Providing material support for terrorism
Encyclopedia
Providing material support for terrorism is a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act
(18 U. S. C. §2339B) which prohibits material support to groups designated as terrorists. The four types of support described are “training,” “expert advice or assistance,” “service,” and “personnel.” In June 2010 the United States Supreme Court upheld the law in the case Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project
561 U. S. ____ (2010). Plaintiffs in the case had sought to help the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey
and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
learn means of peacefully resolving conflicts.
In September 2010 the Federal Bureau of Investigation
raided activists in Minneapolis and Chicago, seizing computers, cell phones and files and issuing subpoenas to some targeted individuals to appear before a federal grand jury. The FBI agents were seeking evidence of ties to foreign terrorist organizations, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
. Attorneys linked the raids to the Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project decision.
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...
(18 U. S. C. §2339B) which prohibits material support to groups designated as terrorists. The four types of support described are “training,” “expert advice or assistance,” “service,” and “personnel.” In June 2010 the United States Supreme Court upheld the law in the case Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project
Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project
Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 561 U. S. ____ , was a case decided in June 2010 by the United States Supreme Court regarding the USA PATRIOT Act which prohibits material support to groups designated as terrorists...
561 U. S. ____ (2010). Plaintiffs in the case had sought to help the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
learn means of peacefully resolving conflicts.
Implementation
The following people have been charged or convicted of providing material support for terrorism under this law.- John Walker LindhJohn Walker LindhJohn Phillip Walker Lindh is a United States citizen who was captured as an enemy combatant during the United States' 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He is now serving a 20-year prison sentence in connection with his participation in Afghanistan's Taliban army...
, who was captured fighting for the Taliban during the Battle of Qala-i-JangiBattle of Qala-i-JangiThe Battle of Qala-i-Jangi took place between November 25 and December 1, 2001, in Northern Afghanistan. It began with the uprising of foreign Taliban prisoners held at Qala-i-Jangi fortress, and escalated into one of the bloodiest engagements of the War in Afghanistan...
, one of the first battles in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on various charges. - David HicksDavid HicksDavid Matthew Hicks is an Australian who was convicted by the United States of America Guantanamo Military Commission under the Military Commissions Act of 2006, on charges of providing material support for terrorism...
, a former Guantanamo detainee who pled guilty in 2007 and served a sentence of less than one year in AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. - Lynne StewartLynne StewartLynne Irene Stewart is a former attorney who represented controversial, poor, and often unpopular defendants who was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists in 2005, and sentenced to 28 months in prison. Her felony conviction led to her being automatically...
, a 70 year old veteran civil rights lawyer who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for releasing information from her imprisoned client Omar Abdel-RahmanOmar Abdel-RahmanSheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman , commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", is a blind Egyptian Muslim leader who is currently serving a life sentence at the Butner Medical Center which is part of the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, United...
. - Salim Ahmed HamdanSalim Ahmed HamdanSalim Ahmed Hamdan is a Yemeni man, captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, and imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. He admits to being Osama bin Laden's personal driver claiming he needed the $200 monthly salary that came with the job....
, a former Guantanamo detainee who was Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's former driver. He was convicted in 2008 and served a sentence of less than one year in YemenYemenThe Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. See . - Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, who attended the al Farouq training campAl Farouq training campThe Al Farouq training camp, also known as "the airport camp", was an alleged Al-Qaeda training camp near Kandahar, Afghanistan. Camp attendees received small-arms training, map-reading, orientation, explosives training, and other training....
in 2000.
In September 2010 the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
raided activists in Minneapolis and Chicago, seizing computers, cell phones and files and issuing subpoenas to some targeted individuals to appear before a federal grand jury. The FBI agents were seeking evidence of ties to foreign terrorist organizations, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
. Attorneys linked the raids to the Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project decision.