Reported by American Chronicle terrorist MKO has challenged the Secretary of State’s designation of the group in court. The case was heard by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Tuesday, January 12. MKO v. US Department of State, is yet another chapter in the group’s unrelenting battle to clear its name from terror lists in Europe and the United States.
MKO is said to have won legal battles in Britain and Europe as the courts ruled to remove it from terror lists on grounds that there is no evidence to support a terror designation. The State Department claims that it can designate the group as "terrorist" by merely resting on classified information despite the fact that the group’s members, mostly in a refugee camp in Iraq, are voluntarily disarmed and internationally protected persons.
But, as reported, how can MKO possibly plea a case if the evidence against it is wholly classified? In court on Tuesday, the Secretary of State’s counsel admitted that former Secretary Rice, who denied the group’s petition in January 2009, relied entirely on classified material to do so.
The court will have to issue judgment on the case soon and decide whether the Secretary of State´s decision was supported by substantial evidence. There is also the question if reliance on wholly "classified" information is compatible with Congressional intent and concepts of judicial fairness.
Some are of the opinion that the decision by the Iraqi government to replace and expel Ashraf residents is justified by the US listing the group as terrorist. But the Iraqi government has made it clear that it is decisive to expel the group regardless of being removed from any terrorist list. It has been reiterated that those countries that remove it from their terror list are welcomed to accept and host it.
