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Revision as of 18:59, 16 February 2011

See also: Anarchist terrorism and Eco-terrorism
Part of a series on
Terrorism
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State terrorism
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Response to terrorism

Left-wing terrorism, sometimes called Marxist-Leninist terrorism or revolutionary/left-wing terrorism is a tactic used to overthrow capitalism and replace it with Marxist-Leninist or socialist government.[1][2]

Although South American groups that engaged in left-wing terrorism drew local support, they also drew support from the Soviet Union and Cuba.[1] After the fall of the Soviet Union, there has been a marked decrease in left-wing, communist terrorism.[4]

Ideology

Left-wing terrorists view the governments they oppose as authoritarian, exploitive and corrupt, and emphasize idealism, pacificism and anti-imperialism. Their ideology is heavily influenced by Marxist and other communist and socialist thought.[2] Narodnaya Volya,[dubious – discuss] a 19th century terrorist group that killed tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1881,[5] and developed the concept of propaganda by the deed is a major influence.[6]

History

Modern left-wing terrorism developed following the political unrest of 1968. In Western Europe, notable groups included the West German Red Army Faction (RAF), the Italian Red Brigades, the French Action Directe (AD), and the Belgian Communist Combatant Cells (CCC). Asian groups included the Japanese Red Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, although the latter organization later transformed into nationalist terrorist. In Latin America, groups that became actively involved in terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s included the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, the Peruvian Shining Path, and the Columbian 19th of April Movement.[1]

Modern left-wing terrorist groups in the United States developed from remnants of the Weather Underground, the Black Panthers and extremist elements of the Students for a Democratic Society. During the 1980s both the May 19th Communist Organization (M19CO) and the smaller United Freedom Front were active. After 1985, following the dismantling of both groups, there were no confirmed acts of left-wing terrorism by similar groups.[7]

Organizations

The organizations listed below engaged in left-wing terrorism.

Western Europe

In "Western Europe's red terrorists", Dennis A. Pluchinsky identified the following eight organizations as the most significant and notorious "fighting communist organizations" that have operated in Western Europe since the 1970s: Red Army Faction, Communist Combatant Cells, Direct action, Red Brigades, First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups, Revolutionary Organization 17 November, Popular Forces 25 April, and the Revolutionary Left. These organizations are typically small and urban-based, committed to overthowing their countries' governments and replacing them with regimes guided by Marxist-Leninist ideology. Although none have achieved any degree of success in accomplishing their goals, they have caused serious security problems in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Greece, France, Turkey, Portugal and Spain.[8]

Red Army Faction (RAF)

The Red Army Faction, was one of postwar West Germany's most active and prominent militant communist terror groups.[9] The group was a successor to the Baader Meinhoff Gang.[9] It was formally founded in 1970 by Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler, Ulrike Meinhof, Irmgard Möller and others.

The Red Army Faction operated from the 1970s to 1998, committing numerous crimes, especially in the autumn of 1977, which led to a national crisis that became known as "German Autumn". It was responsible for 34 deaths, including many secondary targets such as chauffeurs and bodyguards, and many injuries in its almost 30 years of existence.

Communist Combatant Cells

The Communist Combatant Cells was a Belgian terrorist organization committed to a Communist ideology. They were active for fewer than two years in the mid-1980s; primarily engaged in bombings within Belgium's borders. While the group was based in Belgium, their targets and goals were predominantly international. CCC attacked perceived enemies of communism, specifically the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), US and international business firms, and the Federation of Belgian Enterprises. The Cellules Communistes Combattantes primarily targeted property rather than human representatives of capitalism, NATO, etc., and warned authorities ahead of an attack. Nevertheless, CCC bombings led to several injuries and two deaths. In December 1985, police arrested CCC leader and founder Pierre Carette, and others, in an American-styled burger restaurant. His murder conviction on 14 January 1986 essentially eliminated the CCC. The Cellules Communistes Combattantes has not been active since 1985. Pierre Carette became a free man again in February 2003.

