The Biden administration continues to consider imposing additional sanctions to reduce China’s export of dual-use goods to Russia’s defense industrial base, a State Department official told a congressional panel July 30.
The U.S. sanctioned two more people and four companies in China and Yemen that have helped procure weapons for the Yemen-based Houthis, allowing the group to continue attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea and civilians in Israel, the Treasury Department said this week.
The U.N. Security Council should urge member states to bolster their sanctions enforcement against terrorist financing, a U.N. body said in a recent report, warning that terrorist groups are increasingly using cryptocurrencies and 3D printing to either evade restrictions or make their own weapons.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned five people and seven entities across mainland China, Hong Kong and Iran for helping to provide key parts to Iran’s missile and drone programs. OFAC said they procure accelerometers, gyroscopes and other components that “serve as key inputs” for Iranian weapons programs, which that country uses to produce drones for Russia and its “proxies” in the Middle East.
The Council of the EU on July 26 sanctioned nine people and one entity for committing human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Council of the European Union extended its anti-terrorism sanctions regime on July 26 and added one entity to the restrictions list. The council sanctioned The Base, a right-wing extremist group "involved in terrorist acts" and founded in 2018. The sanctions regime now covers 15 people and 22 entities.
The U.S. sanctioned the Congo River Alliance, also known by its French name Alliance Fleuve Congo, a coalition of rebel groups that the Office of Foreign Assets Control said is looking to overthrow the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The agency also sanctioned Corneille Yobeluo Nangaa, who founded the alliance, along with Bertrand Bisimwa, the president of the March 23 Movement (M23), a Rwanda-backed rebel group and member of the alliance. Also sanctioned was Twirwaneho, another member group of the alliance and its commander Charles Sematama.
Australia this week announced Magnitsky-style human rights sanctions against seven Israelis and one entity for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The designations target Yinon Levi, Zvi Bar Yosef, Neria Ben Pazi, Elisha Yered, David Chai Chasdai, Einan Tanjil, Meir Ettinger and Hilltop Youth, according to Australia's updated sanctions list. Australia said Hilltop Youth is “responsible for inciting and perpetrating violence against Palestinian communities.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization, a Guatemala-based transnational criminal organization. OFAC said the group helps move migrants through Mexico and into the U.S., and has relied on several U.S. banks and money service businesses to “receive payment from the family members of those being smuggled and to pay other members of the organization.” Along with the sanctions, DOJ charged 19 members of the group for their involvement in human smuggling.
The European Commission this week released a set of frequently asked questions on the sanctions screening obligations of payment service providers under the EU’s instant payment regulation, a new set of rules governing instant payment services in euros adopted earlier this year. The FAQs touch on those obligations, beginning on page 62, outlining how payment service providers should be screening against sanctions lists, what they must do if they detect a payment that may violate sanctions, and more.