"
Foreign Terrorist Organization" is a designation for non-United States-based organizations deemed by the
United States Secretary of State, in accordance with section 219 of the U.S.
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), to be involved in what US authorities define as
terrorist activities Most of the organizations as of 2007 on the list are
Islamist extremist groups, with the remainder being mainly communist
[citation needed] groups, followed by
nationalist/separatist groups.
Identification of candidates
The
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (S/CT) in the
U.S. State Department continually monitors the activities of groups active around the world considered
[by whom?]
potentially terrorist to identify potential targets for designation.
When reviewing potential targets, S/CT looks not only at the actual
terrorist attacks that a group has carried out, but also at whether the
group has engaged in planning and preparations for possible future acts
of terrorism or retains the capability and intent to carry out such
acts.
Designation process
Once a target is identified, the Office of the Coordinator for
Counterterrorism prepares a detailed "administrative record," which is a
compilation of information, typically including both classified and
open sources information, demonstrating that the statutory criteria for
designation have been satisfied. If the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the
Attorney General and the
Secretary of the Treasury, decides to make the designation,
United States Congress
is notified of the Secretary's intent to designate the organization and
given seven days to review the designation, as the INA requires. Upon
the expiration of the seven-day waiting period, notice of the
designation is published in the
Federal Register,
at which point the designation takes effect. An organization designated
as an FTO may seek judicial review of the designation in the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit not later than 30 days after the designation is published in the Federal Register.
Under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
the FTO may file a petition for revocation two years after the
designation date (or in the case of redesignated FTOs, its most recent
redesignation date) or two years after the determination date on its
most recent petition for revocation. In order to provide a basis for
revocation, the petitioning FTO must provide evidence that the
circumstances forming the basis for the designation are sufficiently
different as to warrant revocation. If no such review has been conducted
during a five-year period with respect to a designation, then the
Secretary of State is required to review the designation to determine
whether revocation would be appropriate.
The procedural requirements for designating an organization as an FTO
also apply to any redesignation of that organization. The Secretary of
State may revoke a designation or redesignation at any time upon a
finding that the circumstances that were the basis for the designation
or redesignation have changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation,
or that the national security of the United States warrants a
revocation. The same procedural requirements apply to revocations made
by the Secretary of State as apply to designations or redesignations. A
designation may also be revoked by an Act of Congress, or set aside by a
Court order.
Legal criteria for designation
(Reflecting Amendments to Section 219 of the INA in the 2001
USA PATRIOT Act)
- It must be a foreign organization.
- The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in
section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the INA (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a) (3)(B)),* or
terrorism, as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. § 2656f(d)
(2)),** or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorist
activity or terrorism.
- The organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the
security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense,
foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.
Legal ramifications of designation
- It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide "material support or resources"
to a designated FTO. (The term "material support or resources" is
defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b) as "currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets, except medicine or religious materials.")
- Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens,
are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances, removable from the
United States (see 8 U.S.C. §§ 1182 (a)(3)(B)(i)(IV)-(V), 1227
(a)(1)(A)).
- Any U.S. financial institution that becomes aware that it has
possession of or control over funds in which a designated FTO or its
agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the
funds and report the funds to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Other effects of designation
The U.S. Department of State lists the following items as additional considered beneficial effects of designation:
- Supports efforts to curb terrorism financing and to encourage other nations to do the same.
- Stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist organizations internationally.
- Deters donations or contributions to and economic transactions with named organizations.
- Heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations.
- Signals to other governments U.S. concern about named organizations.
Groups designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
List is current as of November 13, 2013,
[1] organized by region and country of origin:
Delisted Foreign Terrorist Organizations
The following groups have been removed from the State Department list, as of Sept. 28, 2012,
[1]
See also
References
External links
- [1], Current list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations at the United States Department of State.web site
- US Department of State's Foreign Terrorist Organizations, released April 8, 2008 Fact Sheet, upon which this article is based, which also contains the legal references.
- US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, 'What you need to know about U.S. Sanctions'
- European Union list of terrorist groups and individuals, 2007
- European Union list of terrorist groups and individuals, january 2009
- Kurth Cronin, Audrey; Huda Aden, Adam Frost, and Benjamin Jones
(2004-02-06) (PDF). Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Congressional
Research Service. http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32223.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-03-04.
- [2] Indictment of John Walker Lindh.
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