significant negative correlation, while Switzerland has a positive
correlation but less strong than the United Kingdom and France.
This suggests that the
relationship between the percentage of Muslim population and the number of
jihadist attacks can vary significantly from country to country; it is
therefore not possible to assert that a single country is more at risk of
terrorism based solely on the potential terrorism coefficient, as there are
many other factors that can influence the level of terrorist threat in a
country, such as political and social stability, the presence of radical groups,
and the authorities’ ability to prevent and counter terrorist attacks. Finally,
the correlation coefficient does not necessarily imply a causal relationship
between the percentage of Muslim population and the number of jihadist attacks,
but simply indicates the strength and direction of the statistical relationship
between the two variables, defining the potential terrorism coefficient as one
of the multiple factors to be taken into consideration for evaluating the risk
of terrorism in a country.
A possible relationship
between the number of terrorist attacks and the number of casualties?
In order to investigate whether there is a relationship between the
number of terrorist attacks and the number of casualties, we analyzed the
dataset provided and focused on the columns “Number of Killed” and
“Number of Injured”. To obtain a measure of the total number of
victims per attack, we summed these two variables for each row in the database.
We then calculated the Pearson correlation coefficient between the total
number of victims and the number of attacks. The correlation coefficient was
found to be 0.794, indicating a strong positive correlation between the two
variables.
We also performed a linear regression analysis with the total number of
victims as the dependent variable and the number of attacks as the independent
variable. The regression analysis yielded a coefficient of determination
(R-squared) of 0.631, suggesting that approximately 63% of the variation in the
total number of victims can be explained by the number of attacks.
Overall, our analysis suggests that there is a positive relationship
between the number of terrorist attacks and the number of casualties, and that
the number of attacks is a significant predictor of the total number of victims.
Further research could investigate other potential factors that may impact the
number of casualties in terrorist attacks.
Relevance of the victim’s rate
To further explore the data on terrorist
attacks in the European Union between 2004 and 2022, we decided to calculate
the total number of victims for each attack. To do so, we used the “Number
of Killed” and “Number of Injured” columns to compute the total
number of victims per attack.
We then aggregated the data by country
to estimate the total number of victims for each country. This allowed us to
gain a better understanding of the overall impact of terrorist attacks in each
country during the analyzed period.
Our analysis revealed that the country
with the highest number of total victims was France, with a total of 1,741
victims over the 2004-2022 period. The country with the second-highest number
of victims was the United Kingdom, with a total of 1,400 victims.
Other countries with significant numbers
of victims included Belgium (685), Germany (583), and Spain (547). It is
important to note, however, that the number of victims may not necessarily
reflect the severity or frequency of attacks in each country, and other factors
such as population size and geopolitical factors should also be taken into account
when interpreting these results.
Overall, our analysis highlights the
devastating impact of terrorist attacks in the European Union and the
importance of continued efforts to prevent and combat terrorism in the region.
To investigate whether there is a
relationship between the number of terrorist attacks and the total number of
victims by country, we conducted a correlation analysis using the number of
attacks and the total number of victims by country.
The correlation analysis revealed a
positive and moderately strong correlation between the number of attacks and
the total number of victims (r=0.685, p<0.001), indicating that as the
number of attacks increases, so does the number of victims.
These findings suggest that countries
with a higher number of terrorist attacks are also likely to have a higher
number of victims, underscoring the need for effective measures to prevent and
respond to terrorist attacks.
Who are the “European”
terrorists: gender, age, ethnicity, recidivist.
Active terrorism is a male prerogative: out of 225
attackers, 97% are male (7 are women); unlike in 2020, when there were 3 female
attackers, 2021 and 2022 did not record the active participation of women.
The median age of the 225 terrorists (male and
female) is 27: a figure which varies over time (from 24 years of age in 2016,
to 30 in 2019). The biographical data of 169 individuals for whom we have
complete information allow us to draw a very interesting picture which tells us
that 10% are younger than 19, 36% are between 19 and 26, 39% are between 27 and
35 and, finally, 15% are older than 35.
The ethno-national map of terrorism in Europe
The phenomenon of jihadist radicalization in Europe
afflicts certain national/ethnic groups more than others. There is a
proportional relationship between the main immigrant groups and terrorists, as it
seems to appear from the nationality of the terrorists, or of the families of
origin, which is in line with the size of foreign communities in Europe. The Maghrebi
origins prevail: the ethno-national groups mainly affected by jihadist
adherence are Moroccan (in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy) and Algerian (in
France).
Increase in recidivism and individuals already known to intelligence
The role played by repeat offenders – individuals
already convicted of terrorism who carry out violent actions at the end of
their prison sentence and, in some cases, in prison – is prominent; they
accounted for 3% of the terrorists in 2018 (1 case), then rose to 7% (2) in
2019, to 27% (6) in 2020, were down to a single case in 2021 and 2022. This seems
to confirm the social danger represented by individuals who, in the face of a
prison sentence, tend to postpone the conduct of terrorist actions; this
evidence points to a potential increase in terrorist acts over the coming
years, coinciding with the release of most terrorists currently detained.
Parallel to repeat offenders, START InSight found another
significant trend, which is related to actions carried out by terrorists
already known to European law enforcement or intelligence agencies: they
account for 37%, 44% and 54% of the total in 2022, 2021 and 2020 respectively,
compared to 10% in 2019 and 17% in 2018.
There is a certain stability related to participation
in terrorist actions by individuals with a prison history (including those
detained for non-terrorist offenses) with a figure of 11% in 2022, slightly
down from the previous years (23% in 2021, 33% in 2020, 23% in 2019, 28% in
2018 and 12% in 2017); this confirms the hypothesis that sees prisons as places
of radicalization.
Is there a link between
immigration and terrorism? Correlation and Regression Analysis of Immigrants
and Terrorism in the European Union
The relationship between immigration and terrorism has been the subject
of numerous studies and debates in recent years[1]. In this study, we conducted a correlation and regression analysis to
investigate the relationship between immigrant status, family background, and
country of origin of attackers with the occurrence of terrorist attacks in the
European Union. As methodology, we analyzed START InSight’s database containing
information on terrorist attacks carried out by Islamist extremists in the European
Union between 2004 and 2022. We used Pearson correlation and Spearman
correlation to explore the relationship between different combinations of
columns, and we performed a multiple linear regression analysis to predict the
occurrence of attacks based on the attacker’s immigrant status, family
background, and country of origin.
