Rewards for Justice Program
The Rewards for Justice Program is the counter-terrorism rewards program of the United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The Secretary of State is currently offering rewards for information that prevents or favorably resolves acts of international terrorism against U.S. persons or property worldwide. Rewards also may be paid for information leading to the arrest or conviction of terrorists attempting, committing, conspiring to commit, or aiding and abetting in the commission of such acts. The Rewards for Justice Program has paid more than $77 million for information that prevented international terrorist attacks or helped bring to justice those involved in prior acts.[1]
The program was established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism (Public Law 98-533). The program is administered by the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The Director of the Diplomatic Security Service chairs an interagency committee which reviews reward candidates and then recommends rewards to the Secretary of State. The committee includes members from the staff of the White House National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Justice, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Treasury, and the US Department of State.
After the September 11 attacks, the list of wanted terrorists increased dramatically, and rewards were also increased, as part of the U.S. efforts to capture al-Qaeda leadership. However, the plan has been largely ineffective against Islamic terrorists.[2] The largest reward offered is $50 million for the leader of al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden, which has "attracted hundreds of anonymous calls but no reliable leads."[3]
On January 15 digitally aged pictures of Bin Laden were published on the Rewards for Justice Program website. Spanish newspaper El Mundo revealed that pictures of a Spanish politician, Gaspar Llamazares, were used for that purpose. The FBI has admitted to this and removed the image from its website.[4]
References
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- Official website
- Bureau of Diplomatic Security description
- Factsheet (August 15, 2002) from the U.S. Department of State
