Incapacitation — Eliminating the Capacity of (Potential) Terrorists to Cause Harm

Abstract

The preventive mechanism in incapacitation is to reduce or eliminate the capacity of terrorist actors to carry out terrorist attacks and cause harm. The main means in a criminal justice framework is arresting and incarcerating (potential) violent perpetrators, to take away their access to weapons and funding, and in extreme cases to “take them out” by lethal force. In a military framework, killing (or apprehending) terrorists and destroying terrorist training facilities and their equipment are the main measures. Some countries have made extensive use of targeted killings by drones, sometimes in the form of extra-legal executions. It is often more effective to neutralise the hubs in a terrorist network than trying to take out the entire network.