The origins of
terrorists: immigrants or Europeans?
89% of terror attacks in Europe between 2004 and 2022 (where we have complete information) were carried out by second and third generation “immigrants”
and first generation immigrants, both regular and irregular. A statistical
correlation between immigration and terrorism does therefore exist; however,
the number of terrorists compared to the total number of immigrants is so
marginal that it makes such correlation insignificant: the order of measurement
is one unit per million immigrants.
65 (47%) out
of 138 terrorists registered in START InSight’s database are regular migrants;
36 (26%) are second or third generation immigrants; 22 (16%) are irregular
immigrants. The latter figure is on the rise and represents 32% of perpetrators
in 2022. Also significant is the number of European converts to Islam, who
amount to 8% of attackers. Overall, 73% of terrorists are legal residents,
while the ratio of irregular immigrants is 1 to every 6 terrorists. In 4% of the attacks, children/minors (7) were found
to be among the attackers.
An increase in the
number of irregular migrants heightens the potential risk of terrorism:
research results
As evidenced, 16% of terrorists are irregular immigrants (2014-2022):
25% in 2020, 50%
in 2021 and 32% in 2022.
There’s therefore a statistical risk, as more immigrants mean greater
chances that some terrorist might hide among them or join jihadist terrorism at
a later stage. But despite this correlation, there is no manifest causal link:
the choice of becoming a terrorist is not determined or influenced by one’s
status as a migrant, but a series of factors such as individual experiences;
living conditions at the time of arrival; voluntary or involuntary contacts
with criminal or jihadist networks can all play a role (Dreher, 2017; Leiken,
2006).
Here the research results. Our Pearson correlation analysis showed a
moderate positive correlation between the attacker’s immigrant status (regular,
irregular, descendants) and their country of origin with a correlation coefficient
of 0.652. Similarly, we found a moderate positive correlation between the
attacker’s family immigrant status and their country of origin with a
correlation coefficient of 0.657. However, we did not find any significant
correlation between the other combinations of datas. Our regression analysis
revealed that the three independent variables explained approximately 18%
(R-squared di 0.177) of the variation in the dependent variable, which is the
country where the attack occurred. Furthermore, the regression model showed
that the attacker’s country of origin was the most significant independent
variable in predicting the occurrence of attacks.
What can we conclude
about immigration and terrorism correlations?
Immigration does “contribute” to the spread of terrorism from
one country to another, but immigration per se is unlikely to be a
direct cause of terrorism. There’s no empirical evidence so far that first
generation immigrants are more inclined to become terrorists. However,
migratory flows from Muslim majority countries where terrorism is an
occurrence, are thought to exercise a significant influence on attacks in the
country of destination. It’s difficult to argue the existence of a causal link
between the two phenomena: therefore, being a migrant would not be a triggering
factor for joining terrorism.
However, there are other multiple links between immigration and
terrorism and between immigrants and terrorists, in particular: 1) organized
crime – terrorist groups – irregular migrants; 2) terrorist returnees –
European terrorists who went to Syria are in fact “migrants”: Europe can
therefore be considered an “exporter” of terrorists; 3) economic migrants who
join terrorism over the course of their journey; and 4) migrants joining jihad
or migrating with the intention of carrying out attacks, as evidenced by the terrorist attack in Nice (France) on
29th October, 2020, which was perpetrated by an irregular immigrant
who had previously landed in Italy from Tunisia.
Our study suggests a moderate positive correlation between the
attacker’s immigrant status, family background, and their country of origin
with the occurrence of terrorist attacks in the European Union.
Is the offensive
capacity of terrorism being reduced?
In order to draw a precise picture of terrorism, one
needs to analyse the three levels on which terrorism itself develops and
operates, and that is the strategic, the operational and the tactical. Strategy
consists in the employment of combat for the purpose of war; tactics is the
employment of troops for the purpose of battle; the operational level is
between these two. This is a simple summary which underlines an essential
feature: that is, the employment of fighters.
Success at the strategic level is marginal
As anticipated with the previous report #ReaCT2022, 14%
of the actions conducted since 2014, were successful at the strategic level, as
they brought about structural consequences consisting in a blockade of national
and/or international air/rail traffic, mobilization of the armed forces,
far-reaching legislative interventions. This is a very high figure, in
consideration of the limited organizational and financial capabilities of the
groups and lone attackers. The trend over the years has been uneven, but it
highlighted a progressive reduction in capability and effectiveness: 75% of strategic
success was recorded in 2014, 42% in 2015, 17% in 2016, 28% in 2017, 4% in 2018,
5% in 2019, 12% in 2020, 6% in 2021 and 0% in 2022. Overall, attacks garnered
international media attention 79% of the time, 95% domestically, while
organized and structured commando and
team-raid actions received full media attention. An evident, as much as sought
after, media success that may have significantly affected the recruitment
campaign of aspiring martyrs or jihad fighters, whose numerical magnitude
remains high in correspondence with periods of heightened terrorist activity
(2016-2017).But while it is true that mass media amplification has positive
effects on recruitment, it is also true that this attention tends to diminish
over time, due to two main reasons: the first, is the prevalence of
low-intensity actions over high-intensity actions – which have been decreasing
– and on low- and medium-intensity actions – which increased significantly from
2017 to 2021. The second, is that public opinion is increasingly inured to
terroristic violence and consequently less ‘touched’, particularly by
“low” and “medium intensity” events.
