Bi-weekly News & Opinion - July 9, 2026

Updated Legal Analysis: Haggai et. al. v. Kiswani et. al.

C&SN updated its analysis of a lawsuit filed on Mar. 24, 2025, against four pro-Palestine student organizations at Columbia University and its student leaders, alleging that the defendants violated both the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Alien Tort Statute. The accusation in this Complaint – that associating with groups or individuals who at a later date were designated as terrorists violated the law – is a shocking attempt to extend the scope of liability for aiding and abetting. (Jul. 9)

What Nonprofits Need to Know About Venezuela General License 60

A day after devastating earthquakes hit Venezuela, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Venezuela-related General License 60, which supplements Venezuela-related GL 29, the standing authorization that lets nonprofits interact with the Government of Venezuela on humanitarian, human rights, or peacebuilding projects. General License 60 is time-bound, and C&SN warns that tying sanctions relief to a fixed end date paralyzes nonprofits and financial institutions from operating around the often long-term timelines for rebuilding following a disaster. Read C&SN’s analysis. (Jul. 9)

Conflating Terrorism with Organized Crime Has Widespread Civil Society Consequences, C&SN Warns UN 

C&SN submitted input to the UN Special Rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, Professor Ben Saul, on the dangers of conflating counterterrorism law with organized crime frameworks. The submission highlights how the Trump Administration’s use of terrorism designations to target criminal organizations threatens to shrink civic space, expand financial de-risking, and violate international human rights law principles with devastating consequences for nonprofits, asylum seekers, and vulnerable populations. Read more at C&SN. (Jul. 9)

9th Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy Review Falls Short of Potential

On Jul. 1, 2026, the UN General Assembly adopted the Ninth Review of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. For the first time in the framework’s 20-year history, the text was not adopted by consensus with the U.S., Israel, and Argentina voting against it. The CSO Coalition on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, of which the Charity & Security Network is a member, issued a statement commending UN delegations that successfully fought to preserve critical protections for gender equality, human rights, and civic space in the UN’s counterterrorism architecture. It also noted that the Review fell short in producing stronger language on accountability, transparency, and oversight. Read C&SN’s takeaways of the Ninth Review. (Jul. 9)

Prairieland: Extreme Sentences Handed Down to Texas Protestors

Eight defendants involved in the Prairieland ICE facility shooting case have been handed exorbitant sentences, ranging from 30 to 100 years in prison. This case is the first material support to terrorism case related to “Antifa” and the first in the Trump Administration’s campaign to link protesters to “domestic terrorism.” The resulting trial and sentencing is a flagrant abuse of counterterrorism authorities and dangerously expands their scope to restrict Freedom of Speech and the wider work of civil society. Read C&SN’s statement. (Jul. 1)

Call for Input: Draft General Comments on UN Treaty for Right to Freedom of Association

The UN Human Rights Committee invites stakeholders to comment on Draft General Comment No. 38, which interprets Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—the foundational treaty provision guaranteeing the right to freedom of association. The draft was completed at the Committee's 145th session in March 2026 and will undergo a second reading, making this a critical window for civil society to shape how the right to freedom of association is interpreted.

• Read the draft General Comment in English, French, or Spanish.
• Civil society organizations, unions, academia, and national human rights institutions are all encouraged to submit comments by the Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2026 deadline. 
• Read submission details on the full call for input. 
• Context: This is a timely opportunity to push back against growing authoritarianism and weigh in on international standards that support civic freedoms.

Consider registering as a C&SN Member (no financial commitment required) to receive our weekly Opportunity Spotlight Newsletter. There we share exclusive opportunities for civil society input, webinars, events, and working groups on key issue areas such as sanctions, material support, financial access, lawfare, civil society rights and resiliency, human rights in counter-terrorism and more. 

Florida Enhances Regulation of Foreign Countries of Concern and Terrorism Organizations

Florida lawmakers passed new state-level national security laws regarding associations with "foreign countries of concern" and "designated foreign terrorist organizations" and began enforcing measures on "domestic terrorist organizations." Read the full analysis at Holland & Knight. (Jun. 30)

• Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights issued a statement warning of the dire threat posed to civil liberties by Florida’s new wave of state anti-terrorism laws and designations. (Jul. 7)

The Criminalization of Muslim Civil Society: Florida’s DTO Regime and the Expansion of Political Exclusion

Following Florida’s moves to expand state-level counterterrorism laws and Governor DeSantis’s announcement that the Council for American Islamic Relations, the Muslim Brotherhood, and “Antifa” would be branded “domestic terrorist organizations,” Muslims for Just Futures created a primer outlining everything civil society need to know about these developments. (Jul. 6)

• The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, Southern Poverty Law Center, Akeel & Valentine, PLC, and Bondurant Mixson & Ellmore LLP filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida officials’ imminent and baseless designation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a “domestic terrorist organization.” Read more at the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Jul. 1)

What to Do if the Government Comes Knocking: A Preparedness Guide for Nonprofits in the NSPM-7 Enforcement Environment

