Listen to an audio statement from Abousfian Abdelrazik on April 1st, 2009 by clicking the play button below. You can download the MP3 here.

The United Nations 1267 List - Quick Facts

10 December 2009

"I add my name to those who view the 1267 Committee regime as a denial of basic legal remedies and as untenable under the principles of international human rights. There is nothing in the listing or de-listing procedure that recognizes the principles of natural justice or that provides for basic procedural fairness…. (…) It can hardly be said that the 1267 Committee process meets the requirement of independence and impartiality when, as appears may be the case involving Mr. Abdelrazik, the nation requesting the listing is one of the members of the body that decides whether to list or, equally as important, to de-list a person. The accuser is also the judge."

Federal Court Justice Russel Zinn, 4 June 2009

What is the 1267 list?

United Nations Security Council Resolution # 1267 established a sanctions regime in 1999. Individuals and groups who are “listed” by the 1267 Committee are subject to: a) a flight ban; b) an arms embargo; and c) an asset freeze. For the individuals who are on the list, it is a “prison without walls”.

History

The 1267 List was established in 1999 after the US embassies were bombed in Kenya and Nairobi. In 2001, after an attack on several targets within the United States, it was renamed and broadened to target Al Qaeda as well as the Taliban. The resolution must therefore be understood as a measure initiated to serve a political purpose within a specific conflict, involving the United States. However, it has since evolved beyond that original purpose; for example, Russia also appears to be using this as a tool in its conflict with Chechnya.

Listing

Individuals are listed on the initiative of a member of the UN Security Council. Prior to 2002, it seems that no information was required to support a listing request. States are currently required to provide a “statement of case” to support their allegation that an individual is “associated with” the Taliban or Al Qaeda and hence should be listed.

Individuals are not notified prior to listing; they are not provided with the statement of claim nor given a hearing in which they could respond to the allegations.

Previously, the individual was given no information about why their name appeared on the list; since 2008, in response to growing criticism, a simple narrative summary of the allegations – with no supporting evidence - has been made available.

Delisting

Countries can petition to have someone removed from the list. Individuals can also apply to be delisted. In both cases, the decision to delist requires consensus among all members of the Security Council, including the state who put the individual on the list in the first place. From a due process perspective, this means that the judge and the accuser are the same. No reasons are given for a refusal to delist.

The record indicates that individuals are only delisted if their country of citizenship not only applies, but actively lobbies to have their national delisted. In 2008, the Security Council acknowledged that “[i]t is far easier for a nation to place an individual or entity on the list than to take them off.” (Update Report 1267, 21 April 2008). The large number of dead people on the list – twenty-two as of 20 July 2009 - attests to this fact.

In December 2009, the Security Council passed a resolution to create an independent ombudsman who will receive delisting requests from listed individuals. The ombudsman’s role is to “assist” the 1267 committee by vetting requests, collecting additional information from state parties and the listed individual, preparing an analysis to submit to the committee, and communicating the decision to the applicant. The ombudsman neither directs nor advises the committee and delisting still requires unanimous consent by the state parties. The new resolution suggests (but doesn’t require) that reasons should be given for refusing a delisting request. This new system has yet to be implemented.

Implementation in Canada

The list is implemented in Canada by the United Nations Al Qaeda and Taliban Regulations under the United Nations Act. These were passed in 1999 and have been overhauled. They have never been reviewed by Parliament.

The regulations make it illegal to “knowingly provide or collect by any means, directly or indirectly, funds with the intention that the funds be used, or in the knowledge that the funds are to be used” by people on the list, “deal directly or indirectly in any [of their] property”, “enter into or facilitate, directly or indirectly, any financial transaction related to a dealing in [their] property”, “provide any financial services or any other services in respect of any [of their] property” or “make any property or any financial or other related service available, directly or indirectly” to someone on the list. In other words, it is illegal to give any material aid or financial service to someone on the list.

The regulations establish a “delisting process” by which a listed individual can ask Canada to petition the UN Security Council on their behalf. If Canada refuses, this refusal is subject to a review by the Federal Court according to a process resembling the security certificate process.

The regulations were subject to a legal challenge by Liban Hussein in 2002. The challenge was withdrawn after Mr. Hussein’s name was removed from the list (see below).

Who is on the list

34.5% of the individuals on the list are Afghan nationals; Tunisia has 9.68%, the Philippines 3.48%; and Indonesia and Saudi Arabia each have 3.23%. Only a few individuals from western countries are listed, including one each from Belgium, Ireland, France and the U.S.; two from Italy and Canada; 6 from the United Kingdom and seven from Germany.

There are also a range of organizations and businesses on the list, including at least one bakery.

Canadians on the list

There are currently two Canadians on the list: Abousfian Abdelrazik and Ahmed Said Khadr. Ahmed Said Khadr died in 2003.

The Canadian government submitted a delisting request on behalf of Abousfian Abdelrazik – after both CSIS and RCMP cleared him – in 2007. The Security Council refused the request; no reasons were provided for the refusal.

At least one other Canadian was listed, Somalian-born Liban Hussein. Mr. Hussein was listed in November 2001. He was removed from the list in July 2002, after Canada requested his removal in June 2002. Interestingly, before his name was delisted, the sanctions against him were suspended in Canada; the government at the time amended the regulations implementing the 1267 list in Canada to exempt Mr. Hussein.