The United Nations Security Council Committee added one entry to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al‑Qaida Sanctions List, according to a Feb. 4 notice. The UN added Mali resident Amadou Koufa, founder of the West African terrorist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM). The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a Feb. 5 notice reflecting the change. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated JNIM in 2018 and has sanctioned officials working for the group (see 1907160030).
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation released its quarterly report to Parliament on Feb. 4. The report contains actions related to the U.K.’s terrorist asset-freezing sanctions made between July 1 and Sept. 30, including additions, removals and licensing statistics.
The European Commission released a Feb. 4 statement on U.S. sanctions and measures against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline (see 1912230054), saying the European Union does not recognize the “extraterritorial application of U.S. sanctions.” The European Union “regularly” discusses sanctions issues with the U.S. government and Congress, Commission Vice President Josep Borrell said, but U.S. extraterritorial sanctions are “contrary to international law.” Borrell added that “EU policies and practices should not be determined by the threat or imposition of third country sanctions” and “the EU opposes the imposition of sanctions against EU companies conducting legitimate business in accordance with EU law.” Borrell said the EC’s position on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is “well known,” and any companies that build the pipeline “should know that they will need to be operated in line with EU law.”
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation renewed sanctions for three entries on its terrorist asset-freezing list, according to a Feb. 3 notice. The renewed sanctions target Egypt-based Musa Abu Marzouk, Lebanon-based Usama Hamdan and Qatar-based Khalid Mishaal.
The State Department sanctioned Paul Christian Makonda, the regional commissioner of Dar es Salaam, for human rights violations in Tanzania, the agency said in a Jan. 31 press release. The agency also designated his spouse Mary Felix Massenge.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a Jan. 31 guidance on its financial sanctions regimes after Brexit, detailing U.K. companies’ reporting obligations and providing information on exemptions, licensing, enforcement, compliance, challenging designations, penalties and more. The guidance also clarifies that the U.K. can introduce its own sanctions regime during the Brexit transition period even though the European Union sanctions regimes will continue to be in effect in the U.K. until the end of the transition period.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control removed sanctions against a COSCO subsidiary that it had designated in September (see 1909250050), according to a Jan. 31 notice. The move removed sanctions from COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co. but kept sanctions against COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman & Ship Management Co., the other COSCO subsidiary designated by OFAC last year. OFAC had recently renewed a license authorizing certain transactions with COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co., which was set to expire Feb. 4 (see 1912200032).
The U.S. sanctioned the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and AEOI Chief Officer Ali Akbar Salehi, Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said during a Jan. 30 press conference. Hook said the AEOI “played a key role in Iran breaching its nuclear commitments” under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and Salehi “personally inaugurated the installation of new, advanced centrifuges to expand its uranium enrichment capacity.” The AEOI was designated by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2018.
The State Department sanctioned 13 former Salvadoran military officials due to human rights violations, the agency said in a Jan. 29 press release. The former officials were involved in the “extrajudicial killings” of people taking refuge in a Jesuit pastoral center at a university in El Salvador in 1989. The people are: Juan Rafael Bustillo, Juan Orlando Zepeda, Inocente Orlando Montano Morales, Francisco Elena Fuentes, Guillermo Alfredo Benavides Moreno, Yusshy René Mendoza Vallecillos, José Ricardo Espinoza Guerra, Gonzalo Guevara Cerritos, Carlos Camilo Hernández Barahona, Oscar Mariano Amaya Grimaldi, Antonio Ramiro Avalos Vargas, Angel Pérez Vásquez and José Alberto Sierra Ascencio.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned eight people and on entity related to Russian interference in Ukraine, Treasury said in a Jan. 29 press release. The sanctions target Yuri Gotsanyuk, Mikhail Razvozhaev, Vladimir Nemtsev, Sergei Danilenko, Lidia Basova, Ekaterina Pyrkova, Ekaterina Altabaeva, Alexander Ganov and the Grand Service Express, a Moscow railway company that offers transportation between Russia and Crimea. The sanctions were coordinated with Canada, Treasury said, which announced similar sanctions Jan. 29. The European Union Council sanctioned seven of the eight people Jan. 28 (see 2001280047).