AT the recent press conference which launched World Press Freedom Day, Vice President and UNESCO National Commission Chairman Teofisto Guingona Jr. thanked UNESCO DirectorGeneral Koichiro Matsuura for having selected the Philippines as host for the World Press Freedom Day celebration this coming May. One of the criteria for the choice was that we have one of the freest press in the world. We hope that we could also prove to the world in the years to come that we are seriously taking the necessary steps to become a model of social responsibility and accountability.

Again, the question of definition of terrorism came up and we could only say that since it is a contentious issue, there has been to date no acceptable definition. Last Tuesday, Hans Koechler, professor of philosophy at the University of Innsbruck in Austria and president of the International Progress Organization, delivered the 14th Centenary lecture entitled The United Nations, the International Rule of Law and Terrorism at the Supreme Court. On the topic of terrorism, he noted that a basic problem underlying all military actions or threats of the use of force is the absence of an agreed definition of terrorism. The fight against terrorism, he says has become a basic slogan when it comes to justifying the use of force against certain states and groups. The list of states sponsoring terrorism and terrorist organizations is being constantly updated according to criteria which however are not known as they are determined by strategic interests. This dilemma is summarized, he added, in the saying "One country's terrorist is another country's freedom fighter." Koechler demonstrates this apparent contradiction of lack of consistency in the use of the label, "terrorism." For instance, leaders of national liberation movements like Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Habib Bourgouiba in Tunisia, or Ahmed Ben Bella in Algeria, were originally labeled as terrorists by those who controlled the territory at the time, but later became internationally respected statesmen. In our history books, Macario Sakay was a rebel, an outlaw, but recent initiatives to rectify earlier historical accounts now recognize him as a hero and patriot.

Koechler further cites contradictory categorization of organizations and movements. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is a terrorist group for Israel but a liberation movement for Arabs and Muslims; the Kashmiri resistance groups are terrorists in the perception of India, but liberation fighters among the Pakistanis; the earlier Contras in Nicaragua - freedom fighters for the United States but terrorists for the Socialist camp and the Afghani Mujahedeen (later to become the Taliban movement), who, during the Cold War period were freedom fighters for the West but a terrorist gang for the Soviet Union. Koechler explains the basic reason for these inconsistencies - that they reflect the divergent interests of states. The definition of terrorism will fluctuate depending on the position of the occupying power or his adversary. The policy of "double standards" continues while the UN is still unable to arrive at a definition of terrorism.

The concept had evolved since the early definition in 1937 when it was referred to as "all criminal acts directed against a State and intended or calculated to create a state of terror in the minds of persons, groups, or the general public." In 1997, the phrase "those acts are under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature" was added to the definition. In 2000, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan acknowledged terrorism as one of the most difficult issues before the world organization and understands and accepts the need for legal precision. In the attempts to adopt a unified approach, it was made clear that resistance or national liberation movements must in no way resort to terrorist tactics?. and that terrorist methods will be punishable irrespective of the specific political purpose and of whether those acts are committed by liberation movements or regular armies. It was suggested that an act of terrorism be considered as "peacetime equivalent of a war crime." Prof. Koechler then poses the central and yet unresolved question - Who has the power of definition?

In his concluding remarks, Koechler reiterates what Kofi Annan and others have expressed - that terrorism constitutes the most serious challenge. It challenges the United Nations' supremacy in matters of enforcing legal principles among all nations. The UN must therefore try to "find a balance between the power politics of sovereign nationstates and the requirements of collective action. This however, cannot be met with the existing instruments of its Charter which was drafted in 1945. It can only accomplish its mission if it adapts itself to the newly emerging global situation through a genuine democratic reform - along the lines neither of bipolarity nor of unipolarity, but of multipolarity. The UN will therefore have to search for a system of norms that will be integrated with the requirements of a peaceful international order in which no state, no group, no individual will be exempt from the basic rules of law.

From these observations made by a highly respected commentator of international law, we can understand why media coverage of terrorism requires utmost sensitivity and of course, knowledge of international relations. Covering terrorist acts of the Abu Sayaff which is part of an international terrorist network requires adequate backgrounding. It will require regular monitoring of channels they use including websites. Many terrorist groups now utilize the Internet which serves as a medium of communication with terrorist groups which now utilize the Internet. One who regularly surfs the Web would know that there is a growing number of features on "how-tos" in making bombs and other explosives. The threat from Internet is very real as in addition to its content which consists of 85% of pornography (maybe terrorism is classified under this category), it has become an effective conduit for terrorist networks.

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