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Home :  Nonprofit Issues :  Advocacy Blog : 
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

OMB Watch in the News "Trials of Muslim Charities Likened to a Witch-hunt"

IPS News reports; "The U.S. government's anti-terrorist financing programmes are based on the 'guilt by association' tactics of the McCarthy era and have had a widespread negative impact on U.S. charities, critics say. That is the view of Kay Guinane, director of the Nonprofit Speech Rights Programme . . . Guinane told IPS that government actions have resulted in programme cutbacks and increased fear of speaking out on important public issues."

The article quotes our April 1 press release following the Senate Finance committee hearing on anti-terrorism financing. "The organisation accused Congress of continuing 'an unfortunate pattern of insufficient congressional oversight of anti-terrorist financing programmes, neglecting to address the unnecessarily harsh impacts the programmes have on U.S. charities and philanthropy."

During the April 1 hearing, the opening statement of the committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT), referred to failed criminal prosecutions of charities suspected of having ties to terrorism, asking if the prosecutions "were off base" or if the government should "do a better job of monitoring these organisations?"

Georgetown University law school professor David Cole, told IPS, "The 'material support' principle is 'guilt by association' in 21st-century garb, and presents all of the same problems that criminalising membership and association did during the Cold War. . . . He recommends that the Treasury Department be required to permit closed charities to direct their collected funds to charities mutually approved by the frozen charity and the government;" which is a plan of action that OMB Watch has been advocating for.



Posted by Amanda Adams, 12:46:35 PM



Thursday, April 03, 2008

OMB Watch Disappointed With One-Sided Hearing on Anti-Terrorist Financing

On April 1, OMB Watch issued a press release objecting to a Senate Finance Committee hearing on anti-terrorism financing. During the hearing, Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) referenced a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report released May 2007 that suggested the Internal Revenue Service should screen U.S. charities against terrorist watch lists. Last June OMB Watch wrote to Treasury opposing the continual accusation that charities "are a significant source of alleged terrorist support."

The OMB Watch press release states; "We call on the committee to remedy this error of omission by holding an oversight hearing into the damage to humanitarian aid and other charitable programs caused by current Treasury policies and procedures."

During Baucus' opening remarks, he noted; "the Acting Commissioner did not give me a lot of confidence that the administration is being aggressive enough in establishing links between nonprofits and terrorism financing." A BNA Money and Politics ($$) article also records the opposition of OMB Watch to checking the watch lists for charities with connections to terrorism.



Posted by Amanda Adams, 05:31:02 PM



Monday, March 24, 2008

New Group to Help Muslim Charities Worldwide

Today's Chronicle on Philanthropy blog reports on formation of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, an international effort to help Muslim donors and organizations make the public more aware of their work and to increase organizational capacity.

The group held a two day inaugural meeting in Istanbul, and will set up offices in the United States and at least one Muslim country. The founder is Tariq H. Cheema, a Pakistani doctor living in Illinois. The blog said,

After years of nonprofit work, including assisting victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, Mr. Cheema said he saw the need to bring together the world's Islamic donors....s part of its work, the congress plans to create a Web site, SecureGiving, to rank charities in Muslim countries based on an as-yet-undecided criteria of governance and management standards. Mr. Cheema said the effort will help donors make sure their money is not supportıng terrorists posing as Islamic charities, a concern that has grown since the September 11, 2001, attacks.


Posted by Kay Guinane, 02:56:12 PM



Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Treasury Releases Information on Complaints Made by Individuals Wrongly Placed on Terrorist Watchlist

In response to a federal court order, the U.S. Treasury Department released to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) of the San Francisco Bay Area over 100 pages of documents that show that a terror watch list has wrongly linked ordinary Americans to terrorism. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency within the Treasury, maintains a list referred to as the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, of over 6,000 names of suspected drug traffickers and terrorists, which includes individuals and organizations. The documents released by Treasury include Congressional inquiries on behalf of constituents and correspondence from consumers who have been told they cannot conduct various financial transactions because their names allegedly appear on the SDN list.

Thomas R. Burke, the lawyer representing LCCR was quoted in the LCCR press release; "The records released today suggest that little if anything is being done by the government to help individuals who are wrongly linked by their own government with illegal activity. … one should question the efficacy of a terrorist watch list that wrongly stigmatizes innocent Americans and provides them no recourse."

