The court said that in seeking reconsideration in early 2005 “AHIF-Oregon repeatedly sought both an explanation for the designation and a final determination of its request for administrative reconsideration.” [p. 10] Al-Buthe also sought reconsideration.OFAC did not respond to AHIF-OR’s request for a decision, and after more than two years of waiting, AHIF-OR filed suit in federal court in August 2007. 3. On Feb. 1, 2004 Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHIF) charities in six countries to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). [6], On 19 June 2008, U.S. Department of the Treasury "designated" the Al Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHF) "for having provided financial and material support to al Qaida, as well as a wide range of designated terrorists and terrorist organizations." Because the court did not discuss the classified evidence further, it is not possible to draw any conclusions as to the kinds of fact patterns that lead to AHIF-OR’s designation. The court said the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of due process requires Treasury to give adequate notice of the reasons it puts a group on the terrorist list, as well as a meaningful opportunity to respond. Two of the three judges questioned him about this, with Judge Sidney Thomas asking, “Why should I have to guess?” In rebuttal, Prof. David Cole, attorney for AHIF, said the “vast majority” of people and groups on the list are not tied to the U.S., and due process requirements do not apply to them. OFAC’s failure to pursue mitigation measures violated AHIF-Oregon’s due process rights.” [p. 28], As a result, the court said OFAC is expected, at a minimum, to consider “The nature and extent of classified information, the nature and extent of the threat to national security, and the possible avenues available to allow the designated person to respond more effectively to the charges.” [p. 28], AHIF-OR argued that it was unable to effectively respond to the designation because OFAC did not provide a notice with the reasons for its action during the four years between the initial freezing of assets and the re –designation in 2008. [28], On 22 January 2004, in a joint press conference, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow and Adel al-Jubeir, Foreign Affairs Advisor to then Crown Prince Abdullah, called upon the United Nations Sanctions Committee to designate four branch offices of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation as financial supporters of terrorism. The criminal prohibition on “coordinated advocacy” with AHIF-OR violated the First Amendment rights of a community group that sought to advocate in coordination with AHIF-OR, distinguishing it from. YOU MUST HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION TO ACCESS THE REST OF THIS CONTENT. 2. In addition, the global community has frozen over $142 million in terrorist-related assets. On 28 February 2006 the American branch of the foundation filed a lawsuit against President George W. Bush, the NSA, FBI, and several other US officials. Using a variety of means, Al-Haramain Foundation provided financial support to Al-Qaida operatives in Indonesia and to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Although the court rejected AHIF-OR’s claim that a designation cannot be based on classified information, it agreed that “even if OFAC may use classified information, it must undertake some reasonable measure to mitigate the potential unfairness to AHIF-Oregon.” [p. 25] The court approved of AHIF-OR’s suggestion that OFAC could provide an unclassified summary or have its attorney view the evidence after getting a security clearance. AL HARAMAIN ISLAMIC FOUNDATION, INC., AND MULTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN OREGON, Plaintiffs, vs. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY, HENRY M. PAULSON, JR., OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, ADAM J. SZUBIN, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, AND ALBERT0 R. GONZALES, Defendants Civil Case No. The court rejected AHIF-OR’s arguments that Al-Buthe’s designation was unfounded, saying he was not a party to the case and must pursue his own designation challenge. The court held that, since Aqil had resigned from AHIF-OR’s board before it was designated, and there was no evidence of any continued involvement, he did not exercise control over AHIF-OR. As a result, Al-Haramain was folded into the National Commission. A wholesale fish business financed with Al-Haramain funds used some of its profits to help the al Qaeda cell behind the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in East Africa.[4]. 7. In September 2001 AHIF was named a Specially Designated Terrorist Entity by the US government. [22], In 2010 one of the charity's founders (Pete Seda) was convicted of tax-fraud but the conviction was overturned in 2013. Three individuals whose conversations were intercepted, Suliman al-Buthe, Wendell Belew and Asim Ghafoor, learned of the eavesdropping when U.S. officials accidentally delivered logs of phone calls to them. You are currently only seeing 1% of the 10,000-plus pieces of expert insights and analyses available with a TRAC subscription. Although the court said the unclassified record is “not overwhelming,” the classified record, coupled with the “extremely deferential” review it gives in cases involving national security, lead it conclude that substantial evidence supported OFAC’s conclusions. In 2002 the US and Saudi Arabia "jointly designated the Bosnian and Somalian branches of AHIF as financiers of terror, although as of 2008 critics have raised questions as to whether the Saudi government "actually closed the offshore branches of AHIF". The court noted that “In the entire four-year period, only one document could be viewed as supplying some reasons for OFAC’s investigation and designation decision. On Sept. 23, 2011 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that procedures used by the Department of Treasury to shut down the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation of Oregon (AHIF-OR) in 2004 are unconstitutional. The dis-trict court thus did not abuse its discre-tion. The foundation filed another suit in August 2007, challenging the Department of Treasury's 2004 designation of Al Haramain as a "specially designated global terrorist" and the seizure and freezing of all of its assets. [17] [11] At the time of its closing, AHIF had been operating in 50 countries and employed 5,000 workers. Other AHIF organizations remained unlisted, including those based in Oregon and Saudi Arabia. The designation is indefinite…. In June 2008, OFAC designated AHIF worldwide. Did OFAC/Treasury provide AHIF-OR with adequate notice of the reasons it was put on the list and a meaningful opportunity to respond? Thomas H. Nelson of Welches, Oregon, another Foundation lawyer, filed the lawsuit. OFAC argued that it did not need a warrant from a court to freeze AHIF-OR’s assets because a “special needs” exception applied. "[16], The U.S. government accused Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation of Ashland, Oregon of sending $150,000 through Saudi Arabia to fund terrorist activities and support Chechen mujahideen under the guise of humanitarian aid. AL-AQEEL, AQEEL ABDULAZIZ AQEEL", U.S.-Based Branch of Al Haramain Foundation Linked to Terror, Treasury Designates U.S. Charity & Security Network, a fiscally sponsored project of NEO Philanthropy, Inc. [14], According to the Associated Press, Al-Qaeda provided funds to a suspect in the November 2002 bombing of an Israeli hotel in Kenya, using sympathizers inside Al-Haramain and other Islamic charities. [10] According to author Jimmy Gurul, the US government had evidence that "AHIF offices and representatives operating throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe provided financial and logistical support" to groups "designated foreign terrorist organizations by the US State Department", including al-Qaeda, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Jemaah Islamiyah, Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya, Lashkar e-Taibah, and HAMAS. Did AHIF-OR provide material support to terrorism? ), The court called these concerns “abstract,” finding “that they have little practical reality.” [p.27] It noted that OFAC managed to eventually give AHIF-OR a list of reasons for the designation, as it also did in the KindHearts case. 12th Street NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 | (202) 481-6927 | info@charityandsecurity.org. [12], The foundation undertook religious activities such as sponsorship of orphans, preachers, imams and teachers as well as publishing and distributing Islamic books, like translations of the Qur'an, Hadith and other religious writings in Muslim countries. [4], On 7 June 2004, the founder and former leader of AHIF, Aqeel Abdulaziz Aqeel al-Aqeel, was listed on an INTERPOL-United Nations Security Council Special Notice for being associated with Al-Qaeda, Usama bin Laden or the Taliban for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts of activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of" Al-Qaeda.