Senate Report on Homegrown Terrorism and the Internet Generates Criticism

On May 8, staff for Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) Chair Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME) published a report on homegrown terrorism and the Internet that has raised free speech and guilt-by-association concerns. A coalition of nonprofits and a group of Muslim organizations have both sent letters objecting to the assumptions in the report. In addition, YouTube parent company Google rejected a request from Lieberman to remove all content posted by terrorist organizations, saying videos with legal, nonviolent, and non-hate speech content would remain online.

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USAID Tells NGOs It Will Proceed with Plan to Use Secret Watch List

On April 11, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) told an overflow crowd of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Washington, DC, that the agency is moving forward with the widely criticized Partner Vetting System (PVS) it proposed in 2007. PVS will require USAID grantees to submit highly personal information about key personnel and leaders to be checked against a secret government watchlist. Although USAID representatives said some changes have been made based on public comments, details are not available, and there will be no further public comment period before the final rule is announced.

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Oversight of Terrorist Financing Ignores Problems for Nonprofits

An April 1 Senate Finance Committee hearing continued an unfortunate pattern of insufficient congressional oversight of anti-terrorist financing programs, neglecting to address the unnecessarily harsh impacts the programs have on U.S. charities and philanthropy. Despite an OMB Watch request that the committee hear from additional witnesses, members only heard from Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. Both Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) and Levey raised issues relating to charities that left important questions unasked and unanswered. However, committee staff has agreed to meet with nonprofit representatives.

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Charity Charged with Violating Economic Sanctions in Grants to Orphanage

The Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA-USA) and five of its leaders have been charged with engaging in prohibited transactions with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan rebel leader who was designated as a terrorist in 2003. IARA-USA, which was shut down in October 2004, was funding an orphanage in the Shamshatu Refugee Camp in Pakistan that is located on land belonging to Hekmatyar. The defendants are not charged with supporting terrorism. The leaders, along with a former member of Congress, Mark J. Siljander, have also been charged with misappropriating funds from a federal grant to pay for Siljander to lobby for IARA-USA's removal from a Senate list of organizations suspected of supporting terrorism. The trial is scheduled for November.

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Convictions Based on Publications Raise New Questions for Nonprofits

On Jan. 11, three former leaders of an Islamic charity based in Boston were convicted of tax fraud and making false statements because they did not include a description of their newsletter and its content in their tax-exempt status application and annual Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 990 filings. The prosecution argued that the now-defunct group, Care International, supported jihadist movements in articles in its newsletter and postings on its website. The defense argued that no funds went to jihadist groups and that the leaders were being prosecuted for expressing unpopular political views. The convictions, which could result in prison terms of up to five years, are being appealed. The circumstances of the case, combined with public statements of the prosecutors, raise questions about the free expression rights of nonprofits and the level of detail required when reporting to the IRS.

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Court Says Evidence Must Tie Charities to Terrorist Attack, Overturns $156 Million Judgment

On Dec. 28, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned a $156 million judgment against several U.S.-based charities accused of supporting terrorism. The court ruled that the 2004 award against several charities that required payment of damages to the family of David Boim, who was shot to death in the West Bank in 1996 in an attack attributed to Hamas, must be based on evidence that the charities were directly connected to the murder. The case was sent back to the lower court where there may be a new trial. The case could have a significant impact on the long-term fate of charitable funds seized by the government as part of its financial war on terror.

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Parts of Patriot Act Definition of Support for Terrorism Held Unconstitutional

On Dec. 10, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled several provisions of the Patriot Act unconstitutional. The portions of the 2001 law in question criminalized any support for nonviolent activities of groups deemed by the Bush administration to be "terrorist organizations."

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Charities and National Security: Growing Awareness of Need for Reform

In 2007, the effects of the ineffective and counterproductive legal regime governing counterterrorism programs and charities demonstrated that the current system, based on a short-term emergency response to the 9/11 attacks, needs to be reassessed and reformed for the long term.

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Tamil Rehabilitation Organization and its U.S. Branch Shut Down

On Nov. 15, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, Inc. (TRO) as a supporter of the group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, charging that TRO was a fundraising front. TRO's offices in 18 countries, including one in Cumberland, MD, were also designated. The designations, authorized by Executive Order 13224, prohibit Americans from engaging in financial transactions with designated groups and freeze any assets the groups may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

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Secrecy Hinders Progress of Terrorism Cases

The secrecy of the government's counterterrorism efforts is impeding the progress of bringing suspected terrorists to trial. In reports from The New York Times and The Washington Post, secret government programs and secret court procedures have slowed cases involving suspected and convicted terrorists.

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