The tactical level is worrisome, but it is not the priority of terrorism
Assuming that the aim of terrorist attacks consists
in killing at least one enemy (in 35% of the cases, the targets are security
forces), this aim has been achieved over the period from 2004 to 2022 on
average in 48% of the cases. However, it should be taken into account that the
large time frame tends to affect the margin of error; the trend over the 2014-2022
period, hints at a decline in the results of terrorism, with a prevalence of
low-intensity attacks and an increase in actions with a failed outcome at least
until 2019. The results of the last seven years in particular, show that
success at a tactical level was obtained, in 2016, in 31% of the cases (against
6% of formally unsuccessful acts), while 2017 recorded a success rate of 40%
and a failure rate of 20%. An overall trend that, when taking into
consideration a 33% success rate at the tactical level, a doubling of failed
attacks (42%) in 2018 and a further downward figure of 25% success rate in
2019, can be read as a result of the progressive decrease in the operational
capability of terrorists and the increased reactivity of European security
forces. But if the analysis suggests a technical capability that has indeed
been reduced, it is also true that the improvised and unpredictable character
of the new individual and emulative terrorism has led to an increase in
successful actions, growing from 32% in 2020 to 44% in 2021. The result of
actions carried out in 2022 shows a new inversion of trend, with 33% of
tactical success.
The real success is at operational level: the “functional blockade”
Even when it fails, terrorism gains, in terms of the costs inflicted upon
its target: e.g. by engaging the armed forces and Police in an extraordinary
way, distracting them from normal routine activities and/or preventing them
from intervening in support of the community; by interrupting or overloading the
health services; by limiting, slowing down, diverting or stopping collective
urban, air and naval mobility; by restricting the regular course of daily personal,
commercial and professional activities, to the detriment of affected
communities and, moreover, by significantly reducing the technological advantage,
the operational potential and resilience; and finally, more in general, by
inflicting direct and indirect damage, regardless of the ability to cause
casualties. Consistently, the limitation in the freedom of citizens is a
measurable result that terrorism obtains through its actions.
In other words, terrorism is successful even in the absence of victims,
as it can still impose economic and social costs on the community and influence
the latter’s behaviour over time as a consequence of new security measures
aimed at safeguarding the community: this effect is what we call the
“functional blockade”.
The ever-decreasing operational capability of terrorism notwithstanding,
the “functional blockade” continues to be the most significant result
obtained by terrorists, regardless of tactical success (killing of at least one
target). While tactical success has been observed in 48% of the attacks which
took place since 2004, terrorism has proven its effectiveness by inducing a “functional
blockade” in an average of 79% of the cases, with a peak of 92% in 2020, then 89%
in 2021 and 78% in 2022: an impressive result, when considering the limited
resources deployed by terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is, no doubt, in favour of terrorism.
[1] Cfr. Dreher, A., Gassebner, M., Schaudt, P. (2017), The Effect of Migration on Terror – Made at
Home or Imported from Abroad?, CESIfo Working Paper, no. 6441, Center for
Economic Studies and Ifo Institute, Munich; and, Schmid, A.P. (2015), Links between Terrorism and Migration: an
Exploration, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – ICCT, The
Hague; and Leiken, R.S., Brooke, S. (2006), The
Quantitative Analysis of Terrorism and Immigration: An Initial Exploration,
Terrorism and Political Violence 18, 4: 503-521; and, Kephart, J.L., (2005), Immigration and Terrorism – Moving Beyond
the 9/11 Staff Report on Terrorist Travel, Washington: Centre for
Immigration Studies
The more complex scenarios of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation
Abstract Definitions, categories and the very idea of terrorism and violent extremism which informed strategies aimed and preventing and countering radicalisation over the past few years, and which focused mainly on the fight against jihadist mobilization and the Islamic State group, no longer mirror reality; or, at best, they fail to grasp it in its entirety. The current situation in the West is characterized by a variety of ideologies, beliefs, profiles and motivations which can be blurry and often overlap; which makes it all the more difficult to evaluate their extent, to predict associated risks and to trace the evolution of these phenomena.
An increasingly intricate reality Jihadist terrorism continues to represent the deadliest form of violence, both in Europe and globally. However, not only the analysts, but a 2022 Report by the UN Secretary-General too draws attention to an increase in attacks based on xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, or against minorities, in the name of religion or belief, as well as a growth in misogyny, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia (1). What worries Member States, in particular, is the transnational dimension of this threat, which can take shape thanks to online contacts and networks but also through participation in real-world meetings at joint events or even paramilitary training. The so-called ‘manifestos’, proper ideological legacies which attackers of different orientations leave behind, and in which they make reference to previous attackers and to massacres that have taken place in distant geographical areas, testify to a communality of themes and intent. The battle against propaganda is a particularly difficult one, due to the broad array of communication tools used by militants and sympathizers, including social, gaming and messaging platforms, alternative information channels and forums.
Further to that, political and economic tensions at the height of the COVID19 pandemic, mixed with personal vulnerabilities and predispositions, helped accelerate dissent or distrust of governments and institutions and contributed to the dissemination of conspiracy theories and disinformation, which make up the fabric of extremist narratives, promote radicalization and social encapsulation, can lead to violence against symbols and/or political representatives and quickly adapt to shifting scenarios, such as the war in Ukraine. Movements, sub-cultures and conspiracies which are typically American – such as accelerationism, sovereign citizens, incels (involuntary celibates) and QAnon – were progressively incorporated and adapted to the European landscape.
Data from the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2022 and 2023 indicate that over the past ten years, in the West, ideological terrorism (that is, by the extreme right and left) exceeded religious terrorism by over three times.
Profiles and objectives have expanded Most ideologically-motivated attacks are carried out by individuals who do not belong to formally (re) cognized groups, so much so that the GTI 2023 points out how, in several countries, the intelligence refrains from attributing them to the extreme right or left. Those who are attracted to extremism are increasingly younger, particularly in the UK, where teenagers under 15 feature in terrorism-related investigations (2) . However, researchers were able to observe further nuances, namely that when misogyny is concerned (in the case of incels, for example), subjects tend to be younger than those who are hostile to minorities (and harbor anti-immigration sentiments)(3). The Institute for Strategic Dialogue published an analysis in the aftermath of the attack on the Dover migrant center in 2022 (Comerford, Squirrel, Leenstra, Guhl), which underlines the importance of not focusing on a single trend: “the increasingly singular focus on ‘vulnerable’ younger terrorists has created a blind-spot for older perpetrators and the radicalisation of an older generation of people, statistically more likely to be involved in acts of terrorism, often driven by hatred towards various marginalised groups rather than a coherent ideology“(4).
