[Pen-l] The UN terror list

[ken hanly <northsunm@xxxxxxxxx>]

 I am surprised there is not more publicity and
criticism of this list. You can have your assets
frozen  without benefit of any hearing or ability to
question the evidence upon which your name has been
put on the list. The no-fly list is bad enough but
this is a legal outrage.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/gensanc/2006/1002blacklist.htm

The Black Hole of a UN Blacklist
By David Crawford
Wall Street Journal 
October 2, 2006 

Governments around the world have drawn criticism for
some extrajudicial steps taken to corral suspected
terrorists, from secret prisons to surreptitious
abductions to deportations that could lead to torture
or execution. Meanwhile, a program overseen by the
United Nations Security Council has stripped hundreds
of people of assets and international-travel rights --
and even the right to earn a salary or buy groceries
-- without so much as a hearing, let alone trial or
appeal. Apart from suspects' lawyers and a European
human-rights watchdog, the program has drawn little
scrutiny. 


Today, 359 people are on this blacklist created by
Security Council Resolution 1267. No court process is
involved in adding someone to the list, nor is it
debated by the council's member states. Those added
have no right to present exculpatory evidence to
Security Council members, nor any right of appeal. 


Cutting Off Funding 


The U.S. and other governments say these sanctions are
an important weapon in the fight against international
terrorism, cutting suspects off from the money they
need to communicate and operate, either from jail or
when the law would otherwise let them go free. 


Opponents say the program has lost its original
purpose and is used by governments to evade due
process in pursuit of alleged terrorists and their
accomplices. Critics also decry the opportunity for
governments to abuse the system by framing dissidents
and others who draw official disfavor. "This isn't
about preventing terrorism. This is punishment without
trial," says German lawyer Gül Pinar, who represents
several people in Germany who are on the U.N. list. 


A Security Council report in March aired concerns
about how effective the program has been against
terrorism. In a letter to the panel's president, the
chairman of the committee that oversees the list cited
inconsistent enforcement among nations, noting many
suspects continue to cross borders. Resolution 1267
was passed in 1999 to pressure Afghanistan's Taliban
rulers to hand over Osama bin Laden after Washington
accused him of masterminding the 1998 bombing of U.S.
embassies in Africa. Rather than impose broad economic
sanctions, which would hurt the Afghan population, the
Security Council aimed to isolate and punish Taliban
leaders. A year later, the restrictions were applied
to Mr. bin Laden and some of his associates. 


Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S.,
Resolution 1267 has been used against a much wider
group, including suspected and convicted al Qaeda
operatives and their networks. Some people on the U.N.
list have been tried and convicted of
terrorist-related offenses and are in jail. Some, like
Mr. bin Laden, are or were fugitives. Others inhabit a
grayer zone. 


Take Saad al-Fagih, whom Saudi Arabia accuses of
complicity in an attempted assassination and of
helping to buy the satellite phone Mr. bin Laden used
to direct the embassy bombings. Mr. Fagih has never
been charged with a crime in the United Kingdom, where
he lives. His designation on the U.N. list "is a
critical part of the international campaign to counter
terrorism," according to a U.S. Treasury Department
statement. Two cellphones chirp constantly as Mr.
Fagih, a Saudi citizen, pilots a Honda Civic through
busy London traffic en route to a four-bedroom
townhouse in a tony neighborhood of northwest London.
The home, like the car and the phones, is in his
wife's name. Mr. Fagih denies any ties or past
dealings with Mr. bin Laden: "If it were true, why
haven't I been charged?" he asks. 

Heino Vahldieck, the head of intelligence in Hamburg,
Germany, says administrative pressure, such as 1267
sanctions, is used against men like Mr. Fagih when
circumstantial evidence tying them to terrorism is
considered overwhelming but criminal prosecution is
difficult or impossible. "We need to be creative," he
says. 

Although most of the list's designated Taliban
supporters are Afghan nationals, those accused of al
Qaeda links are more diverse, including at least one
U.S. citizen, three Britons, two Germans and five
Saudi Arabian citizens. The blacklist includes at
least 35 Tunisians, five Moroccans, 10 Egyptians and
77 individuals of indeterminate nationality, according
to the U.N.'s official 1267 sanctions list. 

Sanctions Survive Acquittal 


Last year, a court in Hamburg found Abdelghani Mzoudi
-- a Moroccan student and former roommate of three
Sept. 11 pilots -- not guilty on all charges of
logistical support for those hijack attacks. Despite
the acquittal, Mr. Mzoudi, who returned to Morocco
after his trial, remains sanctioned under 1267 for his
alleged support of al Qaeda. 

Mamoun Darkazanli, who lives in Hamburg, was
designated under 1267 in October 2001, shortly after
he told police he spent Sept. 11 watching television
with a man who later admitted -- under interrogation
in Syria -- that he recruited three pilots for the
attacks. Mr. Darkazanli, whose lawyer notes her client
has never been convicted of a crime, was left
destitute when banking restrictions made it impossible
to run his import-export business. He survives on
welfare payments authorized by the Security Council. 

This year, the Council of Europe, an intergovernmental
human-rights watchdog, said in a report requested by
the U.N. that the 1267 process doesn't comply with
Europe's convention on human rights because it
provides no protection against arbitrary decisions and
has no mechanism to review the accuracy of allegations
governments make. Those targeted have no recourse
against national governments, which can simply say
they are bound to follow the dictates of the Security
Council. 

The procedure to designate someone an al Qaeda or
Taliban supporter is simple. A government submits a
name to the Security Council's 1267 committee, which
circulates it among the 15 council members, along with
supporting details. There are no formal standards of
evidence required for designation, a diplomat involved
in the process said, adding. "The 1267 committee is
not a court. This is a political process." 

Delistings Are Few 


If no objection is made within five days, the person
is added to the list. Their assets -- from bank
accounts to private debts to prison-canteen funds --
are frozen and they lose the right to travel
internationally. "Silence means, 'Yes, the sanction is
confirmed,' " a U.N. spokeswoman said. Most sanction
requests have been approved without challenge,
although nine people have been delisted. Individuals
don't get a hearing and can't submit evidence to
refute the allegations. Nor can they apply to be
delisted -- only a government can on their behalf. 

Mr. Fagih says "nobody contacted me about the
allegations" when his name went before the 1267
committee in 2004. He eventually learned of Saudi
Arabia's charges, and the Security Council sanctions,
from the British foreign office. His name was proposed
by Saudi Arabia, which alleged that in 2003 Mr. Fagih
received $1 million from a man who later confessed to
plotting the assassination of the Saudi crown prince,
according to the Treasury Department. Mr. Fagih denies
involvement in the alleged plot and says he was
targeted for organizing peaceful human-rights
demonstrations. 

Nawaf Obaid, a Saudi security adviser at the kingdom's
London embassy, says he investigated Mr. Fagih's case
for three years and the charges against him are "rock
solid." Saudi Arabia hasn't applied to extradite Mr.
Fagih, because the U.K., like other European Union
countries, refuses to extradite suspects to countries
where they would face the death penalty, Mr. Obaid
says. 

Despite the U.N. sanctions, Mr. Fagih continues to
broadcast from London for Al-Islah TV, a Saudi
dissident television station that aims to overthrow
the royal family. He says the impact of the U.N.
sanctions on his life has been negligible. "Nothing
has changed," says Mr. Fagih, while serving tea and
cakes from a silver tray in his office. Joking, he
adds: "Except I can't buy a tank." 



Blog:  http://kenthink7.blogspot.com/index.html
Blog:  http://kencan7.blogspot.com/index.html
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