MILNET Brief
  Terrorist Watch Lists, 4/28/2005
"To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes."

 - R-3162 - The U.S. Patriot Act, 10/24/2001

"The regulations shall, at a minimum, require financial institutions to implement, and customers (after being given adequate notice) to comply with, reasonable procedures for--
    `(A) verifying the identity of any person seeking to open an account to the extent reasonable and practicable;
    `(B) maintaining records of the information used to verify a person's identity, including name, address, and other identifying information; and
    `(C) consulting lists of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations provided to the financial institution by any government agency to determine whether a person seeking to open an account appears on any such list.
 - Title III, Section 326, R-3162 - The U.S. Patriot Act, 10/24/2001

Many in the U.S. do not realize that a part of the U.S. Patriot Act requires that financial institutions perform due diligence in preventing wanted terrorists and/or criminal suspects from receiving financial services.  However, the fact has not escaped software and service vendors in the U.S. and around the world.  MILNET has undertaken to look at several of the software systems, as well as provide our visitors with some important lists which are used by such services.  We highly recommend the use of a software based/Internet query system to provide due diligence, however one could "go on the cheap" and perform adequate due diligence using the lists that are publicly available over the Internet.  However, some lists only are available to subscribers to particular commercial services such as World Compliance (Politically Exposed Persons) or those services who subscribe to commercial list keepers (such as Bridger Insight which offers several lists not easily found in the public domain).


Covert Watch Lists

The FBI maintains a Terrorist Watch List (much more than the Terrorist Most Wanted list listed below) and the Transportation Security Agency keeps a "No Fly" list.  Both lists are not publicly available, however, in the case of the TSA list, airline and cruise liner security organizations have access to TSA's list in order to comply with new regulations that require the airlines to voluntarily refuse ticketing to those on the watch lists. The FAA has access as to both lists and it is they who have typically redirected flights after they have taken off, indicating that the airline access is either untimely, broken, or checks are not being performed.

The Terrorist Tracking and Information Center (TTIC) is also reported as having a multi-agency accessible Terrorist Watch list and this may in fact be the parent list from which the FBI TSA lists are derived from. 

The CIA's specific watch desks (for instance the Osama Bin Laden desk) also have their own watch lists, and most likely those lists are part of the information fed into the master list at TTIC.

The 9/11 Commission Report Implementation Act of 2004 sets out the requirement to update and expand the TTIC, a process which MILNET believes is already underway.  Thus any lists in use by the U.S. Intelligence community would likely be managed by this new entity.


Public Watch Lists

Watch lists available to the pubic suffer from one very common problem.  They are notorious for excluding suspects who are being sought covertly.  Common sense dictates that if an intelligence agency's search for someone is covert, they are not likely to place that persons name, aliases, or photo into the public view.

U.S. local law enforcement may be able to get access to a particular name or identify via U.S. Homeland Security,  thus a financial institution may be able to request information from local law enforcement who in turn may be able to work with their usual (we hope by now there IS a usual...) Homeland Security contact.

Of course, there are public lists available that feature publicly known terrorists -- for instance all of these have names like Osama bin Laden or Musab al-Zarqawi.  But politically erased names like the famous son of the cleric al-Sadr in Iraq does not appear despite his being wanted by the U.S. (if he ever steps out of Iraq).

The major public lists are quite useful to the financial community however.  A key element in refusing financial services to anyone is the chain of evidence that might be required if the person denied chooses to levy a lawsuit for that denial.  This is a well known problem for financial institutions, who regularly copy credit reports and investigative material into a file for such use when they deny credit.  Similarly, the Patriot Act has necessitated having both the means and procedures to implement similar activities for preventing granting services to terrorists.  Again, technology to the rescue in the form of software and online updates to help the financial institutions screen the names of their prospective clients.  This new industry has blossomed in both the U.S. and Europe.

Below we present links to a number of important Terrorist Watch Lists.  The links were active and operating correctly as of the date at the top of this briefing, we take will attempt to keep them accurate and operating, but you should already be aware that the Internet is always changing and many content publishers don't have a clue and do not always commit to providing consistent links --  the links are subject to change beyond our control.