In 2008, Pierre Carette and Bertrand Sassoye were arrested again on parole violations and connections to the Italian terrorist group Partito Comunista Politico-Militare.[10]

Direct Action

Direct action (AD) was a French revolutionary group that committed a series of assassinations and violent attacks in France between 1979 and 1987.[citation needed] Members of Action directe considered themselves libertarian communist[citation needed] who had formed an "urban guerrilla organization". The French government banned the group.[11]

Red Brigades

The Red Brigades were founded in August 1970 mostly by former members of the Communist Youth movement expelled from the parent party for extremist views.[12] It was the largest terrorist group in Italy whose aim was to overthrow the government and replace it with a communist system.[13]

First of October Anti-Fascist resistance Groups (GRAPO)

The First of October Anti-Fascist resistance Groups were a Maoist terrorist group in Spain [14]

November 17

Revolutionary Organization 17 November (also known as 17N or N17) is Marxist terrorist organization formed in 1973 in Greece, recognized as a terrorist organization by the Greek State, the US and international law enforcement",[15][16][17] and believed by many to be have been disbanded in 2002 after the arrest and trial of a number of its members.[citation needed] During its heyday, the urban guerrilla group assassinated 23 people in 103 attacks on U.S., diplomatic and Greek targets.[citation needed] Greek authorities believe spin-off terror groups are still in operation, including Revolutionary Struggle, the group that allegedly fired a rocket propelled grenade at the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007.[citation needed]

Popular Forces 25 April

Popular Forces 25 April was a far-left armed organization operating in Portugal between 1980 and 1987.[18] Some of its members had previously been active in the "Brigadas Revolucionárias" (English: Revolutionary Brigades), an armed group with links to the Partido Revolucionário do Proletariado (English: Revolutionary Party of the Proletariat). A total of 18 people were killed by the FP-25 as a result of armed attacks, bombings and confrontations with the police during bank robberies and escape attempts. Judgment for these crimes was never fully carried out due to legal prescription and granted amnesties. The main figure of the FP-25 was Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, a leading figure of the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) which was responsible for the Carnation Revolution military coup on April 25, 1974. Saraiva de Carvalho served several years in prison before being released during an amnesty.

Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front

The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front, is a militant Marxist-Leninist party in Turkey. It is in the terrorist organization lists in the U.S., the UK and the EU. The organisation is listed among the 12 active terrorist organisation in Turkey as of 2007 according to Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security (Turkish police).[19]

It also appears as one of the 44 names in the current U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations,[20] 48 groups and entities to which European Union's Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism applies[21] and 45 international terrorist organisations in the list of Proscribed Terrorist Groups of the UK Home Office.[22]

Westen Europe nationalists

Main article: Nationalist terrorism

ETA

ETA is a Marxist-Leninist paramilitary Basque nationalist organization.[23][24] In 1965, the sixth Assembly of ETA adopted a Marxist-Leninist position; its precise political line has varied with time, although they have always advocated some type of socialism. Like the nationalist movement in Ireland, in ETA nationalism predominated over communism, but they did accept Soviet support[25] ETA has committed approximately 900 killings and dozens of kidnappings.[citation needed] More than 500 ETA militants are held in prison in Spain and France.[citation needed] On March 22, 2006 the organization declared a "permanent ceasefire." ETA broke the ceasefire with a car bomb attack on December 30, 2006 at Barajas International Airport, Madrid killing two Ecuadorians.[citation needed]

Latin America

In The new dimension of international terrorism, Stefan M. Audrey identified the Sandinistas, Shining Path, 19th of April Movement, and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as the main organizations involved in left-wing terrorism in Latin America during the 1970s-1980s. These organizations were anti-American and drew local support, although they also received support from the Soviet Union and Cuba.[1]

Shining Path

The Communist Party of Peru, more commonly known as the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), is a Maoist guerrilla organization in Peru that launched the internal conflict in Peru in 1980. Widely condemned for its brutality, including violence deployed against peasants, trade union organizers, popularly elected officials and the general civilian population,[26] Shining Path is on the U.S. Department of State's "Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations" list.[27] Peru, the European Union,[28] and Canada[29] likewise regard Shining Path as a terrorist group and prohibit providing funding or other financial support. The actions of the Shining Path claimed between 25,000 and 30,000 lives, of these more than 1,000 were children.[30]