On March 28, 2007, Treasury Department Secretary Paulson testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee that the Treasury Department had received 90,000 calls over a one-year period regarding the OFAC list. In court filings, the Treasury Department stated that it does not track details about phone calls it receives regarding erroneous name matches.

The Washington Post covered the story by highlighting some individuals that have been affected. "One man went into a Glen Burnie, Md., Toyota dealership to buy a car, only to be told that a name check revealed he was on a U.S. Treasury Department watchlist of suspected terrorists and drug dealers. He had to be "checked for tattoos," he said, to make sure he wasn't the suspect."

The newly released documents are available on the LCCR website, here.



Posted by Amanda Adams, 02:20:43 PM



Friday, March 14, 2008

House Passes FISA Bill

After a closed secret session last night, the House met again this morning (March 14) to debate an amendment to HR 3773. With a vote of 213-197, the measure passed and now will be sent back to the Senate. It is bound to face a lot of opposition in the Senate and unlikely to reach President Bush.



Posted by Amanda Adams, 04:33:56 PM



Thursday, March 13, 2008

Fix FISA.com Leahy and Conyers Make A Letter to the Editor Easy

You can help! Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representative John Conyers (D-MI) have made the public's involvement even easier with an online tool to help with the process of writing a letter to your local paper. By typing in your zip code to find your local media outlets, a template for a letter then appears. If you have trouble writing, there are even talking points available to guide you along.

"Your letter-to-the-editor will ensure that friends and neighbors in your own community see past the Administration's fear-mongering. And when your Members of Congress turn to the editorial page in their hometown newspaper, they'll think twice about siding with Administration officials and phone companies who illegally spied on their constituents."

Click here to begin writing your letter to the editor!

Meanwhile, Before the House considered the amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), House Judiciary Chair Conyers and 19 other Judiciary committee Democrats issued a long statement explaining why they believe telecommunication companies should not be protected from lawsuits. "We have concluded that the administration has not established a valid and credible case justifying the extraordinary action of Congress enacting blanket retroactive immunity as set forth in the Senate bill." They support the new FISA plan as the House will consider it today, where the telecom companies can present their defenses in district court.



Posted by Amanda Adams, 03:53:29 PM



Tuesday, March 11, 2008

New FISA Plan This Week in the House

House Democrats plan to consider legislation to revise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) this week. Importantly, the draft proposal would not fall in line with the Senate bill and grant retroactive immunity to phone companies that helped the administration with its warrantless wiretapping program. According to the New York Times, "the tentative proposal would give the federal courts special authorization to hear classified evidence and decide whether the phone companies should be held liable. House Democrats have been working out the details of their proposal in the last few days, officials said, and expect to take it to the House floor for a vote on Thursday."

In addition, the measure would include the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the warrantless surveillance initiative, and find out how the program was run. The House bill would also require a warrant for the surveillance of foreign targets that may be communicating with people in the U.S., but would permit surveillance of a large number of such targets at once. It also requires court approval of new surveillance programs before they begin, except for in emergencies. The major difference regarding retroactive immunity will remain, leaving acceptance in the Senate questionable.



Posted by Amanda Adams, 01:30:38 PM



Monday, March 10, 2008

Colbert on the Protect America Act
Stephen Colbert explains why the Protect America Act should pass to give telecommunications companies immunity for illegal wiretapping in this Colbert Report segment AT & Treason.

For a serious update, see the Feb. 20, 2008 OMB Watcher House Forces Expiration of Protect America Act and the Advocacy Blog Charities and Security section.

Posted by Kay Guinane, 04:40:34 PM



Friday, March 07, 2008

FISA Moves Into Next Week

The Politico reports that House Democrats are planning to send a modified bill amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) back to the Senate. "The first title of the modified bill is expected to reflect proposed compromises already reached with Senate negotiators regarding the surveillance program. But the second seems sure to reflect continued differences over liability for telecommunications companies that cooperated with the surveillance program the president approved in the wake of 9/11." The House still may resist the push to accept the Senate bill, S.2248, the FISA Amendments Act.



