Charitable Organizations—Terrorist Organization Designation

One of the more controversial aspects of the United States “long war”^[1] on terrorism is the designation of some charitable organizations as terrorist organizations. For example, the United States State Department late last week “designated Jamaat ud-Dawa and one of its affiliates, Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq, as terrorist organizations, saying they were fronts for Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of the most feared Islamist groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.”^[2] By so designating these groups as terrorist organizations, the United States is able to freeze any assets held by those entities in the United States.^[3]

Pakistan, for its part, says it is “under no obligation to comply with the U.S. decision. ‘We are not required, and we do not put any entities on the terrorist lists, if action is taken under the domestic U.S. law,’” said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam. If the UN were to designate the groups as terrorist organizations, however, that would be a different story.^[4]

Jamaat ud-Dawa has been providing relief to earthquake-stricken areas in Kashmir and northwest Pakistan, while Lashkar-e-Taiba “was banned by Pakistan in January 2002 after a militant attack on the Indian parliament,” which brought the two neighbors “to the brink of war; Lashkar, “which grew out of an anti-US Sunni Muslim missionary group, was put on the terrorist list in 2001.”^[5]

Designating entities as foreign terrorist organizations [hereinafter FTO] has more impact than simply freezing assets. Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act^[6] states that the Secretary of State “is authorized to designate an organization as a [FTO] … if the Secretary finds that:”

• the organization is foreign
• the organization engages in terrorist activity, in terrorism, or retains the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism; and
• the terrorist activity or terrorism of the organization threatens the security of the US nationals or the national security of the US.^[7]

Seven days before making such a designation, the Secretary must, by classified communication, notify the Speaker and Minority Lead of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore, Majority Leader, and Minority Leader of the Senate, and the members of the relevant committees of both houses of Congress.^[8] Within seven days of providing that notification, the Secretary must publish the designation in the Federal Register.^[9] Congress can repeal the designation through an Act of Congress.^[10]

The effect of such a designation has criminal ramifications under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, which makes it a crime for a person to provide material support or resources to a FTO.^[11] However, to constitute a violation of this section, the person “must have knowledge that the organization is a designated terrorist organization.”^[12]

---

[1] See James Dobbins, America Needs to Pick its Fights Carefully, Int’l Herald Tribune, May 2, 2006.
[2] Pakistan Permits Charities US Calls Terrorist, Reuters (via Yahoo!). May 2, 2006.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1189.
[7] Id. § 1189(a)(1).
[8] Id. § 1189(a)(2)(A)(i).
[9] Id. § 1189(a)(2)(A)(ii).
[10] Id. § 1189(a)(2)(B)(ii).
[11] 18 U.S.C. § 2339B(a)(1).
[12] Id.