Can you read, stupidiot?
The U.N. panel says the task of blocking al Qaeda's funds has been frustrated
by the group's decision to shift its assets into precious metals and gems, and
to transfer its money through an informal money exchange network, known as
hawalas, that is virtually impossible to trace. Revenue from hard-to-track
"illegal activities including smuggling, petty crime, robbery, embezzlement and
credit card fraud augment these funds," it says.
But the effort to shut down al Qaeda's financial network has also been
hampered by the inadequate auditing of religious charities, the lax border
controls in several European countries -- members of the Schengen Area
group, which allow travelers to cross their borders with a single visa -- and
the "stringent evidentiary standards" required by European governments
before they will seize an individual's assets, the draft report says.
The report says the Schengen Information System -- a computer program
used to monitor border crossings in the group's 15 member states -- holds in
its database only 40 of the 219 names on the U.N. list. Several members of
the Schengen group said their "national laws precluded them from placing"
their citizens' names on "national watch lists without appropriate judicial
basis," according to the U.N. report.
The Schengen group is made up of 13 European Union members as well as
Norway and Iceland. Britain and Ireland are the only EU members that are
not part of the group.
The U.N. panel warns that the refusal of key European countries to fully
comply with the Security Council's sanctions could have a "derogatory
impact" on the effort to shut down al Qaeda's financial operations.
European governments have faced legal challenges from citizens on the U.N.
list who say they have been denied their right to a trial, which is enshrined in
the Council of Europe's Human Rights Charter. They have expressed concern
that the procedures for placing individuals on the sanctions list lack the legal
safeguards required by their own courts for the freezing of assets.
"Several states have indicated that they are facing legal challenges to the
blocking of assets," the report says. They have also cited humanitarian
concerns and the dearth of evidence linking suspects to terrorist activities.
Luxembourg told the U.N. sanctions monitors that it recently released the
assets of an unidentified organization allegedly linked to Al Barakaat, a
Somali-based money exchange company that the Bush administration charges
has been used by al Qaeda. The Luxembourg government said the country's
banking regulatory agency "did not have access to releasable intelligence
information related to the case." Luxembourg had previously frozen the
group's assets at the request of the United States, according to diplomats.
Switzerland has "indicated that it has released small amounts of money from
frozen accounts for personal and business expenses where account holders
have demonstrated hardship," the report says. Swiss officials said that a
government decree authorizing the blocking of assets requires that funds be
made available to enable account holders to meet basic humanitarian needs.
Germany has signaled that it may face "legal constraints" in the blocking of
assets of individuals being pursued by the United Nations, the report says.
"German authorities are closely cooperating with the [U.N.] monitoring group
to reach full implementation of the U.N. Security Council sanctions," said Dirk
J. A. Rotenberg, a spokesman for the German mission to the United Nations.
But he added that any action must conform with Germany's legal system and
the "rule of law."
In its report, the U.N. panel says that scores of individuals who have been
linked to al Qaeda -- including Suleiman Abu Ghaith, bin Laden's Kuwaiti
spokesman, and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a powerful Afghan chieftain -- have
not been placed on the list, making it difficult for governments to freeze their
assets. It also says 38 individuals who have been arrested in 13 countries --
including the United States, Italy, Pakistan and Morocco -- have not been
added to the U.N. list. The panel does not name them.
In response to those concerns, the United States and Italy today jointly
introduced to the Security Council committee that oversees the al Qaeda
sanctions list the names of 11 individuals and 14 businesses that are allegedly
linked to al Qaeda.
The United States has also sought to address some of the European concerns
by proposing a Security Council resolution allowing suspected supporters of
al Qaeda to withdraw money to meet their basic living needs. But Washington
has continued to press its European allies to fully comply with the U.N.
sanctions. "We are concerned about it, and we have raised this issue
bilaterally with the Europeans," a U.S. official said. "We have been told that
it's not as big a problem as claimed in the report."
And way down here are the US problems- -after all those European roadblocks:
The U.N. panel's report also cites the failure of the U.S. and other
governments to provide complete information about the suspected al Qaeda
members. It warns that the publication of distinct terrorist lists by the United
Nations, the European Union, the United States and other countries is
creating confusion and undermining the efforts to freeze al Qaeda assets.
And, gee, those Europeans you love so much are part of that problem too. Along with your much-beloved UN.
Still haven't had a brain installed, I see. |
