Senators Call for Sanctions Amid Georgian Crackdown on Protesters
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a senior member of the committee, urged the Biden administration Dec. 2 to impose sanctions in response to the Republic of Georgia’s violent crackdown on peaceful protesters in recent days.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
While welcoming the administration's Nov. 30 announcement that it's suspending the U.S.-Georgia strategic partnership, which promotes cooperation in trade and other areas, the senators said in a statement that "now is the time to use all of the tools at the disposal of the U.S. government, including sanctions, to remind the Georgian government that actions have consequences. The Georgian people deserve to know that the United States will not sit idly by as this situation deteriorates.”
At a Dec. 2 press briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller declined to say whether the administration will impose sanctions. He noted that the administration has already sanctioned Georgian officials for past attempts to repress dissent (see 2409160027).
The new protests have occurred in response to the Georgian government’s recent decision to delay talks to join the EU. Protesters have reportedly been beaten by masked men and been subjected to water cannons and tear gas fired by police.
A bill that Shaheen and Risch introduced in May would authorize property-blocking sanctions on Georgian officials for corruption, human rights abuses and anti-democratic efforts (see 2410250043). Shaheen said in November that she is trying to get the bill included in the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (see 2411200030).