CIAO DATE: 09/2008
April 2008
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Although the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list has a set of criteria for designating groups, there is little clarity in practice about the process for revocation. Even after organizations have renounced terrorism for many years, their designations persist without a clear explanation, and are based on the assumption that historical violence indicates future potential.
A November 2007 court ruling by the UK's Proscribed Organizations Appeals Commission (POAC) ordered the British government to remove the People's Mujahedeen of Iran -- known to the U.S. government as Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) -- from its terrorist organizations list. This decision, along with a similar decision by the European Court of First Instance (a level below the European Court of Justice), and the mandatory review of the group's designation by the U.S. State Department in October 2008, provides an opportunity to evaluate how terrorist designation is assessed. According to the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Protection Act, if no designation review is conducted during a five-year period, the U.S. secretary of state must determine whether a revocation is appropriate.
Resource link: PolicyWatch #1366: A Roadmap for the Foreign Terrorist Organizations List [PDF] - 11K