Posted by Amanda Adams, 05:00:21 PM



Friday, February 29, 2008

Two Muslim Charities Demand Correction of Wall Street Journal Article

On Feb. 23 the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article Islamic Charities Draw More Scrutiny, that described the government's ongoing program to shut down charities it suspects of having ties to terrorist organizations. After summarizing a sequence of government designations of U.S. charities as supporters of terrorism, the article says, "Two other charities, Kinder USA and Life for Relief and Development, remain under investigation but have denied any ties to terrorism."

That sentence drew strong rebukes from the two charities named. Attorneys for each have written the WSJ demanding a retraction and correction.

  • Ohio attorney John Kilroy sent a letter on behalf of Kinder USA that pointed out Kinder's cooperation four years ago with a U.S. grand jury that subpoenaed records. No charges or requests for further information were ever made, and Kilroy says, "the conclusion reached by me and by my client is that 'investigation', if could call it that, concluded long ago." Kilroy goes on to say, "As implication of an investigation or links to terrorism has a negative impact on charitable fundraising, you have an obligation to your readers, if not to the charity itself, to substantiate your claim with credible resources."
  • Attorney Shereef Akeel, writing on behalf of Life for Relief and Development, said the FBI told the 15 year old group that a "September 2006 raid by federal agents was unrelated to terrorism." No charges have been filed against the group. Akeel also said the article "undermines our country's war against hunger by discouraging prospective donors from donating to LIFE's highly reputed projects." Akeel asked for retraction within 20 days, noting Michigan law that allows damages for defamation.

See more information about Kinder USA and Life for Relief and Development on our website. In addition, this Detroit News Online article describes how the raid on LIFE followed shortly after large demonstrations in the Detroit area that protested Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. The Feb. 21 issue of TIME has an article, A Doctor's Life in Bahdad that describes the challenges faced by charities in conflict zones, including a reference to LIFE.

Posted by Kay Guinane, 12:12:45 PM



Thursday, February 21, 2008

Help Stop Immunity for Telecommunications Companies!

People For the American Way (PFAW) has a petition that will be sent to Congress urging the rejection of retroactive immunity for telecom companies that assisted with the warrantless wiretapping program. Click here to sign the petition. PFAW has also just completed a compilation of activists across the country that sent in video testimonials opposing immunity. The Senate passed a bill last week to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that includes retroactive immunity, but the House has so far refused to give in, which is why this petition is so important. Read OMB Watch coverage from the latest Watcher, "House Forces Expiration of Protect America Act".

Click here to watch PFAW's video and to sign the petition.



Posted by Amanda Adams, 06:17:35 PM



Rally in Maine Protests Homegrown Terrorism Bill

S.1959, the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" was the subject of a protest in Portland Maine. Sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), the bill would set up a government commission to study U.S. based terrorism. The commission would examine and report on what the bill calls "violent radicalization," "homegrown terrorism" and "ideologically based violence."

The Portland Press Herald reports that the protesters are concerned about the bill's vague language that could lead to a violation of free speech rights. The speakers at the rally considered the proposal to be "reminiscent of the House Un-American Activities Commission, which investigated suspected Communists during the 1950s and is now seen widely as part of a shameful chapter in U.S. history."

Maureen Block, the rally's organizer, said the bill would use fear and intimidation to try to silence people whose views challenge authority. Shortly before the rally, Collins' office distributed a news release about the bill. The news release notes that the measure would not criminalize any behavior, but only study threats.

Read OMB Watch coverage of the bill here, "Study Commission or Thought Police?"



Posted by Amanda Adams, 04:18:39 PM



Judge Rules that Treasury Must Release Some Documents on Watch List

The U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California ruled that the Treasury Department must release to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) of the San Francisco Bay Area documents detailing complaints from people who claim they were wrongly placed on a terrorist watch list. The lawsuit challenges Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), seeking further information about how Treasury manages its list of 6,000 suspected or known terrorists and others, called the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.

