39 principle of legality is “[o]f particular pertinence in the context of terrorism (…) [a]mbiguities in laws 151 proscribing terrorism (…) undermine the propriety of criminal processes that enforce those laws.” 129. The Commission is aware that at the current stage of the development of international 152 law, no international consensus exists on a precise definition of “terrorism”. Absent that generally accepted definition, the international community has adopted treaties, which many States have then ratified or acceded to, in which it identifies certain violent acts that are deemed to be specific 153 manifestations of terrorism, such the taking of hostages, the hijacking and destruction of civilian 154 155 aircraft, attacks on the life, physical integrity or freedom of internationally protected persons and, amid armed conflict, acts or threats of violence whose primary purpose is to strike terror among the 156 civilian population, acts that the corresponding treaties define as crimes for purposes of the respective convention and that make it incumbent upon the States parties to make them punishable offenses under their domestic laws. Under Article 2 of the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism, for example, 157 “offenses” are those established in the ten principal international instruments against terrorist acts. . 130. The absence of a generally accepted definition of “terrorism” does not mean that terrorist violence cannot be described or that international law does not prescribe restrictions on what a State’s 158 response to such situations can be. Quite the contrary, there is international consensus on some basic elements of the concept of terrorism that distinguish it from other equally unlawful behaviors and that should serve as the parameters by which States evaluate and determine their actions in light of their 159 international obligations. In other words, although, in principle, it is for states to define what conducts 151 IACHR, Report on Terrorism and Human Rights, OEA/SER.L/V/II.116, Doc. 5 rev. 1, corr., October 22, 2002, paragraph 261(a). 152 IACHR, Report on Terrorism and Human Rights, OEA/SER.L/V/II.116, Doc. 5 rev. 1, corr., October 22, 2002, paragraph 15; and Executive Summary, paragraph 6. 153 International Convention against the Taking of Hostages, UN Res. 34/145 (XXXIV), 34 UN GAOR Supp. (no. 46) a 345, UN Doc. A/Res/34/146 (1979), 1316 UNTS 205. 154 Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts committed on Board Aircrafts, opened to signature on September 14, 1963, 704 U.N.T.S. 219; Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, December 16, 1970, 860 UNTS 105; Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, opened to signature in Montreal, September 23, 1971, 974 UNTS 177. 155 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, opened for signature on December 14, 1973, 1035 UNTS 167; the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, UN Doc.A/Res/49/59 (1995) (February 17, 1995). 156 The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 75 UNTS 287, which entered into force on October 21, 1950, art. 33; Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 1125 UNTS 609, which entered into force on December 7, 1978, Art. 13. 157 For purposes of the Convention, Article 2 of the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism defines “offenses” as those established in the international instruments listed below: a) Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, signed at The Hague on December 16, 1970; b) Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, signed at Montreal on September 23, 1971; c) Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 14, 1973; d) International Convention against the Taking of Hostages, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 17, 1979; e) Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, signed at Vienna on March 3, 1980; f) Protocol on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, signed at Montreal on February 24, 1988; g) Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, done at Rome on March 10, 1988; h) Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf, done at Rome on March 10, 1988; i) International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 15, 1997, and j) International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1999. . 158 IACHR, Report on Terrorism and Human Rights, OEA/SER.L/V/II.116, Doc. 5 rev. 1, corr., October 22, 2002, paragraph 17. 159 In the words of the IACHR, “[t]he absence of an internationally-accepted definition of terrorism does not mean that terrorism is an indescribable form of violence or that states are hot subject to restrictions under international law in developing their