Should the FARC be on the EU List of Designated Terrorist Organisations?

These Perspectives are the work of two students who have completed the minor Global Affairs which included Professor Edwin Bakker's Terrorism and Counterterrorism course at Leiden University.

In these two Perspectives, the case is made for and against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) being on the EU list of designated terrorist organisations. In September 2016, the European Council decided to no longer deem the FARC a terrorist organisation in response to the signed peace agreement between the FARC and the Colombian government. However, the applied definition of terrorism differs among governments, institutions and scholars. On one side, Gunnar Koehler argues that the actions of the FARC throughout its history fit multiple definitions of terrorism and also refutes the argument of the FARC supposedly being insurgents or belligerents. On the other side, Floris Sonnemans argues that an exclusion from the list enables a fruitful diplomatic process through which peace can be built.

Read the first Perspective; read the second Perspective.