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World Catalogs of Insurgency and Protest
World Catalog of Insurgency and Protest
Disclaimer and Caveat: A listing here does not reflect on an
organization's or an individual's morality, nor on the propriety of
any cause or activities.
Insurgency, as used here, describes all acts other than voting or
lobbying aimed at the personnel, structure, infrastructure or
decision-making process of government or society--with the intent
to decisively alter any of these. Usually, though not always, the
proposed alteration is intended to effect a redistribution of power
or advantage, whether political, social, religious or economic.
Insurgency ranges from non-violent dissent through civil war. Some
groups named in this list operate quite legally in their home
countries or abroad. Some use tactics that are illegal in one place
but quite acceptable in another. Some groups are banned in one
country but have international respect and following. Other groups
are illegal virtually everywhere in the world.
Some names have been added to this catalogue because of a
government claim, or action, aimed at the group or its members. All
claims or actions by and/or regarding a group should--we feel--be
subjected to a critical and even skeptical analysis. Nonetheless they
should be included in this research list.
All groups of a paramilitary nature, or those having a paramilitary
arm, are assumed to be insurgent since it is in the nature of
government and society worldwide to seek an absolute monopoly
on the use of force for social and political ends.
There is also a matter of timing that the user of this list should be
aware of. Some of the listings here are from a data base starting no
later than the late 1960s. In such a span of years, many
organizations have come, made their marks or failed in their efforts,
then disappeared like names written in the sand of the seashore.
Some started as insurgent but have since changed their ideology
and tactics; some groups have become governments. Other groups
may have begun their history operating as part of the political
system but have now evolved in ways that make them insurgent. As
a rule, this listing does NOT attempt to indicate such changes, nor
does it pretend to differentiate between the stages of development
of a group's policy.
In some cases acts or attacks may have been carried out without the
approval of the leadership, or even a significant segment of the
membership, of the groups named. In other cases claims of
responsibility following an action may be false, designed to
discredit the group whose name was used. In other cases after-
action claims made be made by a number of organizations--or
persons posing as a group. In most cases only one group carried out
the action and the remaining claims are obviously false.
Many of the names listed serve as covers for organizations wishing
to deny responsibility. Some names have been used by the purely
criminal and the mentally disturbed. The names provided by those
making claims of an attack are accepted in this list without further
effort to verify the accuracy of the claim or the right of the claimant
to use the name. Government claims, or actions directed against a
group as insurgent, are taken at face value with no attempt being
made to determine whether the government claim is correct, merited
or fair.
Organization of the List
This part of the name catalogue is organized on an alphabetical and
hierarchial basis. Throughout the catalogue, listings are organized
into areas of the world and listed by country. Within countries the
groups are listed alphabetically, with some exceptions that will be
noted later. Then the list is structured according to parent groups
and offspring or subsidiary units. Where a group is thought to be a
subgroup of a larger organization we have listed that name under
the supposed parent group.
Group names are listed first. Known variations on the names are
seperated by semi-colons. The end of the group listing is marked by
a colon.
Groups often use several names, or are referenced by different
names. Please note that there may be variations caused by
differences in the translation or transliteration of names, as well.
We have had to make a subjective choice as to what name is used
most often in ENGLISH LANGUAGE media and professional
references. In this catalogue that name comes first, and is followed
by some of the known variations on the name. When using this list,
search carefully for similar names or phonetic equivalents. In areas
of the world which do not use a Romanized alphabet, the possible
transliterations are legion. We do not attempt to rationalize them or
impose our own consistency on the usage. When a word in appears
in a parenthesis at the start of a listing that normally means the
word in parenthesis is sometimes added to the proper nameand
indicates a variant.
Where possible, we have added coded information to indicate the
orientation of groups listed, the types of acts they have been
reported to be involved in, and the target categories--in that order.
We have parenthetically added dates of first known operations, or
founding dates, where available. We have also added parenthetical
material which may be of use in an historical sense. The types of
acts listing should be taken in its largest, loosest sense. For
instance the listing "Ri," which means involvement in a riotous
situation, may mean that another group attacked the listed group,
causing a riot-type event.
Finally, it is well to note here again that the listing of any particular
group may mean no more than that the organization was ALLEGED
or REPORTED by someone to have ATTEMPTED to carry out
some act.
We welcome comments, corrections and updates to the material
presented here. We have attempted to make the list as accurate and
complete as possible, but we cannot verify the accuracy of each and
every item in this catalogue.
Country Listings Available at this Time
Congo
Fiji
Guatemala
Liechtenstein
Madagascar
Mexico
Morocco
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Philippines
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
Vanuatu
Other Group Listings Available at this Time
Groups listed in recent State Department Patterns of Global
Terrorism Reports include:
Abu Nidal Organization, ANO--1995, 1996
Abu Sayyef--1995,1996
Alex Boncayo Brigade (Communist Party Philippines)--1996
Al-Fatah/PLO--1995
Al Gama'a al Islamiyya, Islamic Group--1995, 1996
Al Jihad--1995, 1996
Armed Islamic Group---1995, 1996
Aum Supreme Truth--1996
Basque Fatherland and Liberty, ETA--1995, 1996
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine--1995, 1996
Dev Sol, DHKP/C--1995, 1996
Hamas--1995, 1996
Harakal al-Ansar, HUA--1995, 1996
Hezbolla, Hizbollah, Party of God--1995, 1996
Jamaat ul-Fuqra--1995, 1996
Japanese Red Army, JRA, Anti-Imperialist International Brigade--1995, 1996
Jihad Group, et al, Vanguards of Conquest--1995,1996
Kach and Kahane Chai--1995, 1996
Khmer Rouge--1995,1996
Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK--1995, 1996
Lautaro Youth Movement--1995
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam--1995, 1996
Majahedin-e Khalq--1995, 1996
Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front, FPMR--1995, 1996
Middle Core Faction, Chukaku-ha--1995, 1996
Morazanist Patriotic Front, FPM--1995, 1996
National Liberation Army (Bolivia), NLA--1995, 1996
National Liberation Army (Colombia), ELN--1995, 1996
New People's Army--1995, 1996
Palestine Islamic Jihad--1995, 1996
Palestine Liberation Front, PLF--1995, 1996
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, PFLP--1995, 1996
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine--General Command PFLP-GC
--1995, 1996
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Special Command, PFLP-SC--1995
Popular Struggle Front, PSF--1995
Provisional Irish Republican Army, PIRA--1995, 1996
Red Army Faction, RAF--1995
Red Brigades--1995
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC--1995, 1996
Revolutionary Organization 17 November, 17 November--1995, 1996
Revolutionary People's Struggle, ELA--1996
Shining Path, Sendero Luminoso--1995, 1996
Sikh Terrorists--1995, 1996
Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, MRTA--1995, 1996
Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army, EGTK--1995
1995 Report on Groups
1996 Report on Groups
1993 and 1994 Reports
Copyright c 1997 Mark Monday and Gary Stubblefield;
Scottsdale, AZ, Hamilton, MT.
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