FACT SHEET
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
October 5, 2001
Fact Sheet: Secretary of State designates Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO's)
The Secretary of State designates Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO's), in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury. These designations are undertaken pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. FTO designations are valid for two years, after which they must be redesignated or they automatically expire. Redesignation after two years is a positive act and represents a determination by the Secretary of State that the organization has continued to engage in terrorist activity and still meets the criteria specified in law.Current List of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations
- In October 1997, former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright approved the designation of the first 30 groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
- In October 1999, Secretary Albright re-certified 27 of these groups' designations but allowed three organizations to drop from the list because their involvement in terrorist activity had ended and they no longer met the criteria for designation.
- Secretary Albright designated one new FTO in 1999 (al Qa'ida) and another in 2000 (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan).
- Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has designated two new FTO's (Real IRA and AUC) in 2001.
- In October 2001, Secretary Powell re-certified the designation of 26 of the 28 FTO's whose designation was due to expire, and combined two previously designated groups (Kahane Chai and Kach) into one.
(as of October 5, 2001)
1. Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
Legal Criteria for Designation2. Abu Sayyaf Group
3. Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
4. Aum Shinrikyo
5. Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
6. Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group)
7. HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement)
8. Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)
9. Hizballah (Party of God)
10. Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
11. al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad)
12. Kahane Chai (Kach)
13. Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
14. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
15. Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)
16. National Liberation Army (ELN)
17. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
18. Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
19. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
20. PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)
21. al-Qa'ida
22. Real IRA
23. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
24. Revolutionary Nuclei (formerly ELA)
25. Revolutionary Organization 17 November
26. Revolutionary People's Liberation Army/Front (DHKP/C)
27. Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)
28. United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)
1.The organization must be foreign.
Effects of Designation2.The organization must engage in terrorist activity as defined in Section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. (** - see below)
3.The organization's activities must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.
Legal
1.It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to provide funds or other material support to a designated FTO.
Other Effects2.Representatives and certain members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, can be denied visas or excluded from the United States.
3.U.S. financial institutions must block funds of designated FTO's and their agents and report the blockage to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury.
1.Deters donations or contributions to named organizations
The Process2.Heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations
3.Signals to other governments our concern about named organizations
4.Stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist organizations internationally
The Secretary of State makes decisions concerning the designation and redesignation of FTO's following an exhaustive interagency review process in which all evidence of a group's activity, from both classified and open sources, is scrutinized. The State Department, working closely with the Justice and Treasury Departments and the intelligence community, prepares a detailed "administrative record" which documents the terrorist activity of the designated FTO. Seven days before publishing an FTO designation in the Federal Register, the Department of State provides classified notification to Congress. Under the statute, designations are subject to judicial review. In the event of a challenge to a group's FTO designation in federal court, the U.S. government relies upon the administrative record to defend the Secretary's decision. These administrative records contain intelligence information and are therefore classified.
FTO designations expire in two years unless renewed. The law allows groups to be added at any time following a decision by the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary may also revoke designations after determining that there are grounds for doing so and notifying Congress.
** The Immigration and Nationality Act defines terrorist activity to mean: any activity which is unlawful under the laws of the place where it is committed (or which, if committed in the United States, would be unlawful under the laws of the United States or any State) and which involves any of the following:(I) The highjacking or sabotage of any conveyance (including an aircraft, vessel, or vehicle).
Released on October 5, 2001(II) The seizing or detaining, and threatening to kill, injure, or continue to detain, another individual in order to compel a third person (including a governmental organization) to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the individual seized or detained.
(III) A violent attack upon an internationally protected person (as defined in section 1116(b)(4) of title 18, United States Code) or upon the liberty of such a person.
(IV) An assassination.
(V) The use of any-
(a) biological agent, chemical agent, or nuclear weapon or device, or
(b) explosive or firearm (other than for mere personal monetary gain), with intent to endanger, directly or indirectly, the safety of one or more individuals or to cause substantial damage to property.
(VI) A threat, attempt, or conspiracy to do any of the foregoing.
(iii) The term "engage in terrorist activity" means to commit, in an individual capacity or as a member of an organization, an act of terrorist activity or an act which the actor knows, or reasonably should know, affords material support to any individual, organization, or government in conducting a terrorist activity at any time, including any of the following acts:
(I) The preparation or planning of a terrorist activity.
(II) The gathering of information on potential targets for terrorist activity.
(III) The providing of any type of material support, including a safe house, transportation, communications, funds, false documentation or identification, weapons, explosives, or training, to any individual the actor knows or has reason to believe has committed or plans to commit a terrorist activity.
(IV) The soliciting of funds or other things of value for terrorist activity or for any terrorist organization.
(V) The solicitation of any individual for membership in a terrorist organization, terrorist government, or to engage in a terrorist activity.
Federal Register: October 5, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 194)
Notices
Page 51088-51090
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
[Public Notice 3795]
Redesignation of Foreign Terrorist Organization
AGENCY: Department of State.
ACTION: Redesignation of foreign terrorist organizations.
