Crinimal and Terrorist Groups Flashcards
What is the FARC?
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army
Organization involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict since 1964. It has been known to employ a variety of military tactics in addition to more unconventional methods including terrorism. The FARC-EP have a claim to be an army of peasant Marxist–Leninists with a political platform of agrarianism and anti-imperialism. The operations of the FARC–EP are funded by kidnap to ransom, illegal mining, extortion and/or taxation of various forms of economic activity and the production and distribution of illegal drugs. As of the early 21st century the organization has seemingly been returning to more traditional a methodology of guerilla warfare, including hit and run attacks while also having released all its kidnapped civilians
What is the PKK?
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, commonly referred to by its Kurdish acronym, PKK (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistani) is a Kurdish militant organization which from 1984 to 2013 fought an armed struggle against the Turkish state for cultural and political rights and self-determination for the Kurds in Turkey, who comprise between 10% and 25% of the population and have been subjected to official repression for decades. The group was founded in 1978 in the village of Fis (near Lice) by a group of radical Kurdish students led by Abdullah Öcalan. The PKK’s ideology was originally a fusion of revolutionary socialism and Kurdish nationalism, seeking the foundation of an independent, Marxist–Leninist state in the region known as Kurdistan
PKK was founded on 27 November 1978
Who are the Calabrian Ndrangheta?
The ‛Ndrangheta (Italian: ‛ndràngheta, Italian pronunciation: [n̩ˈdraŋɡeta]) is a Mafia-type criminal organization in Italy, centered in Calabria. Despite not being as famous abroad as the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, and having been considered more rural compared to the Neapolitan Camorra and the Apulian Sacra Corona Unita, the ‘Ndrangheta became the most powerful crime syndicate of Italy in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While commonly tied together with the Sicilian Mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta operates independently from the Sicilian Mafia, though there is contact between the two, due to the geographical proximity, and shared culture and language of Calabria and Sicily. A US diplomat estimated that the organization’s drug trafficking, extortion and money-laundering activities accounted for at least 3 percent of Italy’s GDP.[2] Since the 1950s, the organization has spread towards the north of Italy and worldwide. The ‘Ndrangheta is currently the most powerful criminal organization in the world with a revenue that stands at around 53 billion Euros annually (72 billion U.S. dollars - 44 billion British pounds)
What is the Sicilian Cosa Nostra?
The Sicilian Mafia, also known as Cosa Nostra (“Our Thing”), is a criminal syndicate in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering. Each group, known as a “family”, “clan”, or “cosca”, claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or village or a neighbourhood (borgata) of a larger city, in which it operates its rackets. Its members call themselves “men of honour”, although the public often refers to them as “mafiosi”.
The American Mafia arose from offshoots of the Mafia that emerged in the United States during the late nineteenth century, following waves of emigration from Italy. There were similar offshoots in Canada among Italian Canadians. The same has been claimed of organised crime among Italians in Australia.
Describe the Lebanese Hezbollah…
Hezbollah (pronounced /ˌhɛzbəˈlɑː/;[9][10] Arabic: حزب الله Ḥizbu ‘llāh, literally “Party of Allah” or “Party of God”)—also transliterated Hizbullah, Hizballah, etc.[11]—is a Shi’a Islamist militant group and political party based in Lebanon.[12][13][14] Hezbollah’s paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council.[15][16] After the death of Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, the organisation has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General. The United States,[17] France,[18] the Gulf Cooperation Council,[19] United Kingdom,[20] Australia,[21] New Zealand,[22] Canada,[23] the Netherlands,[24][25][26][27] the European Union[28] and Israel[29] classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, in whole or in part.
Hezbollah was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, and was primarily formed to offer resistance to the Israeli occupation.[3] Its leaders were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of 1,500 Iranian Revolutionary Guards that arrived from Iran with permission from the Syrian government.[30] After the 1982 invasion, Israel occupied a strip of south Lebanon, which was controlled by a militia supported by Israel, the South Lebanon Army. Hezbollah waged a guerilla campaign against them; with the collapse of the SLA, Israel withdrew on May 24, 2000.
