Bi-weekly News and Opinion Roundup - February 10, 2020
New from CSN
US Treasury recently updated its strategy on combating the finance of terrorism. In the update, Treasury cites the important role of charities in countering terrorism and notes that the vast majority of U.S. based nonprofits are not high risk for terrorist financing. The change in language marks a significant shift in the perception of charities as conduits for terror financing over the past decade. Read the full story at CSN News. (February 6)
A partial fix to theAnti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) was enacted as part of the 2020 omnibus budget legislation, signed into law in December 2019. The amended language strips out the foreign assistance triggers that caused the abrupt closure of humanitarian aid, peacebuilding, human rights, and other programs in Palestine. The law in 2018 inadvertently made NGOs that received US funding subject to US jurisdiction in ATCA lawsuits; the recent amendment now protects NGOs from such lawsuits. Read the full report at CSN News. (February 4)
Civil Society
In the UK, charities will not have to sign up to a trust created as part of the government’s new anti-money laundering regulations. Originally it was thought that charities would fall within the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD), which would have forced all charitable trusts, irrespective of size, to register with the government’s new trust registration service (TRS). But after lobbying from sector bodies including the Charity Tax Group (CTG), the government has decided that charities will be exempt from registering. (Note: Charities in the UK register with the Charities Commission.) Read more from Kirsty Weakley at Civil Society News. (January 28)
In Nicaragua, a new regulation from the Interior Ministry forbids nonprofits from intervening or promoting human rights or democracy. The regulation’s objective is to “prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism through the improper use of non-profit organizations”. The new regulation is the latest from Ortega’s government to clamp down on civil society. Ivette Munguia reports at Havana Times. (Feb 6)
The Taxpayers First Act (H.R. 3151) will require nonprofits to file their tax returns electronically, and the IRS to release the 990 data to the public. The law is an effort to increase transparency of nonprofit finance, allowing researchers, journalists, and donors to easily compare financial data across the sector. Cinthia Ottinger and Anu Kumar provide analysis at the Aspen Institute. (December 5)
Palestinian NGOs are opposing EU grant stipulations that prevent engagement with listed terrorist organizations, which includes Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The group of Palestinian NGOs argue that imposing conditional funding forces civil society to take a political stance against the actions of Palestinian political factions, who they say have a right to resist the Israeli occupation. Yumna Patel reports at Mondoweiss. (January 24)
Humanitarian Access
The EU called for an end to the bombings in northwest Syria and the opening of a humanitarian corridor as Syrian forces push into the last rebel bastion of Idlib. The statement comes in response to the growing crisis in Idlib following escalated violence in the region. Read the full report at Al Jazeera. (February 6)
Doctors Without Borders says insecurity caused by the Boko Haram conflict has put more than a million Nigerians beyond the reach of humanitarian workers. The Nigerian army does not allow humanitarian agencies to go to areas controlled by the Boko Haram because this would be in violation of international counterterrorism laws. Lisa Schlein reports at VOA. (January 27)
Sanctions
Sanctions are driving up import prices, blocking supply chains, and creating deadly drug shortages in Iran. A new report by Foreign Policy dispels the argument from the U.S. State department that sanctions do not limit access to humanitarian supplies by everyday Iranians and argues that sanctions act as a tool of economic war. Abbas Kebriaeezadeh provides analysis at Foreign Policy. (January 31)
The Department of Treasury conducted an in-depth investigation of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) NGO working in Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 2018, which may lead to stricter sanction compliance for fellow NGOs working in North Korea. A spokesperson from the AFSC stated, “as a relatively small NGO, we spent hundreds of staff hours responding to OFAC questions in 2018.” Read the full story by Chad O’Carroll at NK News. (February 5)
Counter-Terrorist Financing
An August 2019 Bank Secrecy Act GAO report analyzed the effectiveness of BSA reporting mechanisms. GAO provides four recommendations to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). One recommendation states "FinCEN should review options for establishing a mechanism through which law enforcement agencies may provide regular and institution-specific feedback on BSA reporting." Read the full report here. (August 2019)
The Bridge Initiative Team provides a fact sheet of the Bush administration’s take down of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), the first high profile Muslim charity targeted by counterterrorism finance laws post 9/11. Since then the case has been used by ant-Muslim activists and organizations to smear Muslim American leaders and organizations as "terror-linked." Read the fact sheet at Georgetown University. (February 7)