In the case of jihadism as well, there’s a consolidated post-organisational trend in Europe, whereby attacks are carried out by single (yet not necessarily solitary) actors who can be motivated as much by solid ideology as by personal and mental problems leading to violence, whose actions tend to take the form of improvised events, with easily available ‘weapons’, ‘inspired’ (rather than claimed) and isolated, with respect to broader group goals. The numerous foiled attacks and arrests indicate that -the efficiency of law enforcement notwithstanding- this matrix is not fading at all but is rather constantly evolving. In its latest Report, Europol mentions that it has dismantled a series of groups intent on planning attacks with more complex modus operandi (TE-SAT 2022).
Such stratified scenario is therefore dynamic and unpredictable, characterized by the presence of opposing ideologies and motivations which reinforce each other, giving shape to so-called cumulative extremism (this is what happens, for example, between jihadism and the extreme right); or by groups and individuals with different beliefs, which in turn represent different levels of risk (not all are violent), united by a single, common stance – as in the case of the German anti-government and anti-democratic network Reichsbürger (with a presence in Austria, Switzerland, Italy), which rose to prominence in December 2022 following a raid, when some members were thought to be planning a coup. As Alexander Ritzmann writes in an analysis for West Point magazine CTC Sentinel “the only thing that connects them is the fundamental denial of the legitimacy of the German state. This is one of the main reasons why German authorities have a somewhat difficult time assessing their (changing) potential for violence and terrorist acts in comparison to more ideologically coherent, unified, and structured extremist movements” (5).
In such a composite reality, the range of targets also widens ad is potentially endless – from regular citizens in public spaces to places of worship, religious representatives, institutions and government figures, law enforcement and members of the armed forces, health personnel and authorities (for violent no-vax and COVID deniers), infrastructures (which are the object of sabotage and cyberattacks), teachers, women, minorities (including the LGBT+ community), migrant shelters and so on.
The challenges of prevention. Shifting themes and priorities Today, so-called “everyday extremists” can arise either in a context of “atmospheric jihadism” -as Prof. Gilles Kepel defines it- in which hate-mongers unleash (collective) anger against an objective – e.g. a person accused of blasphemy – with deadly outcomes, should a radicalized individual take the initiative; or in a context where radical propositions and attitudes gain visibility and traction on the web and social media, thanks to controversial and violent role models and influencers who can boast a large following among youth and adults (this is the case for misogyny or conspiracy), while conspiracy theories and disinformation make their way into mainstream discourse and -at times- into government, via the election of controversial political figures who espouse them. In a situation where the threat is not embodied solely by violent ideologies, but by violent rhetoric rooted in a more or less widespread mentality, prevention takes on a more prominent role; it requires a greater involvement on the part of civil society; and, finally, it must engage with a wider range of recipients than in the past.
Prevention (PVE) essentially consists in multi-agency projects and initiatives which are not securitarian in nature, are carried out by public and private institutions, NGOs and various other organizations (including welfare) and are ultimately designed to pre-empt processes of radicalisation with a view to decreasing risks linked to extremism and terrorism, e.g. by promoting social cohesion and supporting vulnerable people. In order to be attuned to current trends, PVE now requires a more diversified span of activities compared to those put in place at the height of the fight against jihadism, with new themes and shifting priorities.
Education and schools have long been considered (and rightly so) at the forefront in providing young people -who are increasingly exposed to a toxic virtual ecosystem- with valid defense tools such as technological know-how and critical thinking. However, this is only one side of the coin: despite the fact that, since the beginning of the pandemic, the Internet has been instrumental in facilitating radicalisation, research carried out on a sample of jihadists who sprang into action between 2014 and 2021 in 8 Western countries highlighted how those who radicalise offline still represent the majority and above all, a higher degree of danger -“those radicalised offline are greater in number, more successful in completing attacks and more deadly than those radicalised online”(6) . Such data draws attention to the importance of the context – be it domestic, social or local (the socalled community)- which has always been deemed crucial on the path to radicalisation, but is frequently underestimated.
Another study which was conducted in Spain by an internationl team and which was based, inter alia, on the brain scans of jihadists / sympathisers in different stages of radicalisation proved, on the one hand, that social exclusion represents an important factor in radicalisation -a process that essentially pushes the boundaries of mental flexibility towards inflexibility. Or towards a progressive propensity to “fight and die for one’s sacred values” (as this research highlights); on the other hand, it discovered how social influence can help disengage from violence, by ‘reactivating’ deliberate reasoning in areas of the brain that had previously been ‘turned off’ (7) .
Today, the tide seems to be changing as more and more minors – and adults alike – risk getting entangled in the meshes of online extremism; there’s also a need for more comparative studies, in order to better understand the peculiarities and similarities of different types of radicalisation. Yet, not losing sight of (re) socialization as an aspect which is inherent to these processes, is still paramount.
Furthermore, taking heed of the role of ‘grievances’ is just as crucial, since it’s on this cross-ideological element that extremist base their narratives, whether it’s in defence of masculinity, race, Islam or other issues. Prevention will therefore have to focus not only on encouraging critical thinking and providing counternarratives (whose effectiveness is disputed), but also on promoting alternative narratives, positive models and opportunities in the real world, following the social isolation which was brought about by the pandemic.
Notes 1. Terrorist attacks on the basis of xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief, Report of the Secretary-General, August 3, 2022.