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Pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
("INA"), as added by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-132, Sec. 302, 110 Stat. 1214, 1248
(1996), and amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (1996),
the Secretary of State hereby redesignates, effective October 5, 2001,
the following organizations as foreign terrorist organizations:
Abu Nidal Organization
Also known as ANO
Also known as Black September
Also known as the Fatah Revolutionary Council
Also known as the Arab Revolutionary Council
Also known as the Arab Revolutionary Brigades
Also known as the Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims
Abu Sayyaf Group
Also known as Al Harakat Al Islamiyya
Armed Islamic Group
Also known as GIA
Also known as Groupement Islamique Arme
Also known as Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah al-Musallah
Aum Shinrikyo
Also known as Aleph
Also known as Aum Supreme Truth
Also known as A.I.C. Sogo Kenkyusho
Also known as A.I.C. Comprehensive Research Institute
Basque Fatherland and Liberty
Also known as Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna
Also known as ETA
Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Also known as the Islamic Group
Also known as IG
Also known as al-Gama'at
Also known as Islamic Gama'at
Also known as Egyptian al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya
Also known as GI
Hamas
Also known as the Islamic Resistance Movement
Also known as Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya
Also known as Students of Ayyash
Also known as Students of the Engineer
Also known as Yahya Ayyash Units
Also known as Izz Al-Din Al-Qassim Brigades
Also known as Izz Al-Din Al-Qassim Forces
Also known as Izz Al-Din Al-Qassim Battalions
Also known as Izz al-Din Al Qassam Brigades
Also known as Izz al-Din Al Qassam Forces
Also known as Izz al-Din Al Qassam Battalions
Harakat ul-Mujahideen
Also known as HUM
Also known as Harakat ul-Ansar
Also known as HUA
Hizballah
Also known as the Party of God
Also known as Islamic Jihad
Also known as Islamic Jihad Organization
Also known as Revolutionary Justice Organization
Also known as Organization of the Oppressed on Earth
Also known as Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine
Also known as Organization of Right Against Wrong
Also known as Ansar Allah
Also known as Followers of the Prophet Muhammed
al-Jihad
Also known as Egyptian al-Jihad
Also known as New Jihad
Also known as Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Also known as Jihad Group
Kahane Chai
Also known as Kach
Also known as Kahane Lives
Also known as the Kfar Tapuah Fund
Also known as The Judean Voice
Also known as The Judean Legion
Also known as The Way of the Torah
Also known as The Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea
Also known as the Repression of Traitors
Also known as Dikuy Bogdim
Also known as DOV
Also known as the State of Judea
Also known as the Committee for the Safety of the Roads
Also known as the Sword of David
Also known as Judea Police
Also known as Forefront of the Idea
Also known as The Qomemiyut Movement
and
Also known as KOACH
Kurdistan Workers' Party
Also known as the PKK
Also known as Partiya Karkeran Kurdistan
Also known as the People's Defense Force
Also known as Halu Mesru Savunma Kuvveti (HSK)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Also known as LTTE
Also known as Tamil Tigers
Also known as Ellalan Force
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization
Also known as MEK
Also known as MKO
Also known as Mujahedin-e Khalq
Also known as People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran
Also known as PMOI
Also known as Organization of the People's Holy Warriors of Iran
Also known as Sazeman-e Mujahedin-e Khalq-e Iran
Also known as National Council of Resistance
Also known as NCR
Also known as National Council of Resistance of Iran
Also known as NCRI
Also known as the National Liberation Army of Iran
Also known as NLA
National Liberation Army
Also known as the ELN,
Also known as Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional
Palestine Islamic Jihad-Shaqaqi Faction
Also known as PIJ-Shaqaqi Faction
Also known as PIJ-Shallah Faction
Also known as Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Also known as PIJ
Also known as Islamic Jihad of Palestine
Also known as Islamic Jihad in Palestine
Also known as Abu Ghunaym Squad of the Hizballah Bayt Al-Maqdis
Also known as the Al-Quds Squads
Also known as the Al-Quds Brigades
Also known as Saraya Al-Quds
Also known as Al-Awdah Brigades
Palestine Liberation Front-Abu Abbas Faction
Also known as the Palestine Liberation Front
Also known as the PLF
Also known as PLF-Abu Abbas
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Also known as the PFLP
Also known as the Red Eagles
Also known as the Red Eagle Group
Also known as the Red Eagle Gang
Also known as the Halhul Gang
Also known as the Halhul Squad
Also known as Palestinian Popular Resistance Forces
Also known as PPRF
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command
Also known as PFLP-GC
al Qa'ida
Also known as al Qaeda
Also known as "the Base"
Also known as the Islamic Army
Also known as the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and
Crusaders
Also known as the Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places
Also known as the Usama Bin Laden Network
Also known as the Usama Bin Laden Organization
Also known as Islamic Salvation Foundation
Also known as The Group for the Preservation of the Holy Sites
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Also known as FARC
Also known as Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia
Revolutionary Nuclei
Also known as the Revolutionary People's Struggle
Also known as Epanastatikos Laikos Agonas
Also known as ELA
Also known as Revolutionary Popular Struggle
Also known as Popular Revolutionary Struggle
Also known as June 78
Also known as Organization of Revolutionary Internationalist Solidarity
Also known as Revolutionary Cells
Also known as Liberation Struggle
Revolutionary Organization 17 November
Also known as 17 November
Also known as Epanastatiki Organosi 17 Noemvri
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front
Also known as Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi
Also known as the DHKP/C
Also known as Devrimci Sol
Also known as Revolutionary Left
Also known as Dev Sol
Also known as Dev Sol Silahli Devrimci Birlikleri
Also known as Dev Sol SDB
Also known as Dev Sol Armed Revolutionary Units
Shining Path
Also known in Spanish as Sendero Luminoso
Also known as SL
Also known as Partido Comunista del Peru en el Sendero Luminoso de Jose
Carlos Mariategui
Also known as Communist Party of Peru on the Shining Path of Jose
Carlos Mariategui
Also known as Partido Comunista del Peru
Also known as Communist Party of Peru
Also known as PCP
Also known as Socorro Popular del Peru
Also known as People's Aid of Peru
Also known as SPP
Also known as Ejercito Guerrillero Popular
Also known as People's Guerrilla Army
Also known as EGP
Also known as Ejercito Popular de Liberacion
Also known as People's Liberation Army
Also known as the EPL.
Dated: September 28, 2001.
Francis X. Taylor,
Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 01-24911 Filed 10-4-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-10-P