Department of State rewards program
Establishment
In general
Purpose
Implementation
Rewards authorized
In the sole discretion of the Secretary (except as provided in subsection (c)(2)) and in consultation, as appropriate, with the heads of other relevant departments or agencies, the Secretary may pay a reward to any individual who furnishes information leading to—
the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual for the commission of an act of international terrorism against a United States person or United States property;
the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual conspiring or attempting to commit an act of international terrorism against a United States person or United States property;
the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual for committing, primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, any narcotics-related offense if that offense involves or is a significant part of conduct that involves—
a violation of United States narcotics laws such that the individual would be a major violator of such laws;
the killing or kidnapping of—
any officer, employee, or contract employee of the United States Government while such individual is engaged in official duties, or on account of that individual’s official duties, in connection with the enforcement of United States narcotics laws or the implementing of United States narcotics control objectives; or
a member of the immediate family of any such individual on account of that individual’s official duties, in connection with the enforcement of United States narcotics laws or the implementing of United States narcotics control objectives; or
an attempt or conspiracy to commit any act described in subparagraph (A) or (B);
the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual aiding or abetting in the commission of an act described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), (8), (9), (10), or (14);
the prevention, frustration, or favorable resolution of an act described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), (8), (9), (10), or (13), including by dismantling an organization in whole or significant part;
the identification or location of an individual who holds a key leadership position in a terrorist organization or transnational organized crime group;
the disruption of financial mechanisms of a foreign terrorist organization or transnational organized crime group, including the use by such organization or group of illicit narcotics production or international narcotics trafficking—
to finance acts of international terrorism or transnational organized crime; or
to sustain or support any terrorist organization or transnational organized crime group;
the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual for participating in, primarily outside the United States, transnational organized crime;
the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual conspiring to participate in or attempting to participate in transnational organized crime;
the arrest or conviction in any country, or the transfer to or conviction by an international criminal tribunal (including a hybrid or mixed tribunal), of any foreign national accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide (including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide committed in Syria beginning in March 2011), as defined under—
the statute of such country or tribunal, as the case may be; or
United States law;
the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction of or under the control of a foreign government, aids or abets a violation of section 1030 of title 18;
the disruption of financial mechanisms of any person who has engaged in the conduct described in section 2914(a) or 2914(b)(1) of this title;
the identification or location of a foreign person that knowingly engaged or is engaging in foreign election interference;
the prevention, frustration, or resolution of the hostage taking of a United States person, the identification, location, arrest, or conviction of a person responsible for the hostage taking of a United States person, or the location of a United States person who has been taken hostage, in any country; or
the restraining, seizing, forfeiting, or repatriating of stolen assets linked to foreign government corruption and the proceeds of such corruption.
Coordination
Procedures
To ensure that the payment of rewards pursuant to this section does not duplicate or interfere with the payment of informants or the obtaining of evidence or information, as authorized to the Department of Justice, the offering, administration, and payment of rewards under this section, including procedures for—
identifying individuals, organizations, and offenses with respect to which rewards will be offered;
the publication of rewards;
the offering of joint rewards with foreign governments;
the receipt and analysis of data; and
the payment and approval of payment,
shall be governed by procedures developed by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General.
Prior approval of Attorney General required
Funding
Authorization of appropriations
Period of availability
Limitations and certification
Maximum amount
Approval
Certification for payment
Nondelegation of authority
Protection measures
Forms of reward payment
Ineligibility
Reports
Reports on payment of rewards
Annual reports
Advance notification for international criminal tribunal rewards
Reports on rewards authorized
Publication regarding rewards offered by foreign governments
Media surveys and advertisements
Surveys conducted
Creation and purchase of advertisements
Determinations of Secretary
Definitions
As used in this section:
Act of international terrorism
The term “act of international terrorism” includes—
any act substantially contributing to the acquisition of unsafeguarded special nuclear material (as defined in paragraph (8) of section 6305 of this title) or any nuclear explosive device (as defined in paragraph (4) of that section) by an individual, group, or non-nuclear-weapon state (as defined in paragraph (5) of that section); and
any act, as determined by the Secretary, which materially supports the conduct of international terrorism, including the counterfeiting of United States currency or the illegal use of other monetary instruments by an individual, group, or country supporting international terrorism as determined for purposes of section 4605(j)(1)(A) 1
Appropriate congressional committees
Foreign person
The term “foreign person” means—
an individual who is not a United States person; or
a foreign entity.
Foreign election interference
The term “foreign election interference” means conduct by a foreign person that—
violates Federal criminal, voting rights, or campaign finance law; or
is performed by any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of, or in coordination with, a foreign government or criminal enterprise; and
includes any covert, fraudulent, deceptive, or unlawful act or attempted act, or knowing use of information acquired by theft, undertaken with the specific intent to significantly influence voters, undermine public confidence in election processes or institutions, or influence, undermine confidence in, or alter the result or reported result of, a general or primary Federal, State, or local election or caucus, including—
the campaign of a candidate; or
a ballot measure, including an amendment, a bond issue, an initiative, a recall, a referral, or a referendum.
Member of the immediate family
The term “member of the immediate family”, with respect to an individual, includes—
a spouse, parent, brother, sister, or child of the individual;
a person with respect to whom the individual stands in loco parentis; and
any person not covered by subparagraph (A) or (B) who is living in the individual’s household and is related to the individual by blood or marriage.
Rewards program
Transnational organized crime
The term “transnational organized crime”—
means—
racketeering activity (as such term is defined in section 1961 of title 18) that involves at least one jurisdiction outside the United States; or
any other criminal offense punishable by a term of imprisonment of at least four years under Federal, State, or local law that involves at least one jurisdiction outside the United States and that is intended to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit; and
includes wildlife trafficking (as defined by section 7601(12) of title 16) and severe forms of trafficking in persons (as defined in section 7102 of this title) involving at least 1 jurisdiction outside of the United States.
