By Robert Marus
Published May 17, 2007
WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Treasury Department officials have dropped the
threat of a $34,000 fine against the Alliance of Baptists, according to
a letter the group's attorney received May 17.
The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, threatened
the fine for alleged violations of the federal government's economic
embargo against Cuba. The department alleged that five Alliance churches
that sent mission teams to Cuba under the organization's travel license
had engaged in forbidden economic activities.
The letter said OFAC officials withdrew their recommendation to impose
the fine. According to Stan Hastey, the Alliance's minister of
ecumenical relations and mission partnerships, Treasury officials found
that none of the five churches engaged in forbidden activity under the
terms of the license.
However, the letter also contained a warning on future travel.
"[I]t is important for the Alliance to note that any transaction on the
part of the Alliance, or on the part of persons who travel to Cuba under
a travel license issued by OFAC, which involves a violation of the Cuba
embargo administered by OFAC, may result in the imposition of criminal
and/or civil penalties," it said.
Hastey, in a memorandum to the organization's board, reminded them that
the Alliance "no longer has a license to travel to Cuba, the result not
only of the suspension of our previous license but [also] of a new OFAC
policy denying such licenses to national and regional religious bodies
generally."
However, he added, "In my judgment, this result is about the best we
could have hoped for."
The Alliance, a fellowship of about 120 progressive Baptist
congregations and a budget of $443,000, has a longstanding missions
partnership with the Fraternity of Baptist Churches in Cuba, which pairs
local Alliance congregations with Cuban churches.
Due to the U.S. economic and travel embargo on the island nation's
communist regime, religious groups must use renewable travel permits to
conduct religious activity in Cuba. The permits are granted through OFAC.
In 2005, OFAC officials first informed the Alliance of Baptists that its
license had been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into
allegations that a group from an Alliance church in Alabama had misused
the license to visit Cuban tourist sites. Hastey said OFAC did not
inform him any further about the investigation's progress. In the
meantime, the original license expired.
Last July, OFAC sent the Alliance a letter saying it was recommending a
$34,000 fine for violations of the terms of the travel license. The
letter informed Hastey that the fine would be not only for the alleged
violations by the team from the Baptist Church of the Covenant in
Birmingham but also for alleged violations by four other Alliance
churches that traveled to Cuba under the license between 2003 and 2005.
Those congregations are the First Baptist churches of Washington, D.C.;
Savannah, Ga.; Greenville, S.C.; and the Glendale Baptist Church in
Nashville.
Alliance officials decided to challenge the fine and enlisted the help
of an experienced Washington litigator, Kenneth Lazarus. "We owe a large
debt of gratitude to Mr. Lazarus, a seasoned attorney who clearly knew
what he was doing," Hastey told his board members, noting that the
lawyer's services cost the group only "$2,658.86, plus a nice lunch I
told him the Alliance would provide to celebrate!"
No comments:
Post a Comment