Opposing Jihadism - An Onset For A Cure
Counterjihad Brussels 2007

Presentation by Dr. Marc Cogen

Jihadism is a violent and radical fundamentalism and it has emerged as this century’s nightmare. It follows the same dark path as last century’s ideological nightmares: fascism and Soviet-styled communism. Jihadism is a political ideology with global ambitions. It wants to establish a world-wide caliphate by rejecting and destroying the current state system. Jihadists strive for the collapse of the economies and the governments of our society. They want to overthrow the moderate, modern nations and to replace them by a caliphate. Jihadism does not recognize borders, and the drive to globalization even strengthens them in this belief. Jihadists like internet and new technologies as a tool to destroy the state system and to spread their message into Europe and other places outside the traditional sphere of Islam. They try to convince Muslims in Europe to join jihad. I would like to address the question how to deal with private armies and their members. We can make analyses on jihadism, on the spread of violent Islam in Europe, but these efforts must lead to a strategy to combat them. We need a cure now.

Military tribunals must put members of private armies on trial.

Since jihadists reject state systems - an invention of the European Westphalian world order - they establish private armies. Private armies created by jihadism have multiple faces and a multitude of names such as Hezbollah, Hamas, Al Qaida, Armed Islamic Group (GIA - Algeria), Harakat-Ul-Jihad-Ul-Islami (Bangladesh), Jaish-e-Mohammed (Kashmir), Mehdi Army of Iraq, Millat-E-Islami (Pakistan), Tanzim Qu’idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-rafidayn (Jordan), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. And I do not mention the Southeast Asian cluster of private jihadist armies. In news reports various terms are used to refer to those private armies such as terrorist cells, insurgents, militia, fighters … But we may never forget that only states have the monopoly on the use of force. The UN Charter only recognizes use of force by states for specific and limited purposes. And only states have the right to maintain armed forces. We must rescue international law by denying these private armies any aspect of legality. Since members of private armies do not have the right to take up arms, they cannot be treated as prisoners-of-war with the privileges and guarantees of the Third Geneva Convention. If captured in battle or elsewhere, they should be tried outside the common criminal justice system. Unfortunately the laws of war are not developed on the status of members of private armies and their punishment since the laws of war were drafted at a time of inter-state wars.

Read the entire insightful presentation by this expert in the law of conflict…