Anti-Terror Finance

Since 2001, the Department of the Treasury has released two voluntary tools for nonprofits, the Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-Based Charities and the Risk Matrix for the Charitable Sector.  Although designed to “assist charities [and foundations] that attempt in good faith to protect themselves from terrorist abuse,” each has proven to be highly problematic, and many within the nonprofit sector have called for their withdrawal.

photo by zieak

 

Anti-terrorism financing

ACLU and CCR Challenge Constitutionality of OFAC’s Licensing Scheme for Legal Services

in
Date: 
August 16, 2010

On Aug. 3, 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a lawsuit challenging the regulatory scheme requiring attorneys to obtain permission from the Office of Asset Control (OFAC) to represent their clients. The plaintiffs seek to represent pro bono the father of a US citizen targeted for killing by the U.S. government.  

The Impact of Counterterrorism Measures on Charities and Donors After 9/11

in
Date: 
August 16, 2010

There is increasing evidence of the negative impact on all charities of the counter-terrorism measures introduced since 2001.[i] A January 2006 workshop held by INTRAC (International NGO Training and Research Centre, Oxford, UK) foresees that such measures will have ‘disproportionate and far-reaching effects on public giving, international cooperation agendas, movement of funds and other types of support’ for charities.

Congressional Report Says Dept. of Defense Contracts Funding Afghan Insurgents

in
Date: 
July 16, 2010
Author: 
Suraj K. Sazawal

On June 21, 2010, the same day the Supreme Court upheld a federal statute that bans training in nonviolent dispute resolution as support to listed terrorists groups, a Congressional report was released saying U.S. taxpayer dollars are being funneled from the U.S. army contractors to insurgents, including the Taliban. What sense does it make to punish humanitarian groups who want to train terrorist groups to turn away from violence, but knowingly allow millions of dollars to flow uninterrupted to a designated terrorist group the U.S. military is battling everyday in Afghanistan?

UPDATED: Treasury Data Shows Charities Not Significant Source of Terrorist Support

in
Date: 
January 8, 2010

There is debate over how much of a threat charities (and U.S. charities in particular) pose to national security. In public statements and meetings with the Treasury Guidelines Working Group, Treasury has made broad statements charging the charitable sector with being a significant source of terrorist financing and support. But evidence to support these claims has not been forthcoming. As a result, there has been significant disagreement between Treasury and the nonprofit sector on the extent and nature of the relationship between charities and terrorists. The issue is highlighted by the fact that Treasury's Annex to the Guidelines only cites examples of foreign charities.

Former Head of Missouri Charity Pleads Guilty to Violating Sanctions Against Iraq

in
Date: 
June 30, 2010

On June 30, 2010 the former director of a Missouri-based charity plead guilty to conspiring to transfer money to Iraq in violation of federal sanctions. Mubarak Hamed admitted to illegally transferring more than $1 million money to Iraq from 1999 to 2002. He had been the Executive Director of the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) in Columbia, Missouri. IARA had been shut down after being designated a terrorist entity by the Department of Treasury on Oct. 13, 2004. Sentencing has not been scheduled, but Hamed faces up to 20 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines. The charity and other defendants are still awaiting trial. 

Fortent: Stopping Terror Money Flows: A Point-Counterpoint Debate

in
Date: 
April 1, 2009

In March 2009 Mike German of the ACLU and Dennis Lormel of IPSA International were interviewed by moneylaundering.com and Fortent Inform Editor-in-Chief Chief Kieran Beer.  Both are ex -FBI agents, but each has a different view of current anti-terrorism financing laws.  Read the interview transcript here.

Report: U.S. Counterterrorism Laws Chill Muslim Charities and Donors

in
Date: 
June 15, 2009

A June 2009 report from the American Civil Liberties Union details how US counterterrorism laws deny Americans their constitutional rights and have jeopardized national security. Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity: Chilling Muslim Charitable Giving in the “War on Terrorism Financing”, calls on the President, federal agencies and Congress to  rethink and redo laws and policies that make donating to charity and the humanitarian work of NGOs into suspect activities and provide little or no redress for the accused to respond to charges of supporting terrorism. 

Muslim Charities: Caught in the Crosshairs

in
Date: 
May 11, 2009

March 2006 report: Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, U.S.-based charities have become targets in the government's war on terror financing. Despite the implications for all domestic nonprofit organizations, the lion's share of the burden of increased scrutiny, suspicion, and pre-emptive action has fallen on Muslim groups. This report lists issues that the charitable sector and the public must address in order to correct an unfair process and make the war on terror most effective.

Tainted Book: A Misguided View About Charities

in
Date: 
November 19, 2009
Author: 
Kay Guinane

Speaking at a money laundering conference in Washington, DC on Oct. 12, 2009, David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing said, “terrorist organizations' reliance on crime to finance their operations appears to be expanding." Recent reports from RAND and IPSA International provide several examples of “criminal activities,” such as film piracy, illegal drug sales, and organized crime as being a major source of terrorist financing.

Someone needs to tell Avi Jorisch.

Commentary: Insight into Treasury's View of Terrorist Finance from FOIA Docs

in
Date: 
July 6, 2009
Author: 
Wendell Belew (Guest Author)

By Wendell Belew, Belew Law Group, Washington, DC. Mr. Belew represents the Friends of Charity Association, an association of Islamic charities that operate globally (www.foca.net)