It remains unclear how strictly the U.S. will enforce sanctions against the Taliban to try to cut the group off from the U.S. financial system as it overtakes Afghanistan, Brian O’Toole, a former Treasury Department sanctions official, told NPR’s Marketplace Aug. 17. “If the Taliban come in and are, quote-unquote, kind of reasonable upfront -- they’re not stoning people in soccer stadiums right away kind of thing -- you could see a scenario in which the U.S. is not as interested in enforcing sanctions,” said O’Toole, a sanctions expert at the Atlantic Council. He said the U.S. may be waiting to first see how the Taliban operates. More concerning actions, including human rights abuses, could lead to strict enforcement of U.S. sanctions. The White House has declined to answer specific questions about how it will impose sanctions against Afghanistan and the Taliban, but National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said sanctions are being considered (see 2108170075).
The United Nations Security Council on Aug. 16 called on member countries to allow “unhindered” humanitarian access to Afghanistan amid the countrywide takeover by the Taliban. Countries should allow “immediate” access for “humanitarian actors providing assistance, including across conflict lines, to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches all those in need,” the UNSC said. U.S. sanctions regulations include carve-outs and licenses for some humanitarian activities, although groups have criticized the sanctions for hindering their work (see 2105260047). The European Union recently expanded its guidance for humanitarian efforts in countries subject to sanctions (see 2108170031).
The U.S. may turn to more sanctions to retain leverage over the Taliban after President Joe Biden decided to withdraw U.S. troops from the country, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Aug. 17. Sullivan said the U.S. will use various foreign policy “tools” to address human rights violations by the Taliban, but he declined to elaborate much further. “I’m not going to go into the full panoply of things that we can do,” he said, “but there are obviously issues related to sanctions” and “other steps” the U.S. can take.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 17 released a comprehensive list of the Belarusian people and entities it sanctioned Aug. 9 for human rights violations, corruption and other reasons. The notice includes identifying information for the new entries and reasons for each of the designations, some of which were made under the agency’s new Belarus sanctions authority (see 2108090033).
The U.S., the European Union and Canada applauded Venezuela's decision to soon begin negotiations in Mexico and hope the discussions help restore the country’s democracy and lead to fair elections. The U.S. and others have heavily sanctioned Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro regime but said in an Aug. 14 statement they are willing to “review sanctions policies if the regime makes meaningful progress in the announced talks.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 13 sanctioned an Omani businessman and his companies for aiding an international oil smuggling network that supports Iran. The agency also designated more Cuban government officials and a military unit for human rights violations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control’s designations of five people last week (see 2108060043) targeted terrorism leaders in Africa, the State Department said Aug. 6. The sanctions targeted leaders with the Islamic State group, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and al-Shabaab.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 6 added five people to its Specially Designated Nationals List for counter-terrorism reasons. The people are: Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, Salem ould Breihmatt, Sidan Ag Hitta, Bonomade Machude Omar and Ali Mohamed Rage. The people have connections to Somalia, Mozambique, Mauritania and Mali. OFAC didn’t immediately provide more information on the designations.
Australia plans to revise its sanctions laws to allow increased punishments for weapons proliferation, human rights violations, malicious cyber activity and corruption, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said Aug. 5. The sanctions will “expand upon Australia’s current country-based autonomous sanctions framework,” Payne said, adding that Australia plans to introduce amendments to the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 to “achieve these important reforms” by the end of the year. “Once the types of conduct are established, Australia will have the ability to impose targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against individuals and entities determined to be involved in such sanctionable conduct wherever it occurs, without having to establish specific country-based regimes,” Payne said.
The World Bank recently published a new Global Suspension & Debarment Directory, detailing how 23 governments and jurisdictions use exclusion frameworks to penalize suppliers from procurement eligibility based on fraud, corruption, sanctions breaches or other violations of that country’s laws. The directory includes sections on the U.S., China, Canada, Germany, Australia and others.