Under the second Trump Administration, nonprofits are facing increased federal investigative scrutiny. Attorneys at Arnold & Porter recommend nonprofits develop incident-response plans to protect themselves in case law enforcement agents arrive with search warrants or subpoenas. Read more at Mondaq. (Jun. 26)

Tax-Exempt Organizations on High Alert

Despite the Trump Administration's threats of stripping nonprofits of their tax-exempt status, Melissa L. Wiley and Ian Buksunksi write that: “Stripping an entity of its tax-exempt status cannot be done by decree; there are specific, multistep processes that must be adhered to, and organizations can generally appeal unfavorable decisions…” Read more at The CPA Journal. (June 2026)

Explore a full list of resources designed to support the nonprofit sector as they prepare and respond to lawsuits, disinformation, and other forms of attack on civil society at C&SN’s Civil Society Rights & Resiliency hub.

The War on Terror Built the Foundation for Trump’s Violence

“As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 quickly approaches, it is critical to recognize that the legal structures, tactics and rhetoric with which the Trump administration is purportedly combating these ‘threats’ come straight from the grim collection of unlawful, immoral, and counterproductive choices that make up the so-called ‘Global War on Terror’ playbook.” Yumna Rizvi and Elizabeth Beavers explore the legacy of the War on Terror and how it has influenced Trump 2.0’s national security strategy. Read more at the Center for International Policy. (Jul. 2)

U.S. Designates Ecuador's Chone Killers Gang a Foreign Terrorist Group

Since President Trump’s return to office, his administration has designated several gangs and drug cartels throughout Latin America as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists—dangerously expanding the scope of counterterrorism authorities by blurring the line of crime and terrorism. Reuters reports on the latest designations in Ecuador. (Jul. 1) 

The Politics of ‘Terrorism’ as a Designation in Eastern DRC

“State actors may apply the charge of ‘terrorist’ as a justification for excessive force against its enemies. This gives them powerful incentives to keep using the label in pursuit of their own agenda.” Niko Berghmans writes for African Arguments. (Jun. 25)

Federal Attacks on Gender: Harmful Implications of Trump’s Expansion of the Mexico City Policy 

The updated Mexico City Policy restricts U.S. foreign assistance from U.S.-based and foreign organizations working on projects related to “gender ideology” and “discriminatory equity ideology” abroad. Riley Sullivan and Kallie Mitchell provide analysis at New Lines Institute. (Jul. 8)

Under-Capacity and Out of Time: 1,000 Days of Limited Aid Access and Humanitarian Disaster in Gaza

A new report from Action for Humanity found that since the Oct. 7 attacks, there have been more days with no aid entering Gaza than days when the UN minimum target for aid trucks was met. Find the full report at ReliefWeb. (Jul. 3)

ICE Finds a New Way to Dodge Congress About a Secret Protester Database

The Trump Administration has repeatedly denied that the Department of Homeland Security maintains a “domestic terrorist” database. But Mother Jones reports on the department’s increasing tendency to sidestep questions about how it may be tracking or surveilling protesters. (Jul. 1)

450 Years in Prison for Saying “Anti-Fascist" 

Ken Klippenstein reports on the fallout of the Prairieland, Texas ICE protest trial and resulting convictions: “the federal government’s first-ever domestic terrorism convictions linked to ‘Antifa’ came thanks to an “expert” witness who has never spent a day in government or academia, as non-public court transcripts I obtained show. He instead cut his teeth at various pro-Israel advocacy groups.” (Jun. 29)

Exclusive: DOJ Taps Gang, Terrorism Prosecutors to Crack Down on Political Groups

Talking Points Memo reports that the Department of Justice has led a Joint Task Force Vanguard since March 2026 designed to implement NSPM-7, the Trump Administration’s official directive ordering federal law enforcement and prosecutors to treat ideologies that oppose the Administration as signs of “domestic terrorism.” (Jun. 29)

The Anatomy of a Show Trial

“... if you protest an ICE facility, communicate on Signal, and read left-wing literature, this administration will officially designate you as a “terrorist” and throw you in a cage for the rest of your natural life,” writes The Save America Movement about the recent Prairieland ICE demonstration case. (Jun. 26)

Sanctions Watch June 2026

Read the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s latest edition of Sanctions Watch, which provides updates and analysis on U.S. sanctions regimes across key contexts, such as Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, and more. (Jun. 30)

Launch of OFAC Reconsideration Portal 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) launched a new online Reconsideration Portal for the submission of requests to be removed from an OFAC sanctions list.  (Jun. 29)

• OFAC also released a guide on how to request removal from an OFAC sanctions list.

CEPR Calls for a Full Lifting of Sanctions in Response to Venezuela Earthquakes

“Most immediately, the Trump administration can avoid the kinds of mistakes made by the previous administration in response to the Syria earthquake in 2023, when lives were lost due to the Biden administration’s belated and limited sanctions waivers…” said Center for Economic Policy and Research’s Director of International Policy Alex Main in a statement. (Jun. 25)

The Charity & Security Network (C&SN)

Follow us on Bluesky and LinkedIn