The LCCR press release states that increasingly "private companies, including banks, mortgage companies, car dealerships, health insurers, landlords and employers, screen consumers' names against the OFAC list. Few people in the United States are actually on the list, but sharing a first, last or even middle name with someone on the list can trigger a 'false positive' match. Consumers discover the OFAC alert when they are told that they cannot make a purchase, open an account, or do business because their name appears on a terror list. On March 28, 2007, Treasury Department Secretary Paulson testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee that the Treasury Department had received 90,000 calls over a one-year period regarding the OFAC list and that the Treasury Department was 'concerned' about the serious hardship on ordinary Americans wrongly flagged as terrorists or drug traffickers."

The lawsuit began when LCCR filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in August 2005 that requested OFAC information on the SDN list dating from 2000. Without receiving any documents from Treasury, LCCR filed a lawsuit in May 2007.

The recent decision ordered Treasury to release certain records, such as public emails, letters, and petitions that requested names to be removed from the list. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the judge "refused to order the department to provide a breakdown of phone calls made to the agency's public hot line - more than 90,000 in a recent one-year period, according to congressional testimony - or to describe the nature of the inquiries and how they were handled. She also declined to require information on how the department verifies the accuracy of the list and handles complaints, saying officials had found no such documents."



Posted by Amanda Adams, 04:02:35 PM



Friday, February 15, 2008

House Democrats Hold Out For Conference, while GOP Walk Out To Protest

Revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) remain at a stand still. The House turned down a 21 day extension of the temporary Protect America Act, law governing electronic surveillance, with a 229-191 vote. Rather than taking action on the Senate's bill that would provide retroactive immunity for companies, House Democrats will let the law expire holding firm for a conference of the bill. The President asserts that this will put our nation at risk. Clearly using fear tactics to get Congress to act, President Bush commented yesterday, "terrorists are planning new attacks on our country. Their goal is to bring destruction to our shores that will make September the 11th pale by comparison." Bush has repeatedly pledged his support for the Senate measure, and promised to oppose any more extensions or temporary bills.

On the other hand, some argue that having the law expire will have no immediate detrimental effect; the law's provisions remain in effect for a year, giving Congress time to debate. This fact sheet from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) argues that surveillance will not end.

Acting in protest, House Republicans left the chamber yesterday Feb. 14, angry that Democratic leaders did not call up the Senate passed bill.

According to CQ ($$), Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), will begin meeting with their Senate counterparts to discuss how to move to conference on a final bill. Pelosi said her timetable for conference bill uses the defeated 21 day extension. CQ quoted Pelosi; "The president says he won't sign an extension. That said to me the president knows he doesn't need an extension. He knows he has the authority' to continue current investigations and to launch new ones, with a FISA court order, she said."



Posted by Amanda Adams, 12:03:39 PM



Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Senate Passes FISA Bill Protecting Phone Companies

As expected, the Senate passed a measure to revise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), S.2248, granting retroactive legal immunity for telecommunications companies that helped with warrantless surveillance. After weeks of debate and votes on amendments, the bill remains basically the same as it did when passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee. None of the amendments passed that would have in any way reduced executive spying powers.

The New York Times describes the events; "After more than a year of wrangling, the Senate handed the White House a major victory on Tuesday by voting to broaden the government's spy powers and to give legal protection to phone companies that cooperated in President Bush's program of eavesdropping without warrants."

The temporary extension expires February 16, leaving little time for a House-Senate conference to resolve the very different measures. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has introduced a 15 day extension to allow time to complete negotiations, but President Bush has said he would refuse to sign it. Now Congress will be up against the argument that if the Senate version is not simply accepted or if the current law is left to expire, the country will be vulnerable to a terrorist attack. This ignores the fact that current investigations can continue until August or possibly later, and the FISA court can still be used to get approval for new wiretaps. As a quote from Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) explains; "Some people around here get cold feet when threatened by the administration."

The main discrepancy between the two chambers is the issue of immunity, and House Democrats argue that the administration has not provided enough evidence to justify providing such retroactive immunity. In a letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) said, "refusal to provide the requested information belies its position on the importance of legislation: rather than the Administration giving Congress all the information it needs, the Administration has provided a slow trickle of information to only selected members of Congress, almost assuring that Congress cannot adequately consider its requests." Conyers' letter also requested additional. In addition, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and two subcommittee chairs sent a dear colleague letter urging House Members to avoid rushing into a decision on retroactive immunity.



Posted by Amanda Adams, 12:49:16 PM




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