Background Paper:


The legal listing of suspected terrorist organizations has serious consequences, both intended and unintended, not only for the targeted entities, but also individuals or organizations interacting with them—including for peaceful and constructive ends. Written by Oliver Wils (of Berghof Peace Support) and Véronique Dudouet (of Berghof Conflict Research), this June 2010 brief presents some of the key challenges of counterterrorism regimes for groups trying to promote peace processes. The entire brief is available here.

 

USIP Report: Reform Listing Procedures to Turn Groups Away From Violence

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A May 2010 report from U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) calls for reforming national security policies to allow for international engagement with armed groups listed as terrorists for peacemaking purposes.  Mediating Peace with Proscribed Armed Groups says reforms such as increasing transparency during the listing process could help conflict mediation groups find peaceful means of turning an armed group away from violence. The report recommends reforming the listing process to better reflect the fluid nature of geopolitics with incentives for groups to become delisted. 

The report was a result of a October 2009 workshop attended by several international peacebuilding organizations, including officials from USIP, Berghof Peace Support, Conciliation Resources, and the HD Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.  Workshop attendees wanted to educate policymakers that political engagement with listed armed groups is not only possible but desirable, especially when conflict parties are interested in exploring peaceful solutions.The workshop focused on identifying different means of engaging with a listed group (e.g., armed groups, such as the LTTE in Sri Lanka and Hamas in the Palestinian Territories), shared lessons from previous mediation cases, and the possibility of severe sanctions for mediators from current antiterrorism laws and regulations.

The report states there is a need for security laws to “recognize the specificities of peacemaking and peacebuilding work, and clearer distinctions should be drawn between such activities and commercial transactions with—or financial support to—proscribed entities.”   The report offers recommendations for President Obama including:
 

  • Conduct a proper evaluation of the effectiveness of existing listing and delisting policies in the context of the greater political objectives of promoting successful peace processes and political settlements
     
  • Improve the transparency of the designation process and incentivize its effects by publishing information on which activities warrant sanctions and what the criteria and procedures are for becoming delisted
     
  • Design more flexible listing and delisting instruments that account for the constantly evolving conflict contexts, actors, and patterns. These instruments should punish violence but encourage or reward moves toward peaceful solutions.
     
  • Create separate legal and political structures to facilitate peaceful mediation with listed groups