Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) are foreign organizations that are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended. FTO designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business.
Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations |
|
Date Designated |
Name |
10/8/1997 |
Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) |
10/8/1997 |
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) |
10/8/1997 |
Aum Shinrikyo (AUM) |
10/8/1997 |
Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) |
10/8/1997 |
Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) (IG) |
10/8/1997 |
HAMAS |
10/8/1997 |
Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM) |
10/8/1997 |
Hizballah |
10/8/1997 |
Kahane Chai (Kach) |
10/8/1997 |
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) (Kongra-Gel) |
10/8/1997 |
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) |
10/8/1997 |
National Liberation Army (ELN) |
10/8/1997 |
Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) |
10/8/1997 |
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) |
10/8/1997 |
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLF) |
10/8/1997 |
PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC) |
10/8/1997 |
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) |
10/8/1997 |
Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N) |
10/8/1997 |
Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) |
10/8/1997 |
Shining Path (SL) |
10/8/1999 |
al-Qa’ida (AQ) |
9/25/2000 |
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) |
5/16/2001 |
Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) |
12/26/2001 |
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) |
12/26/2001 |
Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LeT) |
3/27/2002 |
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AAMB) |
3/27/2002 |
Asbat al-Ansar (AAA) |
3/27/2002 |
al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) |
8/9/2002 |
Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA) |
10/23/2002 |
Jemaah Islamiya (JI) |
1/30/2003 |
Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ) |
3/22/2004 |
Ansar al-Islam (AAI) |
7/13/2004 |
Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) |
12/17/2004 |
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) |
12/17/2004 |
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (formerly al-Qa'ida in Iraq) |
6/17/2005 |
Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) |
3/5/2008 |
Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B) |
3/18/2008 |
al-Shabaab |
5/18/2009 |
Revolutionary Struggle (RS) |
7/2/2009 |
Kata'ib Hizballah (KH) |
1/19/2010 |
al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) |
8/6/2010 |
Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) |
9/1/2010 |
Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) |
11/4/2010 |
Jundallah |
5/23/2011 |
Army of Islam (AOI) |
9/19/2011 |
Indian Mujahedeen (IM) |
3/13/2012 |
Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT) |
5/30/2012 |
Abdallah Azzam Brigades (AAB) |
9/19/2012 |
Haqqani Network (HQN) |
3/22/2013 |
Ansar al-Dine (AAD) |
11/14/2013 |
Boko Haram |
11/14/2013 |
Ansaru |
12/19/2013 |
al-Mulathamun Battalion |
1/13/2014 |
Ansar al-Shari'a in Benghazi |
1/13/2014 |
Ansar al-Shari'a in Darnah |
1/13/2014 |
Ansar al-Shari'a in Tunisia |
4/10/2014 |
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis |
5/15/2014 |
al-Nusrah Front |
8/20/2014 |
Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) |
Delisted Foreign Terrorist Organizations |
||
Date Removed |
Name |
Date Orginally Designated |
10/8/1999 |
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine -Hawatmeh Faction |
10/8/1997 |
10/8/1999 |
Khmer Rouge |
10/8/1997 |
10/8/1999 |
Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front Dissidents |
10/8/1997 |
10/8/2001 |
Japanese Red Army |
10/8/1997 |
10/8/2001 |
Tupac Amaru Revolution Movement |
10/8/1997 |
5/18/2009 |
Revolutionary Nuclei |
10/8/1997 |
10/15/2010 |
Armed Islamic Group (GIA) |
10/8/1997 |
9/28/2012 |
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) |
10/8/1997 |
5/28/2013 |
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) | 10/11/2005 |
7/15/2014 | United Self Defense Forces of Colombia | 9/10/2001 |
Identification
The Bureau of Counterterrorism in the State Department (CT) continually monitors the activities of terrorist groups active around the world to identify potential targets for designation. When reviewing potential targets, CT looks not only at the actual terrorist attacks that a group has carried out, but also at whether the group has engaged in planning and preparations for possible future acts of terrorism or retains the capability and intent to carry out such acts.
Designation
Once a target is identified, CT prepares a detailed "administrative record," which is a compilation of information, typically including both classified and open sources information, demonstrating that the statutory criteria for designation have been satisfied. If the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, decides to make the designation, Congress is notified of the Secretary’s intent to designate the organization and given seven days to review the designation, as the INA requires. Upon the expiration of the seven-day waiting period and in the absence of Congressional action to block the designation, notice of the designation is published in the Federal Register, at which point the designation takes effect. By law an organization designated as an FTO may seek judicial review of the designation in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit not later than 30 days after the designation is published in the Federal Register.
Until recently the INA provided that FTOs must be redesignated every 2 years or the designation would lapse. Under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), however, the redesignation requirement was replaced by certain review and revocation procedures. IRTPA provides that an FTO may file a petition for revocation 2 years after its designation date (or in the case of redesignated FTOs, its most recent redesignation date) or 2 years after the determination date on its most recent petition for revocation. In order to provide a basis for revocation, the petitioning FTO must provide evidence that the circumstances forming the basis for the designation are sufficiently different as to warrant revocation. If no such review has been conducted during a 5 year period with respect to a designation, then the Secretary of State is required to review the designation to determine whether revocation would be appropriate. In addition, the Secretary of State may at any time revoke a designation upon a finding that the circumstances forming the basis for the designation have changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation, or that the national security of the United States warrants a revocation. The same procedural requirements apply to revocations made by the Secretary of State as apply to designations. A designation may be revoked by an Act of Congress, or set aside by a Court order.
Legal Criteria for Designation under Section 219 of the INA as amended
Legal Ramifications of Designation
Other Effects of Designation
Revocations of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
The Immigration and Nationality Act sets out three possible basis for revoking a Foreign Terrorist Organization designation:
Any revocation shall take effect on the date specified in the revocation or upon publication in the Federal Register if no effective date is specified. The revocation of a designation shall not affect any action or proceeding based on conduct committed prior to the effective date of such revocation.