The Case for Designating Wagner Group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization is Still Compelling
Earlier this year, we argued in Lawfare that the Secretary of State should use his authority under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) to designate Evgenii Prigozhin’s Wagner Group and its affiliates as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Since then, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) introduced the Holding Accountable Russian Mercenaries (HARM) Act in the 117th Congress (S.5164 and H.R.9381 respectively). The HARM Act would direct the Secretary of State to designate the Wagner Group as an FTO and has bi-partisan co-sponsorship. Though it was not able to make it to a floor for a vote before the conclusion of the 117th Congress, it is expected to be reintroduced in the 118th Congress.
On Dec. 2, 2022, the Secretary of State also designated the Wagner Group as an Entity of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998 for its indiscriminate targeting and murder of members of minority religious groups in the Central African Republic. This was followed on Dec. 21, 2022 by a ruling from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) based on BIS’s determination that the Wagner Group is to be considered a Russian or Belarusian ‘military end user’ under § 744.21 of the EAR. This determination restricts the Wagner Group’s access to certain foreign-produced items (primarily but not exclusively weapons and munitions) that use U.S. technology.
While the IRFA designation and the Commerce Department’s actions are important steps, the need for effective tools to suppress the malign activities of the Wagner Group continues to grow. In the wake of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine, some committed by the Wagner Group, there also have been calls to designate Russia itself as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST). However, an FTO designation, rather than a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST) designation, provides greater latitude for the U.S. and is thus the preferable option between the two. We maintain that designating the Wagner Group as an FTO continues to be necessary, and the HARM Act is the right way to achieve that outcome.
Since our original article was published, Prigozhin has given up all pretenses that the Wagner Group is a private company unaffiliated with the Russian state. Over the past several months, Wagner Group forces, with criminals recruited directly from Russia’s prisons, are reportedly fully integrated into Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. Reporting continues to tie Wagner Group members to regular violations of the Law of Armed Conflict and the human rights of innocent civilians worldwide.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/case-designating-wagner-group-foreign-terrorist-organization-still-compelling