The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new general license this week to authorize certain transactions with Belavia Belarusian Airlines, the state-owned flagship carrier of Belarus, which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2023 (see 2308090025). General License No. 11 authorizes certain transactions with the airline -- and any entity it owns by 50% or more -- that would normally be prohibited by the Belarus Sanctions Regulations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned more than 30 people, entities and vessels tied to the Iranian-backed Houthis. OFAC said the designations target companies and key Houthi "operatives" in Yemen, China, the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands who are helping to fundraise, smuggle and procure weapons for the Houthis.
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned a network of what it said are scam centers operating across Southeast Asia, saying they steal billions of dollars from Americans using forced labor and violence. The designations target people, companies and centers operating in Shwe Kokko, Myanmar, a "notorious hub for virtual currency investment scams," as well as 10 centers and affiliated people and entities in Cambodia.
The Defense Department routinely funds research by Chinese entities that the U.S. government has placed on restricted lists for their ties to China’s military or role in human rights abuses, compromising the value of those designations, the House Select Committee on China said in a new report released Sept. 5.
Stephanie Connor left her position as assistant director of the Office of Foreign Asset Control's Policy Division to join Holland & Knight's international trade group. Connor, who first joined OFAC in 2022 as an assistant chief counsel, will advise on OFAC sanctions issues, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. regulations, and more.
The U.S. this week sanctioned Al Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights for aiding efforts by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute Israeli nationals for alleged human rights violations in Gaza.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Sept. 3 that the U.S. should immediately enforce sanctions on Serbia’s majority-Russian-owned oil company, NIS, to punish Belgrade for its "subservience" to Moscow.
A State Department spokesperson declined to say whether the agency has rescinded the visas of family members of International Criminal Court officials sanctioned by the U.S., as alleged by ICC judge Kimberly Prost (see 2509020041). "Due to visa record confidentiality, we have no comment on Department actions with respect to specific cases," the spokesperson said Sept. 2 in an email. Prost, an ICC judge sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control last month, said this week that some of her sanctioned ICC colleagues have children in the U.S. on temporary visas, and those visas "have been revoked.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week removed sanctions on Belarusian national Iryna Litviniuk, which were imposed in 2022 for "exploiting" the Guatemalan mining sector, and Musbah Mohamad M Wadi, who was sanctioned in 2020 for his ties to a network of smugglers "contributing to instability" in Libya. OFAC had originally added Litviniuk to the Specially Designated Nationals List under its Global Magnitsky sanctions regulations, and it added Wadi under its Libya sanctions. The agency didn't provide more information about the delistings.