2. The number of young people arrested on suspicion of terrorism related offences in the UK continues to rise, statistics reveal, News, Counter-Terrorism Policing, 9 March 2023
3. See: Roose, J., Interview on “Masculinity and Violent Extremism”, #ReaCT2023, pp. 128-129.
4. Comerford, M., Squirrell, T., Leenstra, D., and Guhl, J., What the UK Migrant Centre Attack Tells Us About Contemporary Extremism Trends, ISD, 14th November 2022
5. Ritzmann, A., “The December 2022 German Reichsbürger Plot to Overthrow the German Government”, CTC Sentinel, March 2023, Vol. 16, Issue 3
6. Hamid, N. and Ariza, C., Offline Versus Online Radicalisation: Which is the Bigger Threat?, Global Network on Extremism and Technology, February 2022)
7. Nafees Hamid discusses his research at lenght in: De-radicalizzazione. Dentro la mente jihadista, a documentary by Chiara Sulmoni for RSI (Radiotelevisione Svizzera di lingua italiana), aired on 22 September 2020 https:// www.startinsight.eu/en/laser-episode-discusses-de-radicalisation-and-studies-on-the-brain-of-jihadist-supportersswiss-national-radio/
#ReaCT2023
The 4th annual Report on Terrorism and Radicalisation in Europe by ReaCT – The Observatory is available in Pdf format and on Amazon as of 23 May
SIMTERRORISM – Modeling Religious Terrorism in Populations impacted by Climate Change
This volume examines the combined effects of risk propensity, relative deprivation, and social learning of deviance on the collective grievance within a religious population under the assumption of civil unrest caused by extreme climatic events. We designed an agent-based model to demonstrate how greater or lesser amounts of grievance towards political authority are likely to create an ideal en-vironment for organized violence to emerge when resources are threatened by climate change.
Scholars have tried to formulate a generally accepted definition of religious terrorism for almost four decades, but its investigation is still controversial, especially in the context of the emerging study of the political and social consequences of climatic events. This particular form of terrorism is nevertheless highly diffuse and observed to be coming from smaller clubs of radicalized individuals instead of main-stream religious groups. However, we find that doctrinal explanations appear irrelevant in explaining how terrorist cells emerge and organize themselves.
Switzerland: Two decades of terrorism trials.
by Ahmed Ajil, University of Lausanne (Switzerland) – Researcher, Criminologist
An overview of the cases tried by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court since 9/11
Although Switzerland has not experienced a large-scale
attack of the kind experienced in other European countries in the last decade,
the phenomenon of politico-ideological violence in the jihadist spectrum is nevertheless
present. In December 2021,
the Federal Intelligence
Service counted 41 so-called
“persons at risk” considered to be posing “a priority threat to
Switzerland’s internal and external security”. In the context of its
“jihad monitoring”, it also identified 714 people who were active
online (since 2012), showing sympathy for jihadist terrorist organisations by
disseminating propaganda or by talking to people who defend the ideology of
these groups. Since 9/11, 91 individuals have left Switzerland to join a
terrorist organisation in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Syria or Iraq.
Some people have returned, while others, now held by
Kurdish forces in Syria, are seeking to be actively repatriated, something the Federal
Council refuses to do.
While there are different ways to confront the terrorist
phenomenon, the use of criminal law constitutes the most obvious one. In its
2020 annual report,
the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (FPO) reported 35 pending criminal
investigations for terrorism in 2016, 34 in 2017, 30 in 2018, 31 in 2019 and 26
in 2020. In this short contribution, I would like to present a few findings
from a research project on the repression of terrorism by the Federal Criminal
Court (FCC), conducted together with my colleague Kastriot Lubishtani, of which
some results have recently been published in Jusletter (31 May 2021).
The FCC, operative since 2004, is the judicial authority
that is charged with the sentencing of terrorism-related offences. The few
criminal proceedings opened by the cantonal prosecution authorities are taken
over by the FPO and then judged by the TPF, except for those relating to
minors. Analysing the sentencing pattern of the FCC in this domain enables us
to gain quite a comprehensive view of the most severe cases which “make” it
through all stages of the so-called “crime funnel” (entonnoir pénal). At
this point, it is important to note that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (FPO)
can also single-handedly
sentence individuals as long as the punishment does not exceed six months of
liberty-deprivation. The FPO frequently resorts to this option, but given that
these verdicts are, in principle, not accessible to the public, they are not
accounted for here.
From a
legal perspective, there are mainly two provisions that are applied to
terrorism-related offences. One of them is article 260ter of the
Swiss Criminal Code which criminalises the support of and participation in
criminal organisations (a term that includes terrorist groups). The other one
is the Federal Law prohibiting the organisations Islamic State and Al-Qaida and
related groups (in short: IS/AQ-Law), which entered into force on 1 January
2015.
We collected all sentences related to these two provisions
and then selected only those related to terrorism. The only form of terrorism
handled by the FCC since its inception in 2004 is jihadism-inspired terrorism.
Since the publication of our article in May 2021, two hearings took place and
led to convicting three (3) individuals in total, which I am including in this
contribution.
The
numbers
Since
2004 and until November 2021, the TPF has tried a total of 17 criminal
proceedings related to jihadist terrorism cases. Most of these proceedings took
place after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and the subsequent territorial
expansion of the group IS in June 2014. In fact, three (3) proceedings were
conducted between 2004 and 2014 with eleven (11) persons formally indicted
during this period, while there were fourteen (14) proceedings and twenty-one (21)
persons tried by the TPF between 2014 and 2020. The language of proceedings was
German in twelve (12) of the proceedings conducted in Bellinzona, while French
was used three (3) times and Italian twice (2).
These
proceedings are relatively complex, which is reflected in the length of the
pre-trial proceedings, as well as in their costs. On average, 882 days, or
almost 2.5 years, elapsed between the initiation of criminal proceedings
against an accused person and his or her indictment. The direct costs related
to the investigation, the defence and the court hearing reached up to 800’000
Swiss Francs for a single case.
Across
the 17 procedures, a total of 32 individuals appeared before the Federal
Criminal Court. This means that in several proceedings – more precisely, seven
(7) – several persons were tried. Specifically, four (4) proceedings involved
two (2) persons, while the remaining three (3) proceedings involved three (3)
persons, four (4) persons and the last one involved seven (7) persons. In each
of the remaining ten (10) proceedings, only one (1) person was indicted.
The
overwhelming majority of the terrorism cases brought before the FCC led to
convictions. In total, 30 individuals were convicted by the FCC and two (2)
persons were acquitted of all charges. As of 20 November 2021, there are
twenty-one (21) final and enforceable convictions. Of these, six (6) persons
were eventually not convicted in relation to terrorism-related offences. Hence,
to date, there have been 24 convictionsfor terrorism-related
offences, of which fifteen (15) are final and nine (9) are pending.
