Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

SANCTUARY • 611compound and the nearby office of the UN High Commissioner forRefugees, which was totally demolished, killing 41 people, of whom17 were UN staff, and injuring 170.Although the group’s membership has declined from a peak ofaround 28,000 to only a few hundred, according to a 2005 U.S. StateDepartment report, the GSPC remains one of the most active anddangerous Islamic fundamentalist groups in Algeria and neighboringareas of North Africa. See also WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUC-TION.SANCTUARY. The right of sanctuary, or right of asylum, or right ofpolitical asylum, in which a person or group of people facing persecutionin the country of origin enjoy the protection of another statefrom extradition or rendition to the country of origin or other nationseeking their extradition. Those seeking sanctuary could include notonly bona fide refugees fleeing ethnic, religious, or political persecutionbut also terrorists seeking to invoke the political offenseexception claiming that their actions have been political rather thancriminal in nature. While the notion of the right of sanctuary datesback to medieval times, the contemporary legislation and usages aregoverned by the United Nations 1951 Convention Relating to theStatus of Refugees and the later 1967 Protocol Relating to the Statusof Refugees. The right of political asylum is recognized in the FrenchConstitution of 1958 and is also protected by Article 18 of the Charterof Fundamental Rights of the European Union.The term “sanctuary” is also used to describe remote or inaccessibleregions used by a terrorist or insurgent group as a base ofoperations or as a place of refuge from pursuit. Research by TedRobert Gurr on the causes of civil unrest identified the existence ofsanctuary regions for insurgent groups as being an important conditionfacilitating civil unrest. In the Middle Ages, Christian churchesand monasteries were regarded as sanctuaries in which civil officialshad no jurisdiction, and in many Latin American nations universitycampuses, which originally were under the jurisdiction of the RomanCatholic church, have similarly been regarded as areas in whichleftist opponents of the government could recruit and organize themselveswithout fear of police intervention. The notion of the rightof sanctuary has also been appropriated by some civil disobediencemovements, such as the Sanctuary Movement active in the United