Hezbollah has grown to an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite television-station, programs for social development and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon’s borders.[31][32][33] The organization has been called a “state within a state”.[34] Hezbollah is part of the March 8 Alliance within Lebanon, in opposition to the March 14 Alliance. Hezbollah maintains strong support among Lebanon’s Shi’a population,[35] while Sunnis have disagreed with the group’s agenda.[36][37] Following the end of the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon in 2000, its military strength grew significantly,[38][39] such that its paramilitary wing is considered more powerful than the Lebanese Army.[40][41] Hezbollah receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran, and political support from Syria.[42] Hezbollah also fought against Israel in the 2006 Lebanon War.
After the 2006–2008 Lebanese political protests[43] and clashes,[44] a national unity government was formed in 2008, giving Hezbollah and its opposition allies control of eleven of thirty cabinets seats; effectively veto power.[14] In August 2008, Lebanon’s new Cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement which secures Hezbollah’s existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to “liberate or recover occupied lands”.[45] Since 2012, Hezbollah has helped the Syrian government during the Syrian civil war in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot and a “Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy” to destroy its alliance with Assad against Israel.[46][47] Once seen as a resistance movement throughout much of the Arab world,[12] this image upon which the group’s legitimacy rested has been severely damaged due to the sectarian nature of the Syrian Civil War in which it has become embroiled.
Tamil Tigers (from LTTE)
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், Sinhala: දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers) is a now defunct organisation that was based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a secessionist nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil people. This campaign evolved into the Sri Lankan Civil War, which ran from 1983 until 2009, when the LTTE was decisively defeated by the Sri Lankan Military under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
At the height of its power, the LTTE possessed a well-developed militia and carried out many high-profile attacks, including the assassinations of several high-ranking Sri Lankan and Indian politicians. The LTTE was the only militant group to assassinate two world leaders: former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 The LTTE used suicide belts and women in suicide attacks. It was the first militant group to acquire air power and used light aircraft in some of its attacks. It is currently proscribed as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries, including India, but has support amongst Tamils in Tamil Nadu in India. Velupillai Prabhakaran headed the organization from its inception until his death in 2009.
Sahelian Armed Groups
TBD
What is AQIM?
A Qaeda in the countries of the Islamic Magrheb
Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is an alliance of militant groups formed in 2007 to unify groups fighting against the Pakistani military in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. TTP leaders also hope to impose a strict interpretation of Qur‘anic instruction throughout Pakistan and to expel Coalition troops from Afghanistan. TTP maintains close ties to senior al-Qa‘ida leaders, including
al-Qa‘ida’s former head of operations in Pakistan.
Baitullah Mahsud, the first TTP leader, was killed in an explosion on 5 August 2009 and was succeeded by Hakimullah Mehsud, who vowed to deploy suicide operatives to the United States. The group has repeatedly threatened to attack the US homeland, and a TTP spokesman claimed responsibility for the failed vehicle bomb attack in Times Square, New York City, on 1 May 2010. In June 2011, a spokesman vowed to attack the United States and Europe in revenge for the death of Usama Bin Ladin. A TTP leader in April 2012 endorsed external operations by the group and threatened attacks in the UK for their involvement in Afghanistan.
Describe the Taliban . . .
The Taliban (Pashto: طالبان ṭālibān “students”), alternative spelling Taleban, is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan. It spread throughout Afghanistan and formed a government, ruling as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from September 1996 until December 2001, with Kandahar as the capital. However, it gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Mohammed Omar is the founder and has been serving as the spiritual leader of the Taliban since its foundation in 1994.
While in power, it enforced a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, an interpretation of which leading Muslims have been highly critical. The Taliban were condemned internationally for their brutal treatment of women. The majority of the Taliban are made up of Afghan Pashtun tribesmen. The Taliban’s leaders were influenced by Deobandi fundamentalism, and many also strictly follow the social and cultural norm called Pashtunwali.