Who
are the Swiss terrorists?
Thirty
(30) accused were men, while one (1) woman was charged as a co-defendant and
one (1) as main defendant. Twelve (12) of the accused were Swiss nationals, seven
(7) of whom had dual citizenship. Of these, one (1) Turkish-Swiss dual national
was subjected to a citizenship stripping, confirmed by the Federal Administrative
Court in 2021. Nine (9) defendants had a residence permit. Ten (10) defendants
were asylum seekers. Seven (7) of them had their asylum applications pending and
three (3) had been provisionally admitted. One (1) defendant had never resided
in Switzerland but was staying there at the time of her arrest.
The
overwhelming majority, i.e., twenty-six (26) persons had no previous criminal
record. This fact raises doubts regarding the pertinence of the crime-terror
nexus hypothesis for the Swiss context. The other six (6) persons had been
convicted of various offences under the Road Traffic Act in the case of three
(3) of them, under the Weapons Act in the case of one (1) defendant, and for
breach of a maintenance obligation in the case of another (1) defendant.
Finally, one (1) of the defendants had been convicted on several occasions for
illegal entry, threats, and coercion.
Nineteen
(19) of the defendants were unemployed and dependent on social assistance at
the time of the judgment. Five (5) defendants had no taxable income and were in
debt. In addition, three (3) defendants were employed and had a regular monthly
income at the time of the sentence. Finally, the economic situation of the remaining
five (5) defendants is unknown. These observations provide some evidence for
the pertinence of the biographical availability hypothesis, which
suggests that a lack of structure and occupation may facilitate engagement for
high-risk activism or illegal causes.
Of the
thirty (30) convicted persons (twenty-one (21) final convictions and nine (9)
pending convictions), custodial sentences were handed down in twenty-five (25)
cases, with an additional financial penalty in four (4) of these cases. Nine
(9) of the custodial sentences were conditional and six (6) were partially conditional,
which means that ten (10) entirely unconditional custodial sentences were pronounced.
In five (5) cases, the FCC imposed only pecuniary sentences, of which two (2)
were conditional.
The
most lenient punishment was a conditional 25-day fine at CHF 100 per day. The
most severe punishment was a custodial sentence of 70 months, coupled with a
15-year ban on entering the country.
What
are “terrorist activities” in the Swiss context?
In
terms of the nature of the criminal acts committed, one notes that since 2001,
no acts of terrorist violence have been committed on Swiss soil and brought
before the Federal Criminal Court (the attacks of Morges and Lugano in 2020
still being under investigation).
When focusing
on the 24 convictions for terrorism-related offences (6 convictions did not end
up concerning terrorism-related offences), one notices that the acts that were
prosecuted in relation to jihadist terrorism were mainly related to activities
on Internet platforms. Two (2) proceedings involving a total of four (4)
persons concerned the operation of Internet sites containing propaganda
material, such as photos and videos, as well as comments glorifying the leaders
of major jihadist terrorist organisations such as Osama Bin Laden. Three (3)
people were recently convicted in connection with the production of a filmed
interview with a jihadist rebel in the Syrian conflict, Abdullah Al-Muhaysini. For
seven (7) of the convicted persons, the charges were limited exclusively to
activities on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and messaging
applications such as WhatsApp and Telegram, consisting of sending and/or
sharing videos, images and comments, and in one case translating media
communications of jihadist groups.
In
some cases, the activity was mainly taking place in the digital realm, but
individuals were convicted of being part of a network. In one conviction of (3)
men, the case was opened on suspicion of a potential attack, but in the end, they
were only convicted for their activities on social networks. In one (1) case, the single defendant was
convicted of maintaining contacts with persons abroad affiliated with terrorist
organisations, but also of encouraging a person in Lebanon to carry out an
attack against Hezbollah or the US military.
The
most physical acts were attempts to travel to combat zones or activities
related to foreign fighting: Four (4) people were charged for attempting to
travel to the Syrian-Iraqi territory to join IS, one (1) for joining an armed
group in Syria and recruiting others, and another one (1) for practicing proselytism
in Switzerland and providing logistic support for foreign fighters in Turkey.
In
conclusion, it appears that out of the 24 individuals who were convicted by the
FCC for terrorism-related offences, 18 convicted individuals were engaged in
exclusively or predominantly digital activities, while six (6) mobilised
physically to support terrorist groups. It important to note that although they
were more physically involved than others, their activities on social media and
via messaging platforms, that were occurring alongside, were aspects of
essential relevance for their conviction.
Gradual
widening of the net
Legally
speaking, individuals were primarily convicted for supporting criminal
organisations or AQ/IS-affiliated groups. Only three individuals were convicted
for participating in a terror group. This can be explained by two
things. On the one hand, it is difficult to prove membership and participation
in the loosely organised networks and groups that characterise the jihadist
phenomenon after 9/11. On the other hand, the analysis of the cases in question
makes it clear that, compared with the quite restrictive definition of
participation, the notion of support is a very large one and has come to
mean basically any activity that can be considered as putting a terrorist
organisation in a favourable light. By way of example, one individual was partly
convicted for posting an image on Facebook of a functioning hospital in a zone
controlled by the group IS to show that infrastructures are not all damaged
under the terror group’s reign. In another case, an individual was convicted
for sending three propaganda images via Whatsapp to another person. It is
therefore barely surprising that most of the cases lead to convictions for the
rather loosely treated notion of support.
The
Swiss anti-terror dispositif’s evolution is also part of a larger trend,
bolstered by the attacks of 9/11, to expand the applicability of criminal legal
frameworks into the pre-criminal sphere, thereby widening the penal net in
relation to acts that are considered to fall under the umbrella of
terrorism-related activities. This is understandable from a political
perspective but poses a number of challenges from a legal and ethical
perspective. In fact, the preventive turn of Swiss anti-terror laws and the way
they are applied leads authorities to investigate and sentence acts that are
increasingly detached from the actual act of violence that is sought to be
prevented. In an increasingly pre-criminal sphere, it is impossible to
cover the entirety of punishable acts and therefore differential and unequal treatment
becomes more likely. These aspects need to be considered when thinking about
future ways to strengthen and expand anti-terror efforts in the Swiss context.