FARC

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is a Marxist-Leninist organization in Colombia which has employed vehicle bombings, gas cylinder bombs, killings, landmines, kidnapping, extortion, hijacking, as well as guerilla and conventional military. The United States Department of State includes the FARC-EP on its list of foreign terrorist organizations, as does the European Union. It funds itself primarily through extortion, kidnapping and their participation in the illegal drug trade.[31][32] Many of their fronts enlist new and underage recruits by force, distribute propaganda and, more importantly, pillage local banks. Businesses operating in rural areas, including agricultural, oil, and mining interests, were required to pay "vaccines" (monthly payments) which "protected" them from subsequent attacks and kidnappings. An additional, albeit less lucrative, source of revenue was highway blockades where guerrillas stopped motorists and buses in order to confiscate jewelry and money. An estimated 20-30 percent of FARC combatants are under 18 years old, with many as young as 12 years old, for a total of around 5000 children.[33]), Children who try to escape the ranks of the guerrillas are punished with torture and death.[33][34]

Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP)

The People's Revolutionary Army (Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo), was the military branch of the communist PRT (Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, or Workers' Revolutionary Party) in Argentina. The avowed aim of the ERP was a communist armed revolution against the Argentine government in pursuit of "proletarian rule" and socialist revolution and then spread to all Latin America.

United States

May 19th Communist Organization

The May 19 Communist Organization, also referred to as the May 19 Communist Coalition, was a US-based, self-described revolutionary organization formed by splintered-off members of the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army.[35] The M19CO name was derived from the birthdays of Ho Chi Minh and Malcolm X. The May 19 Communist Organization was active from 1978 to 1985. It also included members of the Black Panthers and the Republic of New Africa (RNA).[36] [37] The group was originally known as the New York chapter of the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee (PFOC), an organization devoted to legally promoting the causes of the Weather Underground.[citation needed]

This alliance between the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army had three objectives:

  • 1. Free political prisoners in US prisons
  • 2. Appropriate capitalist wealth (armed robberies) to fund the third stage, and
  • 3. Initiate a series of bombings and terrorist attacks [36]

    • Asia

    In The new dimension of international terrorism, Stefan M. Audrey identified the Japanese Red Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as the main left-wing terrorist organizations in Asia, although he noted that the LTTE later transformed into a nationalist terrorist organization.[1]

    Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine

    In 1969, a faction of the left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) broke away from the main organization to form the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDFLP). The PDFLP was headed by Secretary-General Nayef Hawatmeh, who had been referred to as a leader of the PFLP's Maoist tendency. He believed that the PFLP had become, under the guidance of George Habash, too focused on military matters, and wanted to make the PDFLP a more grassroots and more ideologically focused organization.

    In 1974, the same year as the PDFLP changed its name into the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), it acted as a strong supporter of the 1974 Ten Point Program. This document, which was accepted by the Palestinian National Council (PNC) after lobbying by Fatah and DFLP, cautiously introduced the concept of a two-state solution in the PLO, and caused a split in the organization leading to the formation of the Rejectionist Front, where radical organizations such as the PFLP, PFLP-GC, Palestine Liberation Front and others gathered with the backing of Syria, Libya and Iraq to oppose Arafat and PLO moderation.

    In 1974 the organization perpetrated a major terror attack in Israel, when attacking a local elementary school in the village of Ma'a lot. Taking the school-kids for hostage, 22 children aged 14–16 years-old were killed when an army commando engaged them.

    In 1978 the DFLP temporarily switched sides and joined the Rejectionist Front after clashing with Arafat on several issues, but it would continue to serve as a mediator in the factional disputes of the PLO. In the tense situation leading up to the 1983 Fatah rebellion, during the Lebanese Civil War, DFLP offered mediation to prevent the Syrian-backed formation of a rival Fatah leadership under Said al-Muragha (Abu Musa), the Fatah al-Intifada faction. Its efforts ultimately failed, and the PLO became embroiled what was in effect a Palestinian civil war.

    Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist

    The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has been responsible for hundreds of attacks on government and civilian targets. After the UPF's Maoist wing (CPN-M) performed poorly in elections and was excluded from the election of 1994. The Maoists then turned to insurgency in order to overthrow Nepal's monarchy, parliamentary democracy and change Nepalese society, including a purge of the nation's elite class, a state takeover of private industry, and collectivization of agriculture.[38][39]

    In Nepal attacks against civilian populations occurred as part of Maoist strategy - Amnesty International states:

    The CPN (Maoist) has consistently targeted private schools, which it ideologically opposes. On the 14 April 2005 the CPN (Maoist) demanded that all private schools shut down, although this demand was withdrawn on 28 April. Following this demand, it bombed two schools in western Nepal on 15 April, a school in Nepalganj, Banke district on 17 April and a school in Kalyanpur, Chitwan on 21 April. CPN (Maoist) cadres also reportedly threw a bomb at students taking classes in a school in Khara, Rukum district.[40]

    Until recently, the Maoist insurgency had been fighting against the Royal Nepalese Army and other supporters of the monarchy. They have since been elected to power in national elections and began implementing reforms as the legitimate government of Nepal.[citation needed]

    Communist Party of India (Maoist) and Naxalites

    Armed Naxalite groups in India operate across large parts of the central and eastern rural regions of the country. Informed by the People's War strategy of Maoism, the most prominent of the groups is the Communist Party of India (Maoist), formed through the merging of two previous Naxalite organizations, the People's War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC). Armed Naxalite movements are considered India's largest internal security threat.[41] Naxalite Communists have engaged in numerous terrorist attacks and human rights violations in India's Red Corridor.[42][43]

    A Frontline Cover Story calls the Bhamragad Taluka where the Madia Gond Adivasis live, the heart of the naxalite-affected region in Maharashtra.[44]

    Communist Party of the Philippines

    The Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army (CPP/NPA) is a paramilitary group fighting of Maoist ideology (Preamble, Constitution of the Communist Party of the Philippines, 1968)[45] fighting for communist revolution in the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA fights a "protracted people's war" as the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The NPA is classified as a terrorist organization by the Philippine Government, the US[46] , EU[47] and other countries. The NPA's targets often include politicians, military, police, criminals, landlords, business owners and occasionally U.S. agents in the Philippines. Before the Second Rectification Movement, wherein certain "errors" were being rectified, the group conducted a purge, killing thousands of partisans and members on accusations of being deep penetration agent by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine intelligence community. Former NPA fighter Robert Francis Garcia chronicled the wild murders in his book To Suffer Thy Comrades and organized the Peace Advocates for Truth, Healing and Justice (PATH), a group composed of survivors of the "purges" and the families of victims and their friends and supporters.

    Out of that rectification movement, the party was split into two, the "Reaffirmists", who uphold the "protracted people's war" and the "mass line"; while the "Rejectionists", who rejects the basic tenets of the party. The latter faction was also known for initiating the mass purges, especially against alleged deep penetration agents before the rectification of errors inside the party system.

