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The State Department Responses to MKO petitions

The judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia urging the State Department to review its decision to label MKO as a terrorist is the last of a quintuple series concerning MKO’s designations by the Secretary of State. The following are excerpts from the last four responses by the Department of State denying MKO petition for review of the orders in question. To see the full texts, the links are added. The responses well indicate that the State Department has never changed its views about the inclusion of the notorious MKO as a FTO and has ever insisted that the group’s designation complied with the governing statute and all constitutional requirements. Thus, there remains the group’s last and fifth petition against the State Department and we have to wait to see how sincere and determined America is in its war against terrorism when it designates a group as a FTO on sound evidences.

People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, Petitioner v. United States Department of State and Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State, Respondents liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Petitioner v. United States Department of State, Respondent

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT - 182 F.3d 17 (D.C. Cir. 1999)

Argued March 5, 1999Decided June 25, 1999

1       The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act conferred upon the Secretary of State the power to designate "foreign terrorist organizations." 8 U.S.C. § 1189. By order effective October 8, 1997, Secretary of State Madeline K. Albright so designated the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. See Designation of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, 62 Fed. Reg. 52,650 (1997). Both groups have brought petitions for judicial review of their designations pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1189(b)(1).

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National Council of Resistance of Iran and National Council of Resistance of Iran, U.S. Representative Office, Petitioners v. Department of State and Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State, Respondents

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT - 251 F.3d 192 (D.C. Cir. 2001)

Argued November 15, 2000Decided June 8, 2001

1        Two organizations, the National Council of Resistance of Iran and the People's Mojahedin of Iran, petition for review of the Secretary's designation of the two as constituting a "foreign terrorist organization" under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, raising both statutory and constitutional arguments. While we determine that the designation was in compliance with the statute, we further determine that the designation does violate the due process rights of the petitioners under the Fifth Amendment, and we therefore remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, Petitioner, v. Department of State and Colin L. Powell, Secretary of State, Respondents

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. - 327 F.3d 1238

Argued January 17, 2003 Decided May 9, 2003

1        The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran ("PMOI" or "Petitioner") seeks review of 1999 and 2001 decisions of the Secretary of State (collectively with the Department of State "the Secretary" or "Respondent") designating Petitioner as a foreign terrorist organization. After review of Petitioner's various claims that the designation violates constitutional and statutory rights of Petitioner, we conclude that the Secretary acted according to law and in full compliance with the requirements of the Constitution. We therefore deny the petitions for the reasons set forth more fully below.

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National Council of Resistance of Iran, Petitioner, v. Department of State and Colin L. Powell, Secretary of State, Respondents

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. - 373 F.3d 152

Argued April 2, 2004 Decided July 9, 2004

This is the fourth in a series of related cases concerning the biennial designations by the Secretary of State of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)¹ and its aliases as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). See People's Mojahedin Org. of Iran v. Dep't of State, 182 F.3d 17 (D.C.Cir.1999) (PMOI I); National Council of Resistance of Iran v. Dep't of State, 251 F.3d 192 (D.C.Cir.2001) (NCRI); People's Mojahedin Org. of Iran v. Dep't of State, 327 F.3d 1238 (D.C.Cir.2003) (PMOI II); see generally 8 U.S.C. § 1189. In 1999, and again in 2001, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) was determined by the Secretary of State to be an alias of MEK and was accordingly also designated an FTO. See 1999 Designation, 64 Fed.Reg. at 55,112; 2001 Redesignation, 66 Fed.Reg. at 51,089. In May 2003, after a remand to cure certain due process deficiencies, see NCRI, 251 F.3d at 208-09, the Secretary decided to leave in place the 1999 and 2001 designations of NCRI as an FTO. NCRI now again petitions for review. After reviewing NCRI's arguments, the entirety of the administrative record, and certain classified materials appended to that record, we conclude that the Secretary's latest designation complied with the governing statute and all constitutional requirements. We therefore deny the petition for review.

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