The United Kingdom Terrorism Act 2000
Lessons from the Military Role
in Policing in Northern Ireland
The term ‘Terrorism’ has proved to be difficult to define in modern usage as it depends on the perspective of the defining authority or the perpetrator. What to a Government in power seems to be an act of terrorism could be glorified as an act of patriotism or even martyrdom by the person behind the act. The contemporary label of ‘terrorist’ is highly pejorative, denoting a lack of legitimacy and morality and is, therefore, always disputable.
The Terrorism Act 2000 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament, that makes temporary provision for Northern Ireland about the prosecution and punishment of certain offences, the preservation of peace and the maintenance of order. Terrorism is defined in the broadest possible envelope as implying the use or threat of action to influence the government or intimidate the public or a section thereof for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause. Also, any threat which involves the use of firearms or explosives is terrorism.
Despite a comprehensive definition, more and more loopholes were created by the advancement in Technology. Incidents like 9/11 called for a review of the Act to bring it up to date to cope with items like Cyber Crime, for a start. This led to the Terrorism Act of 2006. What then was the Terrorism Act 2000 about? How and why did Military Forces end up there?
The ‘Trouble’ in Northern Ireland (1968--) is characterized by the competing nationalist claims of the two communities there. One, the mostly Roman Catholic republican or nationalist community identifies itself as Irish and wants the six counties under British jurisdiction (Ulster) to leave the United Kingdom and unite with the Republic of Ireland. Catholics are sharply discriminated against in every quarter. Lack of civilian control remains a problem for all those police forces organized around the principle of police independence. In Northern Ireland, a Protestant is someone raised in that religion. Most Protestants favor union with the United Kingdom. Most Catholics are nationalists, which mean they want the reunification of Ireland, north and south.
Street violence was the order of the day in 1968-1969, Catholics versus Protestants and Catholics versus the police, who were mainly Protestants. The local police, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), could not cope, being severely under-staffed. The British government sent in the army, in a policing role, with instructions to remain impartial, expecting them to be withdrawn as soon as this was accomplished. Forty years later, the troops are still there, though their duties have changed dramatically – from maintaining public order to counter-terrorism – after the first three years. In August 1969 the British army entered Northern Ireland to protect the Catholics from the ferocity of the Protestants. By 1972, the army’s main concern was no longer public order but terrorism, primarily by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and to a lesser extent by the loyalist Ulster Defense Association.
The IRA has been a formidable adversary. From the early 1970s till the 1997 cease-fire, the IRA periodically targeted pubs, department stores, parks, and the financial district of London, as well as British army barracks on the European continent. The IRA attacked the security forces in Northern Ireland, and occasionally killed a high profile target, such as the Queen’s uncle, Earl Mountbatten. The group almost succeeded in killing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984, and in 1991, it carried out a mortar attack against 10 Downing Street while Prime Minister John Major presided over a cabinet meeting.
Violence, disorder, and social schism are well-known features of contemporary Northern Ireland resultin