The organizations banned by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) have also been banned in Pakistan and President Mamnoon Hussain has signed an ordinance aimed at tightening the noose around the individuals and such organizations.
ISLAMABAD, (Pakistan Point News - 12th Feb, 2018) : The organizations banned by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) have also been banned in Pakistan and President Mamnoon Hussain has signed an ordinance aimed at tightening the noose around the individuals and such organizations. The ordinance amends a section of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), enabling the authorities concerned to take action against the UNSC-proscribed individuals and terror outfits, like sealing their offices and freezing their bank accounts.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) sources said that the ministries of Interior, Finance and Foreign Affairs as well as NACTA’s Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT) wing are working on the matter. It is learnt that the authorities concerned are bound under international obligations to take measures against such outfits under the framework of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – an international body that combats money laundering and terrorist financing.
The UNSC sanctions list includes al Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeJ) and others. It worth mentioning here that in December 2017, the government had planned to take over two charities belonging to Hafiz Saeed – the JuD and the FIF – and an action plan in this connection was supposed to be submitted.
In the first week of January, the government had also banned companies and individuals from making donations to the JuD, the FIF and other organizations. Jundullah was the last organization declared “proscribed” by the government of Pakistan on January 31, 2018 on the NACTA website. However, JuD and the FIF continue to be on the NACTA “watch list”. Laskar-e-Tayyiba was declared as banned organization under the UNSC resolution 1267 in 2005. The US State Department in 2014 had named the JuD as “foreign terrorist organization”, a status that freezes assets the organization has under the US jurisdiction. Meanwhile, India also blamed JuD leader Saeed for the Mumbai attacks of November 2006, but Pakistan argues India has failed to provide incriminating evidence against him.
