Lawsuit Filed to Unfreeze Assets of Muslim Charity

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio has filed an important case. On Friday, the group filed a lawsuit on behalf of KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. The charity was founded in 2002 after the Administration shutdown other Muslim charities, including the very controversial action taken against the Holyland Foundation. Now, the Administration has frozen this charity “pending investigation.” It appears that any major Muslim charity is presumptively frozen by this Administration in a trend that should be the subject of a congressional hearing.

The action was taken in February 2006 by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which said that it was decided whether the charity was a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” organization. If there is evidence of such violations, the Administration should produce it. The result of cases like this and Holyland is that Muslims are nervous about where to send donations, an important part of their religion.

Both Democrats and Republicans voted to allow these actions under the USA PATRIOT Act (50 USC 1701(a)(1)(B)) despite criticism of abuses and vagueness.

For a copy of the complaint, click here.