The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 8 sanctioned 16 people and 24 entities for corruption and human rights violations, continuing its string of designations this week under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (see 2112070058 and 2112060014). The designations target a crime network in Kosovo and their affiliated companies or entities across Europe. OFAC also sanctioned people in El Salvador for helping to coordinate a “secret truce” between the country’s government and gang leaders, including MS-13.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned people and entities in Uganda, Iran and Syria for human rights abuses or for undermining democratic institutions. The designations target military or government officials in all three countries as well as two Iranian law enforcement agencies and two Iranian prisons, OFAC said Dec. 7. The U.S. purposefully issued the sanctions just ahead of its democracy summit later this week, which will convene more than 100 of the world’s democracies to discuss collaboration on human rights issues, anti-corruption and more. “Consistent with the goals of this week’s Summit for Democracy, the United States is committed to using its full range of tools to counter serious human rights abuse and repressive acts across the world,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Alain Mukonda and 12 companies linked to Mukonda for providing support to sanctioned billionaire Dan Gertler, OFAC said Dec. 6. Mukonda and the companies are based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 1 added three people and two entities to its Specially Designated Nationals List and deleted a range of other SDN entries. The additions are for Euclides Espana Caicedo, Hernan Dario Velasquez Saldarriaga, Nestor Gregorio Vera Fernandez, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army and Segunda Marquetalia. The State Department this week announced related terrorist designations (see 2111300029). OFAC also deleted a list of entries for people and groups with ties to Colombia and Venezuela. The agency didn’t release more information about the deletions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned an additional 20 people, 12 entities and three aircraft for aiding the Alexander Lukashenko regime in Belarus. The agency also imposed new restrictions on dealings in Belarusian sovereign debt, and issued a new general license and 10 new frequently asked questions to provide guidance on the new sanctions.
Michael Parker, a former official at both the Justice and the Treasury departments, has joined Ferrari & Associates as counsel heading up the firm's money laundering and sanctions practice, the firm announced Dec. 1. Parker was previously a sanctions investigator and later a chief in the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s enforcement division before joining DOJ, where he prosecuted transnational crime and money laundering violations.
Airbnb has available more than a dozen homes for rent in China’s Xinjiang province on land owned by a Chinese entity that is subject to U.S. sanctions, Axios reported Nov. 30. The entity, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2020 for human rights abuses, including for helping to create a surveillance and detention program for Muslim minority groups (see 2007310028). Information connecting “numerous Airbnb listings” with XPCC-owned land is publicly available, including on Airbnb’s website, the report said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Nov. 22-26 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week renewed a general license authorizing transactions between certain companies and Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. General License No. 8I, which replaces No. 8H (see 2106020003), authorizes transactions between PdVSA and Chevron, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International, with certain restrictions, through 12:01 a.m. EDT June 1, 2022. The license was scheduled to expire Dec. 1.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control amended the Syrian Sanctions Regulations to expand an authorization for certain activities of nongovernmental organizations in Syria, OFAC said in final rule released Nov. 24. The rule, effective Nov. 26, expands a general license to allow NGOs to conduct certain “assistance-related investment activities in support of certain not-for-profit activities in Syria.” OFAC also amended the license to specify that it doesn’t apply to foreign people or entities that have been designated as a foreign terrorist organization or “otherwise designated as a terrorist organization by the Secretary of State.”