From 1995 to 2001, the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and military are widely alleged by the international community to have provided support to the Taliban. Their connections are possibly through Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, a terrorist group founded by Sami ul Haq. Pakistan is accused by many international officials of continuing to support the Taliban; Pakistan states that it dropped all support for the group after 9/11. Al-Qaeda also supported the Taliban with regiments of imported fighters from Arab countries and Central Asia. Saudi Arabia provided financial support. The Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians, denied UN food supplies to 160,000 starving civilians and conducted a policy of scorched earth, burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of thousands of homes during their rule from 1996 to 2001. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee to United Front-controlled territory, Pakistan, and Iran.
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Taliban were overthrown by the American-led invasion of Afghanistan. Later it regrouped as an insurgency movement to fight the American-backed Karzai administration and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The Taliban have been accused of using terrorism as a specific tactic to further their ideological and political goals. According to the United Nations, the Taliban and their allies were responsible for 75% of Afghan civilian casualties in 2010, 80% in 2011, and 80% in 2012.
AQAP
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
A militant Islamist organization, primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. It was named for al-Qaeda, and says it is subordinate to that group and its now-deceased leader Osama bin Laden, a Saudi citizen. It is considered the most active of al-Qaeda’s branches, or “franchises,” that emerged due to weakening central leadership.
ETA or Spain’s Basque Separatists
ETA (Basque: [eta], Spanish: [ˈeta]), an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque pronunciation: [eus̺kaði ta as̺katas̺una]; “Basque Homeland and Freedom”)[4] is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country.[5][6] ETA is the main organisation of the Basque National Liberation Movement and is the most important participant in the Basque conflict.
Since 1968, ETA has been held responsible for killing 829 people, injuring thousands and undertaking dozens of kidnappings.[7][8][9][10] The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by the Spanish, British,[11] French[12] and American[13] authorities, and by the European Union as a whole.[14] This convention is followed by a plurality of domestic and international media, which also refer to the group as “terrorists”.[15][16][17][18] More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, France, and other countries.[19]
ETA declared ceasefires in 1989, 1996, 1998 and 2006, and subsequently broke them. On 5 September 2010, ETA declared a new ceasefire[20] that is still in force – on 20 October 2011 ETA announced a “definitive cessation of its armed activity”.[21] On 24 November 2012, it was reported that the group was ready to negotiate a “definitive end” to its operations and disband completely.[22]
ETA’s motto is Bietan jarrai (“Keep up on both”), referring to the two figures in its symbol, a snake (representing politics) wrapped around an axe (representing armed struggle).
IRA
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann) was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916. ] In 1919, the Irish Republic that had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising was formally established by an elected assembly (Dáil Éireann), and the Irish Volunteers were recognised by Dáil Éireann as its legitimate army. Thereafter, the IRA waged a guerrilla campaign against British rule in Ireland in the 1919–21 Irish War of Independence.
Following the signing in 1921 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which ended the War of Independence, a split occurred within the IRA. Members who supported the treaty formed the nucleus of the Irish National Army founded by IRA leader Michael Collins. However, much of the IRA was opposed to the treaty. The anti-treaty IRA fought a civil war against their former comrades in 1922–23, with the intention of creating a fully independent all-Ireland republic. Having lost the civil war, this group remained in existence, with the intention of overthrowing both the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland and achieving the Irish Republic proclaimed in 1916.
Primeiro Comando da Capital or PCC
The Primeiro Comando da Capital, usually called in Castilian First Capital Command , also known as PCC, is an organization considered illegal by the Brazilian state, originally composed to defend the rights of Brazilian prison mass, emerged at the beginning of the nineties Prison Rehabilitation Center of Taubaté, for where prisoners were transferred considered highly dangerous by legal authorities. The PCC has its own statute, the statute called the PCC, where prescriptions and rationale of this organization are. The organization also is known for 15.3.3 for the letter P occupies 15th place in the Portuguese alphabet (excluding the letter K) and the letter C is the third in that alphabet.
Today the organization is directed mainly prisoners and fugitives State São Paulo . Several former leaders are prisoners (as the criminal Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho and Vulgo Marcola, currently serving sentences of 44 years, mainly due to assault banks ) The PCC has several members, finance illegal actions in São Paulo and in other states country as well as the region of Mercosur .
