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The Daily Star - April 27, 2006
It's guilty until proven innocent for U.S. Muslim charities
By William Fisher
In the months following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States government launched its "global war on terror" by rounding up thousands of "Middle Eastern-looking" men and women, throwing them in jail without charges or access to lawyers, accusing none of them of terror-related crimes, convicting no one, and ending up deporting some for non-criminal immigration violations.
At about the same time, the government opened up a second front against charitable organizations providing financial or other material assistance to groups the government designates as "terrorist." While the campaign applies to all domestic nonprofit organizations, the lion's share of scrutiny, suspicion, and pre-emptive action has fallen on Muslim groups.
Thus far, the effort has resulted in the government shutting down five charities that support Muslim causes. But there has only been one indictment, no trials, and no convictions. Only one official criminal charge has been brought against a Muslim organization for support of terrorism, and that case has not yet made it to trial.
Critics of the government say its campaign is a product of the paranoid Islamophobia that has gripped the U.S. since September 11. They also say it has had effectively scared Muslim Americans into abandoning one of the sacred tenets of Islam - giving to those in need. The government responds that this is nonsense; it is merely trying to cut off funding to a variety of so-called charitable organizations that funnel money to groups practicing terrorist tactics. The Treasury Department, which oversees the war on terrorism-financing, cites President George W. Bush's pledge to ensure "that Arab-Americans and American Muslims feel comfortable maintaining their tradition of charitable giving."
Both claims may contain some truth. However, the result is that Muslim charities are reporting a precipitous decline in contributions. Those that do arrive come increasingly in cash from anonymous givers. And donors who happen to be Muslim are increasingly turning to the large household charities like Oxfam and Save the Children, which may have programs in predominantly Muslim countries.
Another impact has been that a number of charities that support Muslim causes have been forced to shut down. This applies not only to the few that have been formally named as wrongdoers, but also to smaller groups that are not in a position to pay for defense lawyers if fingered by the government.
Under a provision of the newly reauthorized U.S.A. Patriot Act, the government has largely unchecked power to designate any group as a terrorist organization. When that happens, a group's property may be seized and its assets frozen. The charity is unable to see the government's evidence and thus understand the basis for the charges. And it has only a limited right of appeal. So, the government can target a charity, obtain indictments against its leaders, then delay a trial indefinitely.
Dozens of charitable groups have been investigated since 2001. Several have been shut down, without any official finding that they were aiding terrorist organizations. The organizations shut down were not on any government watch list before their assets were frozen. The predictable result is that Muslims have no way of knowing which groups the government suspects of ties to terrorism. Organizations and individuals suspected of supporting terrorism are guilty until proven innocent.
Leaders in the Muslim charitable community in the U.S. have had numerous meetings with Treasury Department officials and together they developed guidelines for charitable organizations and their donors. But the guidelines lack specificity regarding Muslim philanthropy and could be applied to any charitable organization. For a Muslim considering making a contribution, or someone wanting to support a Muslim cause, they are less than useless - particularly because the government is constantly adding new names to its blacklist. Unless a prospective giver keeps up constantly, he or she would have no way of knowing who's been added.
Frustrated, leaders of the Muslim philanthropic community in New Jersey asked the government at the start of Ramadan in 2004 to issue a "white list" of "approved" charities. But the request was denied.
Ironically, this may be one of the few rational decisions made by Bush administration's warriors in the global war on terror. A list of government-approved charities is a very bad idea for two reasons: First, the government knows nothing of philanthropy and almost surely would get it wrong. Second, government approval of charities would open the door to yet more government control over matters that are none of its business. And everything we know about the Bush administration tells us that when it sees even a small crack in the door, it rushes in.
Government-controlled charities are not unusual in countries with repressive or authoritarian governments. Under Egypt's non-governmental organization law, for example, the Ministry of Social Affairs must approve nominees to the governing boards of NGOs, can deny requests to affiliate with international organizations, can dissolve an NGO at will, and can freeze its assets and confiscate its property without a judicial order.
But the U.S. is not Egypt. Charities are already regulated by the tax code, the Internal Revenue Service, and other laws, and illegal practices are relatively rare. These pre-September 11 regulations are certainly not foolproof. But neither are the blunt instruments the government seems intent on deploying in its war on terrorism. Denial of due process and use of secret evidence have produced little tangible benefit, while seriously undermining the credibility of the government's anti-terrorist efforts.
William Fisher has managed economic development programs in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia for the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=23980
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