Impact on U.S. Nonprofits

Since Sept. 11, 2001, counterterrorism programs have eroded the freedom and ability of charities and their funders to carry out their missions.  This is damaging the civil society in the United States and negatively impacting the nation’s reputation and effectiveness on the global stage. 
photo by Kimberly Faye

 

Impact on U.S. Nonprofits

OMB Watch Report on Muslim Charities and Terror Financing

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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.

Power Point of Proposed Policy Reforms

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This power point reviews the Charity and Security Networks' proposed model policies for national security laws applied to charities, aid, development and other nonprofit organizations.  To view it, click on the file attachment below. It will make a download box in the lower left corner of your screen. Click on it to open.

Frustration Toward FBI Boils Over for American Muslim Groups

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Date: 
May 11, 2009

Months of deteriorating relationships between the FBI and major American Muslim organizations came to a head when revelations of a FBI informant posing as a convert in mosques became public in February 2009. The incident, combined with the FBI's disengagement from communications with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has lead several American Muslim advocacy groups to consider a suspension of ongoing outreach with the FBI. The growing tension was raised during a Senate hearing where FBI Director Robert Mueller was questioned about the Bureau's conduct about investigating Muslim organizations.

ACLU Report Documents Ways U.S. Counterterrorism Laws Chill Muslim Donors, Charities

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Date: 
June 15, 2009
External Link: 
ACLU Press Release

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. 

List of Speakers/Experts

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Date: 
July 8, 2009

The Charity and Security Network includes experts with policy, legal and field experience on how national security laws impact nonprofits and the people we serve. If you would like one of these experts as a speaker for Hill hearings or other events, please contact us.

Background: Excerpts from January 2010 Speech by Daniel Benjamin, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism

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Date: 
February 10, 2010

On Jan. 13, 2010, Daniel Benjamin, the State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, delivered the keynote address at a CATO Institute event, The Obama Administration's Counterterrorism Policy at One Year. He spoke about several elements of the President’s counterterrorism strategy, the attempted Christmas Day bombing and terrorist recruitment techniques here and abroad. During his speech, and in the question and answer period that followed, he also shared his thoughts about the "radicalization" process and issues U.S. nonprofits have been wrestling with since 9/11, including the negative impact of anti-terror financing laws. Here are excerpts from his remarks (emphasis added): 

Excerpts from January 2010 Speech by Daniel Benjamin, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism

in
Date: 
February 12, 2010

On Jan. 13, 2010, Daniel Benjamin, the State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, delivered the keynote address at a CATO Institute event, The Obama Administration's Counterterrorism Policy at One Year. He spoke about several elements of the President’s counterterrorism strategy, the attempted Christmas Day bombing and terrorist recruitment techniques here and abroad. During his speech, and in the question and answer period that followed, he also shared his thoughts about the "radicalization" process and issues U.S. nonprofits have been wrestling with since 9/11, including the negative impact of anti-terror financing laws. Here are excerpts from his remarks addressing (emphasis added):

Report: Guide to Nongovernmental Organizations for the Military

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Date: 
February 1, 2010

Hours after the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, both the U.S. military and American and international NGO community were en route to the island country with urgently needed food, water and medical supplies. The crisis in Haiti serves as an example of how disaster relief missions often bring military and NGOs actors together. To improve cooperation with NGOs working in humanitarian relief operations and to establish “social, economic, and political domestic order in the short-term, and in the longer term… conditions for a sustainable peace,” the Department of Defense published the Guide to Nongovernmental Organizations for the Military: A primer for the military about private, voluntary, and nongovernmental organizations operating in humanitarian emergencies globally (Guide) in July 2009. 

President's Cairo Statement on Charitable Giving Rules Welcome

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Date: 
June 29, 2009
Author: 
Kay Guinane

U.S. Charities, both Muslim and non-Muslim, Affected by Outdated Rules, are Ready to Work to Protect Zakat and Humanitarian Programs

Study: Anti-Terror Lessons of Muslim-Americans

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Date: 
January 15, 2010

“Religiously conservative Muslim-Americans are just as vehement in denouncing violence,” says a January 2010 research project finding “Muslim-American communities strongly reject radical jihadi ideology.” Analyzing the scope of terrorist violence by Muslim-Americans since 9/11 and the campaign of “positive steps that help prevent radicalization within their communities,” a trio of North Carolina state professors concluded the number of radicalized Muslim-Americans in the United States remains small. The authors recommend the government augment the activities already taking place in Muslim-American communities that reduce the threat of domestic terrorists.