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Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...
's
national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...
interagency program that offers reward for information leading to the location or an arrest of leaders of terrorist groups, financiers of terrorism, including any individual that abide in plotting attacks carried out by foreign terrorist organizations. RFJ directly addresses the foreign threat by identifying entities such as key leaders and financial mechanism of the foreign terrorist organizations. RFJ's mission objective is to obtain information that will protect American lives in best interest of U.S.
national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...
. RFJ is managed by the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) administered by the U.S. State Department Office
Bureau of Diplomatic Security The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and pr ...
. The foreign threat intelligence committee includes the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) governed by the U.S. Department of State (DOS).


History

The program was established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism (Public Law 98-533), and it is administered by the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The Rewards for Justice Program was formerly known as the Counter-Terror Rewards Program, soon shortened to the HEROES program. In 1993, DS launched www.heroes.net to help publicize reward information. Brad Smith, a Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) special agent assigned to desk duty due to illness, served as the lone site administrator and program manager running the operation from his home. By 1997, the site was getting more than one million hits a year from 102 countries. Smith is also credited with the idea to put photos of wanted terrorists on matchbook covers. DSS agents assigned to embassies and consulates throughout the world ensured that the matchbooks got wide distribution at bars and restaurants. The Secretary of State is currently offering rewards for information that prevents or favorably resolves acts of international
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
against U.S. persons or property worldwide. Rewards also may be paid for information leading to the
arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be question ...
or
conviction In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is Guilty (law), guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a ...
of terrorists attempting, committing, conspiring to commit, or aiding and abetting in the commission of such acts. As of 2022, The Rewards for Justice program has paid more than $250 million to 125 individuals for leading information that prevented international terrorist attacks or helped bring to justice those involved in prior acts. 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 , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
leadership. However, the plan has been largely ineffective against Islamic terrorists. The largest reward offered was $25 million for the leader of al-Qaeda,
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
, and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, which had "attracted hundreds of anonymous calls but no reliable leads."
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
was shot and killed inside a private residential compound in Abbottabad,
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, by members of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group and
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
operatives in a covert operation on May 2, 2011. Robert A. Hartung, Assistant Director of Diplomatic Security's Threat Investigations and Analysis Directorate, announced on September 2, 2010 that the U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program is offering rewards of up to $5 million each for information that leads law enforcement or security forces to Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali ur Rehman. Former U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
presented a list of "the five most wanted terrorists" to Pakistan; the list included Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mohammed Omar, Ilyas Kashmiri, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Each of these five had bounties issued against them by the program; however, Kashmiri, who US Intelligence officials said they were 99% sure was killed in an airstrike in South Waziristan on June 3, 2011, was removed from the list. Rahman was killed in an airstrike in North Waziristan in August 2011. Omar died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
in
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
, Pakistan in April 2013. Al-Zawahiri was killed in a drone strike in
Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
in July 2022.


Announcements

On December 22, 2011, Rewards for Justice announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil (aka Yasin al-Suri), the leader of an al-Qaeda fundraising network in Iran that transfers money and recruits via Iranian territory to
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. It marked the first time that Rewards for Justice offered a reward for information leading to a terrorist financier. In April 2020, Rewards for Justice Program offered $5 million for information leading to identify North Korean hackers who target United States critical infrastructure.


See also

* Diplomatic Security Service * FBI Most Wanted Terrorists * Narcotics Reward Program


References


External links

* {{official website, http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/
Bureau of Diplomatic Security description


(August 15, 2002) from the U.S. Department of State

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100905023123/http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/2010/146597.htm Briefing of USG efforts to disrupt and dismantle Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)(September 1, 2010)
U.S. Diplomatic Security
1984 establishments in the United States Bureau of Diplomatic Security Rewards for Justice Counterterrorism in the United States