Berlin (AP) —The United States is ready to remove five radical groups. List of foreign terrorist organizationsKilled hundreds, if not thousands, of people across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, including some that once posed a serious threat.
Although the group is not active, this decision is criticized because it is politically sensitive to the Biden administration and the countries in which the organization is active, and the victims and their families are still dealing with the loss of loved ones. There is a possibility.
The organizations are Basque’s separatist group ETA, the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo, the radical Jewish group Kahanekaha, and two Islamic groups operating in Israel, the Palestinian Territory, and Egypt.
The US State Department notified Congress of the move on Friday. This saves Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps from a tough nuclear deal.
That designation, Imposed by the Trump administrationNot mentioned in the Friday notice.
The State Department said in a separate notice to lawmakers that the terrorist designations of the five groups would be officially removed when the decision was published in the Federal Register. This is scheduled for this week.
A copy of the notice signed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday was obtained by the Associated Press.
The general reason for deletion is the same in each case. Blinken claims to be based on a designated administrative review. This is required by law every five years.
“By revoking the FTO’s designation, the State Department said on Sunday that it ensures that terrorist sanctions are up-to-date and credible and do not reflect changes in policy for the past activities of these organizations.”
The review considers whether the designated group is still active, has committed terrorist acts within the last five years, and whether removing or retaining the list would benefit US national security. Will be. Under the law that created the list, the Secretary of State may remove groups that he or she no longer considers to meet the criteria.
“Based on the review of the administrative records collected in this case, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Treasury Secretary, I determine that the circumstances on which the designation was based have … changed in a legitimate way. “Revocation of designation,” Blinken wrote in each notice.
Removing a group from the list has the immediate effect of revoking the set of sanctions that accompany the designation. This includes property freezes, travel bans, and American bans that provide important support to groups and their members. In the past, physical assistance provisions were broadly defined to include monetary or in-kind assistance, and in some cases even medical care.
All but one of the five groups were first designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 and have been on the list for the past 25 years.
U.S. officials familiar with the matter said the decision was made only after consulting with lawmakers a few months ago as to whether to proceed with the latest five-year review. So far, only 15 groups have been removed from the list.
The specific reason for each deletion is included only in the categorized section that accompanies the notification, but is not categorized by itself. These sections are labeled “SECRET / NOFORN”. This means that its content can only be shared with properly licensed US officials and not with foreign governments.
The groups to be deleted are:
— Aum Shinrikyo (AUM), Japan’s “best truth” cult, killed 13 people and killed hundreds more in a deadly salingus attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. This group has been considered to be largely non-functional since the prestigious executions such as: Leader Shoko Asahara, 2018. It was designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
— Basque Homeland and Freedom, or ETAHas conducted decades of separatist campaigns for bombing and assassination in northern Spain and elsewhere, declared a ceasefire in 2010, arrested and tried the last leader in 2018, and then disbanded. , Killed more than 800 people and injured thousands. It was designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
— Kahanechai, or Kaha.A radical Orthodox Jewish group was founded by ultra-nationalists Rabbi Mail Kahane of Israel He led the group until he was assassinated in 1990. Members of the group have killed, attacked, intimidated and harassed Arabs, Palestinians and Israeli government officials, but the organization has been dormant since 2005. The group was first designated in 1997. ..
— The Mujahideen Shura Council around Jerusalem is a group of several Gaza-based jihadist organizations that have been responsible for numerous rockets and other attacks on Israel since its establishment in 2012. The council was first designated in 2014.
— Gama’a al-Islamiyya, or Islamic Group – IG, an Egyptian Sunni Islamist movement that fought to overthrow the Egyptian government in the 1990s. It launched hundreds of deadly attacks on police, security forces, and tourists. This group was first designated in 1997.
The State Department said on Sunday that Blinken was required by law to revoke the designation if the group no longer met legal standards.
Speaking of the Kahane Chai Group, the ministry said it had nothing to do with terrorist attacks since 2005. The Mujahideen Shura Council has said it has not claimed an attack since 2013.
“Neither currently meets the statutory definition of foreign organizations,” the ministry said.
Both groups added that they would remain on the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entities that maintain sanctions on their property and assets in US jurisdictions.