Treasury Designates New Terrorist Charity

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today targeted the support network of the designated terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam^[1] (Tamil Tigers) by designating a charitable organization that allegedly acts as a front to facilitate fundraising and procurement for the Tamil Tigers.^[2] Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) was designated today under Executive Order 13224, which is aimed at financially isolating terrorist groups and their support networks.^[3]

"TRO passed off its operations as charitable, when in fact it was raising money for a designated terrorist group responsible for heinous acts of terrorism," said Adam J. Szubin, Director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.^[4]

In the United States, it is asserted that TRO has raised funds on behalf of the Tamil Tigers through a network of individual representatives, and according to sources within the organization, TRO is the preferred conduit of funds from the United States to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.^[5] TRO has also allegedly facilitated Tamil Tigers procurement operations in the United States. Those operations included the purchase of munitions, equipment, communication devices, and other technology for the Tamil Tigers.^[6]

TRO's efforts worldwide reportedly have allowed the Tamil Tigers to use humanitarian aid, which TRO collected from the international community after the December 2004 tsunami, to launch new campaigns to strengthen the Tigers military capacity.^[7]

According to its website, TRO maintains a headquarters office in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka and operates branch offices throughout Sri Lanka and in seventeen countries worldwide.^[8]

The Treasury department asserts that Tamil Tigers oversees the activities of TRO and other Tamil Tigers-linked non-governmental organizations in Sri Lanka and abroad.^[9] Directives issued by the Tamil Tigers suggest that Tamil Tigers-affiliated branch representatives are expected to coordinate their efforts with the respective TRO representatives in their locations and report all activity to the Tamil Tigers.^[10]

Federal criminal defense attorney Douglas McNabb has previously discussed the Tamil Tigers in his terrorism crimes blog. These posts can be found here, and here. Discussions of the tigers can also be found in his transnational crimes blog, which can be found here, and here.

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^[1] The U.S. Department of State designated the Tamil Tigers a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on October 8, 1997, in accordance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. On November 2, 2001, the U.S. Department of State named the Tamil Tigers a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under E.O. 13224. Additionally, the Tamil Tigers is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and Canada.
^[2] U.S. Dep’t of Treasury, Press Release, Treasury Targets Charity Covertly Supporting Violence in Sri Lanka, November 15, 2007, available at http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp683.htm (last visited November 15, 2007).
^[3] The Treasury Department is taking this action today pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which freezes any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from transacting with the designees.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] These include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
^[9] Id.
^[10] Id.