The United Kingdom added six entries to its Ukraine-related sanctions and revised 330 entries under its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in Oct. 2 notices.
The European Union and the United Kingdom on Oct. 2 delisted two leading political figures in Libya. Sanctions were removed from Agila Saleh, speaker of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, and Nuri Abu Sahmain, former president of the General National Congress of Libya, due to Saleh’s recent “engagement in support of a negotiated political solution” and Sahmain’s absence from the Libyan political process, the EU said. “Delisting is appropriate wherever the criteria for listing are no longer met,” the EU said, “as was the case here.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned eight people for their roles in the illegitimate Belarusian presidential election this summer, OFAC said in an Oct. 2 press release. The designations target Belarus’ Minister of the Interior Yuriy Khadzymuratavich Kareau, Deputy Minister of the Interior Alyaksandr Pyatrovich Barsukou and commander and deputy commander of the Minister of the Interior’s Internal Troops Yuriy Henadzievich Nazaranka and Khazalbek Bakhtsibekavich Atabekau, respectively. OFAC also sanctioned Ivan Uladzimiravich Kubrakou and Dzmitriy Uladzimiravich Balaba, who lead organizations that detain peaceful protestors in Minsk, and Vadzim Dzmitrievich Ipatau and Alena Mikalaeuna Dmukhayla, senior election commission officials. The U.S. sanctions follow similar designations by the United Kingdom and Canada (see 2009300011).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 30 sanctioned a Cuban national for helping his country’s government oppress Cubans and Venezuelans. The designations targeted Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Calleja, the head of the Cuban military-owned conglomerate Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A., the State Department said. Funds generated from the conglomerate are used to “oppress the Cuban people and to fund Cuba’s parasitic, colonial domination of Venezuela,” the State Department said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a New York travel services company nearly $5.9 million for violating U.S. sanctions against Cuba, OFAC said in an Oct. 1 notice. The company, Generali Global Assistance, Inc. (GGA), used a Canadian affiliate to evade U.S. sanctions, OFAC said.
The United Kingdom and Canada on Sept. 29 imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials (see 2009250010) for human rights violations related to the country’s rigged elections. The U.K. sanctioned eight officials and Canada listed 11. Both lists include Aleksandr Lukashenko, who claimed victory in the recent presidential election.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control amended its Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations and its Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, the agency said in a notice released Sept. 30. The final rule revises a note that describes how people designated under the WMD regulations for North Korea are identified in OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List and amends the ITSR to “refine” a general license. The rule is effective on Oct. 1.
The U.S. sanctioned 20 people and entities for supporting Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime and issued a new general license and frequently asked question. The sanctions, announced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the State Department Sept. 30, target Assad regime officials, military officials, financiers and their businesses.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control released regulations Sept. 30 to implement a June executive order (see 2006110028) authorizing sanctions against the International Criminal Court. OFAC released the regulations in a final rule effective Oct. 1 in “abbreviated form” to provide “immediate guidance to the public.” The agency said it plans to soon publish a more “comprehensive set of regulations,” which may include guidance on definitions, general licenses and information on licensing policy.
The U.S. sanctioned two Iranian officials and four entities for human rights violations, the State Department said Sept. 24. The designations target Iranian Judges Seyyed Mahmoud Sadati and Mohammad Soltani for sentencing people on “dubious charges” related to freedom of speech. Also designated are the Shiraz Revolutionary Court's Branch 1 and the Adel Abad, Orumiyeh and Vakilabad prisons.