Rohan Gunaratna

Last updated

ProfessorRohan Gunaratna (born 1961) is a threat specialist of the global security environment. Professor Gunaratna has over 30 years of academic, policy, and operational experience in national and international security. [1] He is Professor of Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technology University, Singapore. [2]

Contents

He received his master's from the University of Notre Dame in the United States, where he was Hesburgh Scholar and his doctorate from the University of St Andrews in the United Kingdom, where he was British Chevening Scholar. [3] A former Senior Fellow at the Combating Terrorism Centre at the United States Military Academy at West Point and at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, [4] Gunaratna was invited to testify on the structure of al-Qaeda before the 9/11 Commission. [3]

Gunaratna holds several honorary appointments including as Chairman of the Global Peace Institute, UK; Secretary General of the Consortium for Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CCFT); [5] Member of the Advisory Council, The International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ), Malta; and Member of the Board of Directors, Indo-Pacific Centre, Singapore. [6]

The author of 20 books including Inside al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror (University of Columbia Press), [7] Gunaratna edited the Insurgency and Terrorism Series of the Imperial College Press, London. [8] He is a trainer for national security agencies, law enforcement authorities and military counter terrorism units, interviewed terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia and other conflict zones. [9] For advancing international security cooperation, Gunaratna received the Major General Ralph H. Van Deman Award. [10]

Education

Gunaratna was educated in Asia, Europe, and US. In Sri Lanka, he studied at Ananda College Colombo, Sri Lanka’s premier Buddhist school. Mentored by Colonel G. W. Rajapaksa, he was appointed a senior prefect by the school principal. [11] In Malta, GC, he studied at Stella Maris College under Brother Louis Camilleri fsc. After relocating to the US, Gunaratna received the Hesburgh Scholarship to study at the University of Notre Dame, a globally ranked US university. He received his master's in International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. His thesis on the changing nature of warfare was supervised by William De Mars. His professors included Robert Scott Appleby, a world authority on religious fundamentalism and Robert C. Johansen, a specialist in peace building. [12] Gunaratna received a three-year British Chevening Scholarship from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK to pursue his doctorate at the University of St Andrews a globally ranked university, in Scotland. He also received a three-year International Relations Award from the University of St Andrews. His doctoral thesis from the University of St Andrews on migrant and diaspora support for terrorism and insurgency was supervised by Professor Bruce Hoffman, the leading US authority on terrorism. While Professor Paul Wilkinson, the leading British authority on counterterrorism served as his internal examiner, his external examiner was Professor Gerard Chaliand, the leading French counterinsurgency specialist. [13]

Career

In 2013, Sri Lankan member of parliament Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe wrote in op-ed in which said that "he (Gunaratna) insisted the importance of combating terrorism, he did not address on the cause for the emergence of terrorism." [14] In 2017, Inspector General of Bangladesh Police dismissed his claims of ISIS presence in Bangladesh by saying that he had no experience in "real issues." [15]

Hambali claims

In 2003, Gunaratna claimed that Al-Qaeda commander Riduan Isamuddin (alias Hambali) regularly visited Australia and plotted to fly planes into the British Houses of Parliament; these claims were dismissed as baseless by the ASIO. [16] [17] Commenting on one of his books, the Pacific Journalism Review said in its review that "his writing here on Indonesia reveals a remarkably narrow selection of sources, a profound lack of knowledge, and a flawed understanding of the history of the Indonesian armed forces and of their intelligence operates". [18] Australian journalist and commentator on intelligence issues Brian Toohey has called him a "self-proclaimed expert". [19] He has also made false claims to be a "principal investigator" at the UN's Terrorism Prevention Branch. In reality, he has only spoken at a seminar organized by the Australian Parliamentary Library, testified at a Congressional hearing on terrorism and delivered a research paper at a conference organized by the UN's Department for Disarmament Affairs. [19]

In 2004, New Zealand journalist Martin Bright described Gunaratna as “the least reliable of the experts on bin Laden”. [16] His claims to the New Zealand Herald that "sympathisers and supporters of various terrorist groups were in New Zealand” and to have seen their fundraising leaflets were also dismissed by New Zealand's Financial Intelligence Unit. [16]

Claim against Canadian Tamil Congress

In a February 2011 article in Lakbima News , Gunaratna claimed that the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) was a front for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. [20] The CTC sued Gunaratna, and on 21 January 2014, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled against Gunaratna, ordering home to pay the CTC damages of $37,000, and costs of $16,000. [21] [22] In his ruling judge Stephen E. Firestone stated that Gunaratna's claims were unequivocally and incontrovertibly "false and untrue". [23] [24]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam</span> Militant Tamil organisation in Sri Lanka (1976–2009)

