"Criminalizing Humanitarian Engagement? Counterterror Legislation and Humanitarian Action"

The online program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University is an excellent resource that I have been involved with for 2 years. This distance learning research initiative helps bring together professionals from all over the world with expert panels in discussions that allow for questions and answers to be posed and responded to in real time.

The Humanitarian Policy and Law Forum can be viewed at http://ihlforum.ning.com/

The seminar today is examining how recent legal and policy trends—punctuated by a June 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision—may fundamentally alter humanitarian engagement with non-state armed groups. In Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a law criminalizing various forms of “material support” to prohibited groups. This court decision applies to US citizens, but also obliges countries to ban support to terrorist organizations around the world.

Think back to times when you have been afraid and alone. How were you able to overcome the problems that you were facing? Did you have access to a support base? How do you develop a support base in advance of your needing to reach out for support is a central question I want to pose today! Understand your rights and the law are important. But understanding who you are working with is very important, especially in light of non-state actors that are involved in terrorism.

Modern technology and the internet are clearly providing opportunities to develop a support base, whether it is by phone call to your neighbor, or on the internet reaching to the farthest points of the globe. However, one must understand that providing 'expert advise, training or services' to an entity that has been designated as a terrorist organization could create potential legal problems down the road.

My intent with this post is to take a look at the range of responses that this post generates.