Missing targets: which entities are affected by UN counter-terrorism sanctions?

Abstract

The United Nations targeted sanctions against terrorist organizations are administrated under the Security Council Consolidated List. Apart from listing terrorist organizations and individuals that are linked to Al-Qaida, ISIL, and the Taliban, the list also includes non-terrorist entities that allegedly support listed organizations. This paper studies 7 businesses and 22 humanitarian organizations that are currently listed, resulting in two insights. First, listing these entities effectively pushes them out of business by rendering them illegal. Even when entities succeed in getting delisted, the damage is already done. Ironically, the impact on non-terrorist entities is bigger than on some terrorist organizations, who carry their listing as a badge of honor to attract recruits. Second, by comparing the UNSC consolidated list to related Interpol’s Special Notices, we find that there are several inconsistencies between the lists, both in terms of the details provided and the updating of unlisted entities.