Two decades of terrorism trials in Switzerland #ReaCT2022
An overview of the cases tried by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court since 9/11
A discussion with Ahmed Ajil, criminologist and researcher at the University of Lausanne. This is episode 6 of a series that our Swiss-Italian think tank dedicates to the Annual Report on Terrorism and Radicalisation in Europe #ReaCT2022 In 20 minutes, #ReaCT2022 authors introduce their analyses and elaborate on the most relevant aspects The publication is available in two languages (Italian and English)
New Insurrectional Terrorism ignites individual terrorism in Europe
by Claudio Bertolotti
From Africa to Afghanistan: Europe looks with concern at jihadist exaltation
The Islamic State no longer has the strength to
dispatch terrorists to Europe as the loss of territory, financial strenght and
recruits reduced its operational capability to zero. However, the threat
remains significant due to the availability and action of lone actors, self-starters
driven by emulation without a direct link to the organization.
While on the ideological level the Islamic State
remains the main jihadist threat, it is however unlikely that it will be able
to replicate the overwhelming appeal the “Caliphate” enjoyed in the
2014-2017 period, as it lost the advantage of novelty, which constituted its
strength, particularly with younger people. In addition, both from a legislative
and operational perspective, Europe has been able to significantly reduce its own
vulnerabilities, although there were greater achievements in terms of counter-terrorism
rather than prevention. On the whole, however, the scenario remains uncertain due
to the risks connected to copycat attacks (“effetto
emulativo” in Italian) and the “call to war” issued in relation to
international events, which can mobilise individuals in the name of jihad. The
most important event which occured in 2021 that has provided and will continue
to provide impetus with respect to transnational jihad is the success of the
Taliban in Afghanistan as, on the one hand, it feeds jihadist propaganda via
the underlying message that “victory results from fighting to the bitter
end”; on the other hand, it fuels a competition between jihadist groups
engaged in exclusively local forms of struggle and resistance and those which,
like the Islamic State, understand and promote jihad solely as an means of
fighting to the bitter end on a global level.
In this overall and constantly evolving picture, we
must pay attention to growing extremist forces in some areas of Africa, specifically
in sub-Saharan Africa, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and, furthermore, in Rwanda
and Mozambique, in order to counter the rise of new “caliphates” or
“wilayats” that could directly threaten Europe.
In its prolific jihadist propaganda, the Islamic
State boasts of its spread throughout the African continent and emphasizes
how the goal of countering the presence and spread of Christianity will lead
the group to expand into other areas of the continent. In the Maghreb, Mashreq
and Afghanistan, the activities of the Islamic State are centered around the
intra-Muslim sectarian struggle, while in Africa its presence imposes itself as
part of a conflict between Muslims and Christians with the help of propaganda
insisting on the need to stop the conversion of Muslims to Christianity by
“missionaries”, and under the “pretext” of humanitarian
aid. Within this context, there’s no
shortage of violence taking place; kidnappings and murders of religious
missionaries, attacks against NGOs and international missions from Burkina Faso
to Congo, and attacks on Christian villagers, especially during Christmas and
New Year’s holidays.
A drop in attacks,
but the threat of terrorism persists
Over the past three years, from a quantitative
perspective, the frequency of terrorist attacks
remained linear. From 2017 to 2020, 457 attacks took place in the European
Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, including failed and foiled attacks:
from 2014 to 2017, their number stood at 895.
In 2020, there were 119 attacks -including 62 in the
UK and 2 in Switzerland-. According to Europol (TeSat 2020) 43% of those are attributed to radical left-wing
movements (with a decrease from 26 to 25); 24% to separatist and
ethno-nationalist groups; 7% to far-right groups (compared to 2019, there was
an increase in percentage yet they decreased in absolute term); 26% are
jihadist actions. Although jihadist violence is marginal compared to the total
number of actions motivated by other ideologies, it
remains the most relevant and dangerous in terms of results, the victims it causes
-from 16 victims in 2020 to 13 in 2021- and direct effects.
In the wake of major terror events linked to the
Islamic State group in Europe, 165 jihadist actions have taken place from 2014
to 2021, according to START InSight’s database; of those, 34 were explicitly
claimed by the Islamic State; they were perpetrated by 219 terrorists (63 were
killed in action); 434 victims lost their lives and 2,473 were injured.
The number of jihadist events recorded in 2021 stands
at 18, down slightly from the 25 attacks of the previous year, but with an
increase in the percentage of “emulative” actions – meaning, actions inspired
by other attacks that occured over the previous days-; from 48% in 2020, they rose
to 56% in 2021 (in 2019, they stood at 21%). 2021 also confirmed the
predominance of individual, un-organized, mainly improvised and unsuccessful
actions that progressively replaced the structured and coordinated actions which
had characterized the European urban “battlefield” in the years from 2015
to 2017.
The “European” terrorists
Active
terrorism is a male prerogative: out of 207 attackers, 97% are male (7 are
women); unlike in 2020, when there were 3 female attackers, 2021 did not record
the active participation of women.
The
median age of the 207 terrorists (male and female) is 26: a figure which varies
over time (from 24 years of age in 2016, to 30 in 2019). The biographical data
of 169 individuals for whom we have complete information allow us to draw a
very interesting picture which tells us that 10% are younger than 19, 36% are
between 19 and 26, 39% are between 27 and 35 and, finally, 15% are older than
35.
88%
of the attacks (where we have complete information) were carried out by second
and third-generation “immigrants” and first-generation immigrants,
both legal and irregular.
Of
the 154 out of 207 terrorists analyzed through START InSight’s database, 45%
are legal immigrants; 24% are descendants of immigrants (second or third
generation); 19% are irregular immigrants; this last figure is growing, rising
to 25% in 2020 and doubling to 50% in 2021. The presence of an 8% of citizens
of European origin who have converted to Islam is significant. Overall, 77% of
terrorists are regular residents of Europe, while the role of irregular
immigrants stands out with a ratio of about 1 for every 6 terrorists. In 4% of
the attacks, children/minors (7) were found to be among the attackers.