Transnational organized crime group
United States narcotics laws
United States person
The term “United States person” means—
a citizen or national of the United States; or
an alien lawfully present in the United States.
Source
(Aug. 1, 1956, ch. 841, title I, § 36, as added Pub. L. 98–533, title I, § 102,Notes
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Prior Provisions
Amendments
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2016 Amendment
Effective Date of 1994 Amendment
Rule of Construction
Findings; Sense of Congress
Findings.—
Congress finds the following:
Wildlife trafficking is a major transnational crime that is estimated to generate over $10 billion a year in illegal profits and which is increasingly perpetrated by organized, sophisticated criminal enterprises, including known terrorist organizations.
Wildlife trafficking not only threatens endangered species worldwide, but also jeopardizes local security, spreads disease, undermines rule of law, fuels corruption, and damages economic development.
Combating wildlife trafficking requires a coordinated and sustained approach at the global, regional, national, and local levels.
Congress stated in the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 [16 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.] that it is the policy of the United States to take immediate actions to stop the illegal global trade in wildlife and wildlife products and associated transnational organized crime.
Sense of Congress.—
It is the sense of Congress that the Department of State’s rewards program is a powerful tool in combating sophisticated international crime and that the Department of State and Federal law enforcement should work in concert to offer rewards that target wildlife traffickers.”
Findings.—
Congress finds the following:
Trafficking in persons is a major transnational crime, as recognized by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.; division A of Public Law 106–386).
Trafficking in persons is increasingly perpetrated by organized, sophisticated criminal enterprises.
Combating trafficking in persons requires a global approach to identifying and apprehending the world’s worst human trafficking rings.
Sense of Congress.—
It is the sense of Congress that the Department of State’s rewards program is a powerful tool in combating sophisticated international crime and that the Department of State and Federal law enforcement should work in concert to offer rewards that target human traffickers who prey on the most vulnerable people around the world.”
Findings.—
Congress makes the following findings:
The Department of State’s existing rewards programs permit the payment of reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of—
individuals who have committed, or attempted or conspired to commit, certain acts of international terrorism;
individuals who have committed, or attempted or conspired to commit, certain narcotics-related offenses; and
individuals who have been indicted by certain international criminal tribunals.
The Department of State considers the rewards program to be ‘one of the most valuable assets the U.S. Government has in the fight against international terrorism’. Since the program’s inception in 1984, the United States Government has rewarded over 60 people who provided actionable information that, according to the Department of State, prevented international terrorist attacks or helped convict individuals involved in terrorist attacks.
The program has been credited with providing information in several high-profile cases, including the arrest of Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein, who United States military forces located and killed in Iraq after receiving information about their locations, and the arrests or deaths of several members of the Abu Sayyaf group, believed to be responsible for the kidnappings and deaths of United States citizens and Filipinos in the Philippines.
Sense of Congress.—
It is the sense of Congress that the rewards program of the Department of State should be expanded in order to—
address the growing threat to important United States interests from transnational criminal activity, such as intellectual property rights piracy, money laundering, trafficking in persons, arms trafficking, and cybercrime; and
target other individuals indicted by international, hybrid, or mixed tribunals for genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.”
Funding
Rewards for Information Concerning Individuals Sought for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Relating to Former Yugoslavia or Rwanda
Authority.—
In the sole discretion of the Secretary of State (except as provided in subsection (b)(2)) and in consultation, as appropriate, with the Attorney General, the Secretary may pay a reward to any individual who furnishes information leading to—
the arrest or conviction in any country; or
the transfer to, or conviction by, the Special Court of Sierra Leone[,] the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia or the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda,
of any individual who is the subject of an indictment confirmed by a judge of such tribunal for serious violations of international humanitarian law as defined under the statute of such tribunal.
Procedures.—
To ensure that the payment of rewards pursuant to this section does not duplicate or interfere with the payment of informants or the obtaining of evidence or information, as authorized to the Department of Justice, subject to paragraph (3), the offering, administration, and payment of rewards under this section, including procedures for—
identifying individuals, organizations, and offenses with respect to which rewards will be offered;
the publication of rewards;
the offering of joint rewards with foreign governments;
the receipt and analysis of data; and
the payment and approval of payment,
shall be governed by procedures developed by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General.
Before making a reward under this section in a matter over which there is Federal criminal jurisdiction, the Secretary of State shall obtain the concurrence of the Attorney General.
Rewards under this section shall be subject to any requirements or limitations that apply to rewards under section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708) with respect to the ineligibility of government employees for rewards, maximum reward amount, and procedures for the approval and certification of rewards for payment.
Reference.—
For the purposes of subsection (a), the statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia means the Annex to the Report of the Secretary General of the United Nations pursuant to paragraph 2 of Security Council Resolution 827 (1993) (S/25704).
For the purposes of subsection (a), the statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda means the statute contained in the annex to Security Council Resolution 955 of
For the purposes of subsection (a), the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone means the Statute contained in the Annex to the Agreement Between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone on the Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone.
Determination of the Secretary.—
A determination made by the Secretary of State under this section shall be final and conclusive and shall not be subject to judicial review.
Priority.—
Rewards under this section may be paid from funds authorized to carry out section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 [22 U.S.C. 2708]. In the Administration and payment of rewards under the rewards program of section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956, the Secretary of State shall ensure that priority is given for payments to individuals described in section 36 of that Act and that funds paid under this section are paid only after any and all due and payable demands are met under section 36 of that Act.
Reports.—
The Secretary shall inform the appropriate committees of rewards paid under this section in the same manner as required by section 36(g) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956.”