In a recent report, Guinane's organization charged that in the name of "global war on terror," the U.S. government is waging war on non-governmental organizations by applying "shortsighted, undemocratic policies" that are "constraining the critical activities of the charitable and philanthropic sectors, stifling free speech, and ultimately impeding the fight against terrorism."
The report found that "U.S. counterterrorism laws have made it increasingly difficult for U.S.-based organizations to operate overseas. For example, after the 2004 tsunami, U.S. organizations operating in areas controlled by the Tamil Tigers, a designated terrorist organization, risked violating prohibitions against 'material support' when creating displaced persons' camps and hospitals, traveling, or distributing food and water."
It concluded that the government views nonprofits as "conduits for terrorist funding and a breeding ground for aggressive dissent." It accused the courts of being "overly deferential" to the U.S. Treasury Department, which is responsible for conducting programs designed to stem the flow of money to terrorist organizations. And it contended that federal agencies "ignore nonprofits' calls for change," and that "Congress has not utilized its oversight powers to review counterterrorism programs."
The result, the report said, is that the U.S. nonprofit community today "operates in fear of what may spark (the government) to use its power to shut them down."
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) was the target of much of the report's criticism of the government's approach. After 9/11, Congress gave the government sweeping new powers to crack down on not-for-profit organizations that were allegedly using their charitable status as cover for funneling funds to terrorist groups.
These powers include the authority to designate any charity as a material supporter of terrorism. This action demands virtually no due process from the government, denies the target to see the evidence against it, and can result in freezing of a charity's assets, effectively shutting it down.
Guinane told us that the OFAC terrorist "watchlist" was originally designed to identify drug kingpins and other more conventional criminals and is of little value due to "questionable accuracy" caused by numerous duplications. Moreover, she said, most not-for-profit groups, especially smaller ones, lack the resources to monitor it.
She added, "I don't think there should be special rules governing not-for-profits that support Muslim causes. This has evolved into a bizarre regulatory regime that is unduly discriminatory."
In 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) launched its Spy Files Project and uncovered an intricate system of domestic spying on U.S. nonprofits largely condoned by expanded counterterrorism powers within the USA PATRIOT Act.
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