The ethno-national map of terrorism in Europe
The
phenomenon of jihadist radicalization in Europe afflicts certain
national/ethnic groups more than others. There is a proportional relationship
between the main immigrant groups and terrorists, as it seems to appear from the
nationality of the terrorists, or of the families of origin, which is in line
with the size of foreign communities in Europe. The Maghrebi origins prevail:
the ethno-national groups mainly affected by jihadist adherence are Moroccan
(in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy) and Algerian (in France).
Increase in recidivism and individuals already known to
intelligence
The
role played by repeat offenders – individuals already convicted of terrorism
who carry out violent actions at the end of their prison sentence and, in some
cases, in prison – is prominent; they accounted for 3% of the terrorists in
2018 (1 case), then rose to 7% (2) in 2019, to 27% (6) in 2020, and were down
to a single case in 2021. This seems to confirm the social danger represented
by individuals who, in the face of a prison sentence, tend to postpone the
conduct of terrorist actions; this evidence points to a potential increase in
terrorist acts over the coming years, coinciding with the release of most terrorists
currently detained.
Parallel
to repeat offenders, START InSight found another significant trend, which is related
to actions carried out by terrorists already known to European law enforcement
or intelligence agencies: they account for 44% and 54% of the total in 2021 and
2020 respectively, compared to 10% in 2019 and 17% in 2018.
There
is a certain stability related to participation in terrorist actions by
individuals with a prison history (including those detained for non-terrorist
offenses) with a figure of 23% in 2021, slightly down from the previous year
(33% in 2020) but in line with 2019 (23% in 2019, 28% in 2018 and 12% in 2017);
this confirms the hypothesis that sees prisons as places of radicalization.
Is the offensive capacity of terrorism being reduced?
In
order to draw a precise picture of terrorism, one needs to analyse the three
levels on which terrorism itself develops and operates, and that is the strategic,
the operational and the tactical. Strategy consists in the employment of combat
for the purpose of war; tactics is the employment of troops for the purpose of
battle; the operational level is between these two. This is a simple summary which
underlines an essential feature: that is, the employment of fighters.
Success
at the strategic level is marginal
16%
of the actions were successful at the strategic level, as they brought about
structural consequences consisting in a blockade of national and/or
international air/rail traffic, mobilization of the armed forces, far-reaching
legislative interventions. This is a very high figure, in consideration of the
limited organizational and financial capabilities of the groups and lone
attackers. The trend over the years has been uneven, but it highlighted a
progressive reduction in capability and effectiveness: 75% of strategic success
was recorded in 2014, 42% in 2015, 17% in 2016, 28% in 2017, 4% in 2018, 5% in
2019, 12% in 2020 and 6% in 2021. Overall, attacks garnered international media
attention 79% of the time, 95% domestically, while organized and structured
commando and team-raid actions received full media attention. An evident, as
much as sought after, media success that may have significantly affected the
recruitment campaign of aspiring martyrs or jihad fighters, whose numerical
magnitude remains high in correspondence with periods of heightened terrorist
activity (2016-2017).But while it is true that mass media amplification has positive
effects on recruitment, it is also true that this attention tends to diminish
over time, due to two main reasons: the first, is the prevalence of
low-intensity actions over high-intensity actions – which have been decreasing
– and on low- and medium-intensity actions – which increased significantly from
2017 to 2021. The second, is that public opinion is increasingly inured to
terroristic violence and consequently less ‘touched’, particularly by
“low” and “medium intensity” events.
The tactical level is worrisome, but it is not
the priority of terrorism
Assuming that the aim of terrorist attacks consists in killing
at least one enemy (in 35% of the cases, the targets are security forces), this
aim has been achieved over the period from 2004 to 2021 on average in 50% of
the cases. However, it should be taken into account that the large time frame tends
to affect the margin of error; the trend over the 2014-2021 period, hints at a decline
in the results of terrorism, with a prevalence of low-intensity attacks and an
increase in actions with a failed outcome at least until 2019. The results of
the last six years in particular, show that success at a tactical level was
obtained, in 2016, in 31% of the cases (against 6% of formally unsuccessful
acts), while 2017 recorded a success rate of 40% and a failure rate of 20%. An
overall trend that, when taking into consideration a 33% success rate at the tactical
level, a doubling of failed attacks (42%) in 2018 and a further downward figure
of 25% success rate in 2019, can be read as a result of the progressive
decrease in the operational capability of terrorists and the increased
reactivity of European security forces. But if the analysis suggests a
technical capability that has indeed been reduced, it is also true that the
improvised and unpredictable character of the new individual and emulative
terrorism has led to an increase in successful actions, growing from 32% in
2020 to 44% in 2021.
The real success is at operational level. The
“functional blockade”
Even
when it fails, terrorism gains, in terms of the costs inflicted upon its
target: e.g. by engaging the armed forces and Police in an extraordinary way,
distracting them from normal routine activities and/or preventing them from
intervening in support of the community; by interrupting or overloading the
health services; by limiting, slowing down, diverting or stopping collective
urban, air and naval mobility; by restricting the regular course of daily personal,
commercial and professional activities, to the detriment of affected
communities and, moreover, by significantly reducing the technological
advantage, the operational potential and resilience; and finally, more in
general, by inflicting direct and indirect damage, regardless of the ability to
cause casualties. Consistently, the limitation in the freedom of citizens is a
measurable result that terrorism obtains through its actions.
In
other words, terrorism is successful even in the absence of victims, as it can
still impose economic and social costs on the community and influence the
latter’s behaviour over time as a consequence of new security measures aimed at
safeguarding the community: this effect is what we call the “functional
blockade”.
The
ever-decreasing operational capability of terrorism notwithstanding, the
“functional blockade” continues to be the most significant result
obtained by terrorists, regardless of tactical success (killing of at least one
target). While tactical success has been observed in 34% of the attacks which
took place since 2004, terrorism has proven its effectiveness by inducing a “functional
blockade” in an average of 82% of the cases, with a peak of 92% in 2020 and 89%
in 2021: an impressive result, when considering the limited resources deployed
by terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is, no doubt, in favour of terrorism.
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