Acronym
 Provider
 Comment
BOE
 Bank of England Consolidated List
 Denied Persons List - Used for denial of services by U.K. entities, may include aliases as well as remarks such as date and location of birth as well as nationality and associations with known criminal/terrorist organizations.  Also, their listings include, where possible, the date the name was enter
BIS
 U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security
 Denied Persons List, includes the Federal Register Entry, used for legal denial of services for terrorists and wanted criminals, points to the U.S. Federal Register's entry -- blame them, not me.
EAR-ESC
 U.S. Export Administration Regulations - Embargoes and Special Controls
 Nations Embargoed - U.S. commercial and government agencies are prohibited from financial transactions (except by special waiver) with the countries or nationals or entities in these nations.  See the entire EAR database for more information.
EAR-DPL
 U.S. Export Administration Regulations - Denied Persons List
 Denied Persons List - used to deny services to those designated by the U.S. government - typically terrorists but could also be individuals trading in banned weapons or technology.  See the entire EAR database for more information.
EUTL
 European Union Terrorist List - Inside EU
 Most Wanted List - Used for denial of services by European Union Member nations, may include aliases as well as remarks such as date and location of birth
EUTL
 European Union Terrorist List - Outside EU Most Wanted List - Used for denial of services by European Union Member nations, may include aliases as well as remarks such as date and location of birth
FBIMW U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Most Wanted
ID List - This list contains fugitives and terrorists among others being sought for questioning or identification of whereabouts.  Denial of services cannot be undertaken without first consulting with the fugitive or terrorist lists below, however, it it highly recommend you contact the nearest law enforcement agency and/or the FBI immediately if you suspect the named person has been seen.
FBIMWT Federal Bureau of Investigation Most Wanted Terrorists Most Wanted List - One of the best lists, very comprehensive description, most recent and confirmed aliases, and detailed description of activities which have placed them on the list.  Can be used as a rationale for denial of services or the holding by law enforcement agencies.  Entries may include links to criminal or terrorist groups and contacts
FBITOP10 FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives
 Most Wanted List - One of the best lists, very comprehensive description, most recent and confirmed aliases, and detailed description of activities which have placed them on the list.  Can be used as a rationale for denial of services or the holding by law enforcement agencies.  Entries may include links to criminal or terrorist groups and contacts.  Includes the top suspect terrorists and criminals.
IMW
 Interpol's Most Wanted List
 Most Wanted List - used as an aid internationally in the capture of criminals and terrorists, can be used as a rationale for denial of services or the holding by law enforcement agencies who have extradition treaties with the member nations.  Includes description, offenses, warrants and issuers.
OSFI
 Canada Consolidated List
Canadian Office of the Secretary of Financial Institutions
 Denied Persons List - used for legal denial of services for terrorists and wanted criminals - provides aliases, includes very brief rationale, i.e. "highly placed lieutenant to Osama Bin Laden".  A public link is not available, however, most online systems providers clearly have access to the list.
PEP
 Politically Exposed Persons - World Compliance
 Exposed Persons - A commercial list which details publicly available information which has been confirmed published with dates and sources, but does not necessarily confirm validity of accusations, original sources of the information used by public sources.  Many software and online systems providers include their own access to similar if not the exact service provided by World Compliance.
SDN
 U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC)
Specifically Denied Nationals and Blocked Persons list - used for legal denial of services for terrorists and wanted criminals - provides aliases, place and date of birth  MILNET Mirror of the 6/11/2005 list
UNCL
 United Nations Security Council Consolidated List
 Denied Persons List - Used Internationally as a public list of denied persons for all legal matters such as denial of services, credit, forfeiture of funds, etc.
Note:  The majority of the acronyms in the first column are used throughout the security industry, but may vary.  Those used in this briefing are mostly found used in the Bridger Insight U.S. Patriot Act Compliance Software and we believe serve as a pseudo standard for the security industry (see below) 2




Further Reading/Sources

  1. The U.S. Patriot Act, Analysis and Text, 10/24/2001, MILNET Mirror
  2. Bridger Insight (a commercial entity), Excellent Software that will perform a lookup against 20 or more worldwide lists of denied persons as well as a number of other identity check features useful for research as well as official denial activities such as required by the U.S. Patriot Act.
  3. Politically Exposed Persons, World Compliance (a commercial entity), provides a database (for a fee) that allows the user to check names of persons who may have politically damaging information in the public view.  While this information may contain information useable in legal matters, it should be cautioned that it may also contain information that IS NOT useable and thus anyone using the information to deny services could be vulnerable.  It does however, provide proof that information used in opinion or exposes' is "publicly" known and certainly not fiction or constructed. Cites sources and dates of expose' information.
  4. U.S. Terror Watch Lists Keeps Eyes on All Groups, Guy Taylor, The Washington Times, 2/22/2004
  5. Intelligence Community Responsibility, MILNET Brief, 8/23/2004
  6. Department of Homeland Security, MILNET Brief, 8/27/2004
  7. Changes to the U.S. Intelligence Community, MILNET Brief, 2/17/2005
  8. Summary and Analysis of the Governmental Affairs Committee Hearings on the 9/11 Commission Findings, MILNET Brief, August 2004
  9. Statement of John O. Brennan, Director of TTIC, before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 8/03/2004 (MILNET Mirror)
  10. Statement of John Pistole, FBI Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence, before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 8/03/2004 (MILNET Mirror)
  11. Statement of Phillip  Mudd, CIA Deputy Director for Counterterrorism Center, before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 8/03/2004 (MILNET Mirror)
  12. Statement of Lieutenant General Patrick M. Hughes, DoHS Assistant Director for Information Analysis, before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 8/03/2004 (MILNET Mirror)




© Copyright 2005, Michael G. Crawford for MILNET