    Notes

    1. ^ a b c d e Aubrey, pp. 44-45
    2. ^ a b Moghadam, p.56
    3. ^ Martin, Gus (2009). Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues. SAGE. pp. 223–224. ISBN 9781412970594. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
    4. ^ Wills, David C., The first war on terrorism: counter-terrorism policy during the Reagan administration, p. 219, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003
    5. ^ "Trial of the Czar's Assassins". Wanganui Herald. Vol. XV, no. 4132. United Press Association. 7 May 1881. p. 2.
    6. ^ Moghadam, p. 50
    7. ^ Smith, pp. 24-25
    8. ^ Plushinsky, p. 16
    9. ^ a b Kushner, Harvey W., Encyclopedia of terrorism, p. 148, Sage 2003
    10. ^ CCC: 5 interpellations en Belgique, 2008-06-05, retrieved 2008-06-08 Template:Language icon
    11. ^ "Europe wary of banning parties". BBC News. 28 August 2002. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
    12. ^ A Jamieson. Identity and morality in the Italian Red Brigades. Terrorism and Political Violence, 1990, p. 508-15
    13. ^ Wilkinson, Paul (29 June 2006). Terrorism versus democracy: the liberal state response (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 222. ISBN 978-0415384780.
    14. ^ Alexander, Yonah; Pluchinsky, Dennis A. (1 October 1992). Europe's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations (1st ed.). Routledge; 1 edition (). p. IX. ISBN 978-0714634883.
    15. ^ Leventhal, Todd (2006-01-20). "Misinformation about "Gladio/Stay Behind" Networks Resurfaces". Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
    16. ^ Foreign Terrorist Organizations, The National Counterterrorism Center
    17. ^ Press release, Greek Police Template:El icon
    18. ^ MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
    19. ^ "TÜRKİYE'DE HALEN FAALİYETLERİNE DEVAM EDEN BAŞLICA TERÖR ÖRGÜTLERİ". Terörle Mücadele ve Harekat Dairesi Başkanlığı. 2005-01-27. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
    20. ^ Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (2008-04-08). "Foreign Terrorist Organizations". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2008-08-15. [dead link]
    21. ^ Template:PDFlink, Official Journal of the European Union L 188/71, 2008-07-16
    22. ^ Communications Directorate (2005-10-04). "Proscribed terrorist groups". Terrorism Act 2000. Home Office. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
    23. ^ "What is the MNLV (4)"
    24. ^ "What is the MNLV (3)"
    25. ^ Crozier, Brian, Political victory: the elusive prize of military wars, p. 203, Transaction Publishers, 2005
    26. ^ Burt, Jo-Marie (2006). "'Quien habla es terrorista': The political use of fear in Fujimori's Peru." Latin American Research Review 41 (3) 32-62.
    27. ^ US Department of State, "Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)" October 11, 2005. Available online Accessed 1 February 2006.
    28. ^ Council Common Position 2005/936/CFSP. March 14, 2005. Available online. Accessed September 27, 2006.
    29. ^ Government of Canada. "Listed Entities". Available online. Accessed September 27, 2006.
    30. ^ Stéphane Courtois et al. The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression. Harvard University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-674-07608-7 pp. 680-681
    31. ^ BBC News. "Colombia's Most Powerful Rebels." September 19, 2003. Available online. Accessed September 1, 2006.
    32. ^ International Crisis Group. "War and Drugs in Colombia." January 27, 2005. Available online. Accessed September 1, 2006.
    33. ^ a b Human Rights Watch. "Colombia: Armed Groups Send Children to War." February 22, 2005. Available online. Accessed September 1, 2006.
    34. ^ Human Rights Watch. "'You'll Learn Not to Cry: Child Combatants in Colombia." September 2003. Available online. Accessed September 1, 2006.
    35. ^ Jacobs, Ron (1997). The Way The Wind Blew: A History Of The Weather Underground. Verso. pp. 76–77. ISBN 1-85984-167-8. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
    36. ^ a b LEFT-WING EXTREMISM: The Current Threat Prepared for U.S. Department of Energy Office of Safeguards and Security (PDF). Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education: Center for Human Reliability Studies ORISE 01-0439. 2001. p. 1. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
    37. ^ National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Responses to Terrorism, DHS (March 1, 2008). "Terrorist Organization Profile: May 19 Communist Order". National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Responses to Terrorism. Retrieved December 27, 2009. [dead link]
    38. ^ MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
    39. ^ Nepal Terrorist Groups - Maoist Insurgents
    40. ^ Nepal: Children caught in the conflict | Amnesty International
    41. ^ "Indian Maoist Violence". Reuters. 27 August 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
    42. ^ Gupta, Kanchan (25 November 2004). "Naxals, India's enemy within". Rediff. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
    43. ^ "India's Naxalites: A spectre haunting India". The Economist. 17 August 2006. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
    44. ^ Guerilla zone, Cover Story, Frontline, Volume 22 - Issue 21, Oct. 08 - 21, 2005 DIONNE BUNSHA in Gadchiroli http://www.flonnet.com/fl2221/stories/20051021008701600.htm
    45. ^ [PRWC Party Documents] Saligang Batas ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, December 26, 1968
    46. ^ Foreign Terrorist Organization: Redesignation of Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army
    47. ^ "Council Decision of 21 December 2005" (PDF). EU Council. 2005-12-13. Retrieved 2007-03-17.

    References

    • Aubrey, Stefan M. The new dimension of international terrorism. Zurich: vdf Hochschulverlag AG, 2004. ISBN 3728129496
    • Moghadam, Assaf. The roots of terrorism. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0791083071
    • Pluchinsky, Dennis A. "Western Europes's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations". In Yonah Alexander and Dennis A. Pluchinsky (Eds.), Europe's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations. Oxford: Frank Cass and Company, 1992. ISBN 978-0714634883
    • Smith, Brent L. Terrorism in America: pipe bombs and pipe dreams. Albany: SUNY Press, 1994 ISBN 0791417603
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