Methods, Definitions, and Analytical Limitations

This assessment and the attached database were produced via an open source review of government websites, news coverage, and governmental and non-governmental assessments and reviews of counterterrorism law in the 196 countries listed by the Encyclopedia Britannica.¹

In evaluating the findings, it is important to acknowledge two key limitations:

1. Language and Local Knowledge Barriers: This assessment examined the definition and designation processes of more than 190 countries with a wide range of languages, levels of governmental transparency, and governmental structures. As a result, it is likely that some countries coded as not having a national list may have such a list but this research team failed to identify it. This limitation does not diminish this assessment’s value. First, if many countries’ lists are inaccessible or difficult to find for a dedicated research team whose primary language is English, that is an important finding as that is the primary language of many tasked with making policy shaped by variations in designation processes. Second, the research team supplemented its research on particularly opaque countries by contracting supplemental research from individuals proficient in Spanish, French, and Arabic.
2. Scale of Variation in Legal Processes: Efforts to compare designation and definition practices were also limited by the wide range of different authorities that can be used to define and restrict terrorism related activity. These authorities can include sanctions on individuals as well as entities, and not every country shares the same legal approach. Some countries proscribe organizations but not on the grounds of terrorism. Some countries have multiple authorities for proscribing terrorist organizations. The extent of this variation challenges comparisons across countries on a large scale.

Definitions of Key Terms

The key terms used in coding the database are presented below.

1. Designation

• We define a designation as existing where there are reports that the country in question has labeled at least one group as a terrorist entity. The reports can consist of either official statements by the government or unofficial reports in the media. To qualify, a designation should occur via a process that goes beyond off-hand statements by officials or references to acts alone being terrorist. A designation must also define or describe groups or entities as being terrorists and not simply identify individuals who are subject to sanction or ban groups for other reasons (such as violating a state’s constitution).² The level and type of enforcement of designations varies among the countries we examined, but for our purposes a public statement that a group is designated and/or labeling a group as a terrorist entity qualifies even in the absence of evidence of further action.
• We focus on the existence of national-level designations. Most, if not all, countries have some form of sanctioning process to implement the United Nations’ sanctions on Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and some countries have similar processes for commitments to designation lists maintained by other international organizations. This is insufficient for inclusion in our database as having a national designation process.

2. Designation Enforcement Types

• While we define national designation broadly so as to include government statements that label a group as a terrorist entity without clear evidence of further enforcement, we further identify the types of designations a country maintains. We track the following categories:
  • Proscription and Criminalization of Membership/Support: This is coded as “yes” if a country maintains designations that are tied to legislation that bans the group itself or imposes criminal penalties for being a member, providing support to, or other forms of association with a designated entity.
  • Entry Prohibitions: This is coded as “yes” if a country maintains designations that specifically limit the entry of individuals tied to a designated entity into the country. This is not coded as “yes” if the entry prohibition is merely a result of a broader proscription or ban and not a separately specified purpose or consequence of designation.
  • Asset Focused Sanctions: This is coded as “yes” if a country maintains designations linked to legislation that triggers asset freezes, the seizure of assets short of a criminal conviction, or is presented as enforcement of UNSCR 1373.
  • Labeled but Enforcement Measure Unknown or Other: This is coded as “yes” if the country has an official statement saying a group is labeled or designated as a “terrorist entity,” but it is not clear what specific consequences (if any) follows from such a labeling, or if the designation triggers actions other than those covered by the above categories—for example, greater surveillance authorities or different legal treatment short of criminalization.

3. Yes (Government) and Yes (Media)

• We identify whether our determination that a country has made a national designation is based on an official government statement or not. A coding of “Yes (government)” means that there is an official government source describing the existence of a national designation.
• By contrast, “Yes (media)” means that a designation is described in news coverage, non-governmental reports, or material from other governments, but we could not identify an official government acknowledgement.

4. Domestic Entities

• We code a country as having designated domestic entities if they have designated at least one group that originates or has a substantial military, governing, or other organizational presence inside the country in question.