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a Tamil militant organization that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the northeast of the island in response to violent persecution and discriminatory policies against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Notre Dame</span> Private Catholic university in Indiana, US

The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campus of 1,261 acres has a suburban setting and contains landmarks such as the Golden Dome, the Word of Life mural, Notre Dame Stadium, and the Basilica. Originally for men, the university started accepting undergraduate women in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riduan Isamuddin</span> Indonesian Islamist militant imprisoned in the US (born 1964)

Riduan Isamuddin, also known by the nom de guerreHambali, is the former military leader of the Indonesian terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). He is now in American custody at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba. He is currently awaiting trial in a military commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Velupillai Prabhakaran</span> Leader of militant Tamil organisation in Sri Lanka (1954–2009)

Velupillai Prabhakaran was an Eelam Tamil revolutionary. Prabhakaran was a major figure of Tamil nationalism, and the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE was a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka in reaction to the oppression of the country's Tamil population by the Sri Lankan government. Under his direction, the LTTE undertook a military campaign against the Sri Lankan government for more than 25 years.

Mehdat Abdul Salam Shabana was a member of the board of directors, during the mid-1990s, of the now defunct Konsojaya Trading Company, a terrorist front organization based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He owned half of the company's 6,000 shares. Konsojaya was a shell company cofounded by Riduan Isamuddin, better known as "Hambali", in June 1994. As of January 2002, Shabana's whereabouts were still unknown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka and state terrorism</span>

The Sri Lankan state has been accused of state terrorism against the Tamil minority as well as the Sinhalese majority, during the two Marxist–Leninist insurrections. The Sri Lankan government and the Sri Lankan Armed Forces have been charged with massacres, indiscriminate shelling and bombing, extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, disappearance, arbitrary detention, forced displacement and economic blockade. According to Amnesty International, state terror was institutionalized into Sri Lanka's laws, government and society.

The Anuradhapura massacre occurred in Sri Lanka in 1985 and was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This was the largest massacre of Sinhalese civilians by the LTTE to date; it was also the first major operation carried out by the LTTE outside a Tamil majority area. Initially, EROS claimed responsibility for the massacre, but it later retracted the statement, and joined the PLOTE in denouncing the incident. The groups later accused the LTTE for the attack. Since then, no Tamil militant group has admitted to committing the massacre. However, state intelligence discovered that the operation was ordered by the LTTE's leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. He assigned the massacre to the LTTE Mannar commander Victor and it was executed by Victor's subordinate Anthony Kaththiar. The LTTE claimed the attack was in revenge of the 1985 Valvettiturai massacre, where the Sri Lanka Army killed 70 Tamil civilians in Prabhakaran's hometown. In 1988, the LTTE claimed that the massacre was planned and executed under the guidance of Indian intelligence agency, RAW.

The Dehiwala train bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the rush hour of July 24, 1996.

Mujahedeen KOMPAK or KOMPAC is a Darul Islam organisation based in Indonesia's Sulawesi island. Formed in 1988 with the stated aim of helping victims of conflict and disaster, it has been linked to providing funding for terrorist organisations such as Jemaah Islamiyah as well as carrying out attacks on local Christian groups. The organisation has been accused of diverting relief funds from mainstream Muslims in Australia and abroad to fund terrorist activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraq War and the war on terror</span> Iraq-US relations

The Iraq War, along with the War in Afghanistan, was described by President of the United States George W. Bush as "the central front in the War on Terror", and argued that if the U.S. pulled out of Iraq, "terrorists will follow us here."

Dushmanthe Srikanthe Ranetunge, commonly known as Dushy Ranetunge, is a Sri Lankan journalist based in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Tamil Congress</span>

The Canadian Tamil Congress is a Canadian non-profit organization that serves Tamil Canadians since October 2000 and has 11 chapters. The objectives of the Canadian Tamil Congress are: to promote the participation of Tamil Canadians in activities of local, regional, provincial and national importance; to uphold the Canadian values of human rights, multiculturalism, religious and cultural diversity, pluralism, and volunteerism; to champion for equal rights and in particular, gender equality; to support the cultural and political aspirations of Tamils. The organization also promotes the study and knowledge of Tamil language, culture and history within the Canadian context. The CTC also works on adjustment/settlement issues.

The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI) is a foreign policy think tank currently based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka is ex officio the Chairman of LKI. LKI conducts independent research and functions as an autonomous organisation. LKI was established in 2006 and is named after the late Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar, PC, MP, and former Sri Lankan Foreign Minister. The Institute is the realisation of a goal actively pursued by the late Minister, to fulfill the country's need for a think tank in the field of foreign policy research and engagement. Its stated mission is 'to engage in independent research of Sri Lanka’s international relations and strategic interests, and to provide insights and recommendations that advance justice, peace, prosperity and sustainability.'

The Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War was the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka intended to perform a peacekeeping role. The deployment followed the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord between India and Sri Lanka of 1987 which was intended to end the Sri Lankan Civil War between militant Sri Lankan Tamil nationalists, principally the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and the Sri Lankan Military.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka, had various organizations affiliated to it. These include charitable organizations, political parties, state intelligence organizations and even governments of Sri Lanka and other countries. Although the LTTE was militarily defeated in 2009, the Sri Lankan government alleges that a number of foreign-based organizations are still promoting its ideology.

Terrorism in Sri Lanka has been a highly destructive phenomenon during the 20th and 21st centuries, especially so during the periods of the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009) and the first (1971) and second JVP insurrections (1987–1989). A common definition of terrorism is the systematic or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government for political, religious, or ideological goals. Sri Lanka is a country that has experienced some of the worst known acts of modern terrorism, such as suicide bombings, massacres of civilians and assassination of political and social leaders. Terrorism has posed a significant threat to the society, economy and development of the country. The Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1978 is the legislation that provides the powers to law enforcement officers to deal with issues related to terrorism in Sri Lanka. It was first enacted as a temporary law in 1979 under the presidency of J. R. Jayewardene, and later made permanent in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. Scott Appleby</span> American religious historian

Robert Scott Appleby is an American historian, focusing in global religion and its relationship to peace and conflict, integral human development, and comparative modern religion. He is a Professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, and currently the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs.

The Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (JPICT) is an international peer-reviewed academic journal covering policing, intelligence and counterterrorism published by Taylor and Francis, Routledge.

The Murunkan massacre of Inspector Bastianpillai and his team of police officers was the mass murder of a team of CID officers of the Sri Lanka Police on 7 April 1978 in the jungles of Murunkan in the Vavuniya District. Four police officers including Inspector Bastianpillai were killed by LTTE members led by Uma Maheswaran.

The attack on the Magazine prison was an attack carried by Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya, the armed wing of the JVP which was staging a rebellion within Sri Lanka.

References

  1. ↑ "Rohan Gunaratna". Scinapse. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "Rohan Gunaratna - RSIS". www.rsis.edu.sg. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Books by Professor Rohan Gunaratna". World Scientific Publishing. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "Dr. Rohan Gunaratna". trendsresearch.org. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "SEMINAR ON COUNTERING THE FINANCING OF TERRORISM" (PDF). 12 February 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "Our People". Indo-Pacific Centre. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  7. ↑ "Rohan Gunaratna - Routledge & CRC Press Author Profile". www.routledge.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  8. ↑ "Insurgency And Terrorism". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "ROHAN GUNARATNA | Nanyang Technological University - Academia.edu". nanyang.academia.edu. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Kruglanski, Bélanger and Gunaratna launch their book 'The Three Pillars of Radicalization' at START | START.umd.edu". www.start.umd.edu. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "50 years of legacy of Police Cadeting at Ananda". Times Online. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  12. ↑ Dame, Marketing Communications: Web // University of Notre. "Robert C. - Johansen // Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies // University of Notre Dame". Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  13. ↑ "Professor Rohan Gunaratna (PhD)". Global Peace Institute (GPI). Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  14. ↑ Rajapakshe, Wijeydasa. "Dr. Gunaratne's Advice On Conflict Is More Mythical Than To Reality". Colombo Telegraph.
  15. ↑ "IGP trashes claim of café siege by IS". The Daily Star. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  16. 1 2 3 Small, David (24 August 2004). "Terrorism Expertise of Rohan Gunaratna Questioned". Scoop. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  17. ↑ Riduan Isamuddin & Australia Archived 5 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine , Abc.net; accessed 1 September 2015.
  18. ↑ Pacific Journalism Review article: Vol 9, September 2003, pp 201–07.
  19. 1 2 "Analyse this". The Age. Melbourne. 20 July 2003.
  20. ↑ "CTC Awarded $53,000 in Successful Defamation Lawsuit Against Rohan Gunaratna". Colombo Telegraph. 19 February 2014.
  21. ↑ Westhead, Rick (20 February 2014). "Canadian Tamil Congress wins $53,000 libel judgment". Toronto Star .
  22. ↑ "Video: Canadian court orders Prof.Gunaratna to pay damages". The Daily Mirror . Indo-Asian News Service. 19 February 2014. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  23. ↑ Vijayan, K. C. (27 February 2014). "Singapore terror expert must pay $60,000 for defamation". The Straits Times .
  24. ↑ "CTC win defamation case against Sri Lankan 'terrorism expert'". Tamil Guardian . 19 February 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.