The United Nations Security Council on Aug. 14 rejected a U.S. resolution to extend the Iranian arms embargo, raising the possibility of the U.S. invoking snapback sanctions under the Iran nuclear deal. Only the U.S. and the Dominican Republic voted in favor. Russia and China voted against; 11 members abstained, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom. All three previously said they would support an extension of the arms embargo (see 2006220020), which is scheduled to expire in October.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four people in Uganda for their involvement in an adoption scam, an Aug. 17 news release said. OFAC said the people visited “vulnerable” families in remote villages and promised to take their children to receive an education but instead offered them for adoption to U.S. visitors. OFAC sanctioned two Ugandan judges, Moses Mukiibi and Wilson Musalu Musene; Ugandan lawyer Dorah Mirembe; and Mirembe’s husband, Patrick Ecobu, for carrying out the scheme. Mirembe and Ecobu allegedly bribed the two judges and other Ugandan officials to carry out the adoptions in Ugandan courts.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its sanctions entry for Bi Sidi Souleman, who leads a militia group in the Central African Republic (see 2008060019), an Aug. 13 notice said. It updated identifying information for Souleman.
The European Union is considering sanctions against Belarus for human rights violations and unfair elections earlier this month, an Aug. 11 notice said. The Belarus government “deployed disproportionate and unacceptable violence” to restrict freedom of expression and media, the notice said. The EU will conduct an “in-depth review” of relations with Belarus. “This may include, inter alia, taking measures against those responsible for the observed violence, unjustified arrests, and falsification of election results,” the EU said.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Aug. 11 corrected 20 listings under its Guinea-Bissau sanctions and 14 listings under its Burma sanctions. The corrections add and delete identifying information for the listings, which remain subject to asset freezes.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued guidance on its Sudan program and Darfur sanctions and removed and revised Sudan-related FAQs. The guidance, issued Aug. 11, clarifies that U.S. people and companies are no longer subject to OFAC’s Sudanese Sanctions Regulations but may be designated under the agency’s Darfur sanctions or captured by Commerce Department export controls.
Australia is considering renewing certain sanctions entries under Iran, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, including designations for terrorism-related reasons, it said Aug. 10. Before the sanctions are renewed, Australia said it will accept requests by the listed people to revoke the sanctions or to make a “statement of case.” Australia will accept submissions until 5 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time on Sept. 4.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is amending the base civil penalty amount for certain sanctions violations to reflect inflation adjustments for its civil monetary penalties, a notice released Aug. 10 said. The change, which takes effect Aug. 11, revises the definition for OFAC’s “applicable schedule amount,” which establishes a base penalty for non-egregious sanctions violations cases that do not involve a voluntary self-disclosure.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended six entries under its Central African Republic sanctions regime, an Aug. 10 notice said. The designations include current and former CAR government officials and militia leaders. The six people remain subject to asset freezes, it said.
A U.S. technology company is being investigated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control for possible Iran sanctions violations, the company said in an Aug. 4 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. California-based Harmonic Inc. said OFAC is looking into transactions made with Iran by France-based Thomson Video Networks, which Harmonic acquired in 2016. The company said it may be subject to civil, criminal and monetary penalties, the loss of export privileges or “in extreme cases, imprisonment of responsible employees.”