The State Department will look to “immediately and robustly” reengage with the United Nations’ Human Rights Council after the Trump administration withdrew from the body in 2018, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a Feb. 8 statement. The council is “flawed,” but the U.S. can better push for change from within, he said. The UNHRC, which can make international sanctions recommendations, can help promote freedom and human rights around the world, Blinken said, and lead to more effective multilateral measures. He said the U.S. will return to the council in the “immediate term” as an observer with the ability to speak during negotiations and partner with other members to introduce resolutions. “The best way to improve the Council is to engage with it and its members in a principled fashion,” he said. “We strongly believe that when the United States engages constructively with the Council, in concert with our allies and friends, positive change is within reach.”
The International Court of Justice threw out U.S. objections to Iran's case against the U.S.'s extensive sanctions regime that say this case is outside the court's scope. In a Feb. 3 decision, the ICJ rejected the U.S. notions that the court didn't have jurisdiction over matters of trade or transactions between Iran and third countries and of the underlying treaty in which Iran staked its claim. Iran claims that the 2018 U.S. decision to reimpose sanctions violates the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights. It brought its case to the ICJ following President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and reimpose sanctions. The ICJ decision cannot be appealed and will lead to the court hearing Iran's main claim on the merits next.
A U.S. adhesive manufacturing company said it was issued a warning letter from the Treasury Department after disclosing potential violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to the company’s Jan. 26 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. H.B. Fuller said customers of its subsidiaries in Turkey and India may have sold its hygiene products into Iran, which would have violated U.S. sanctions. The company said it disclosed the violations to the Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2018, and in December OFAC issued a cautionary letter with no penalty. H.B. Fuller said the transactions at the center of the potential violations represented less than 1% of the company’s 2018 net revenue.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Feb. 1 amended and added sanctions entries under nine sanctions regimes. The U.K. amended entries under the regimes for Russia, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Iran, chemical weapons, the Central African Republic and Afghanistan. The U.K. also added four entries to its Zimbabwe regime.
The United Nations warned that Sri Lanka’s policies and practices are ripe for human rights violations and urged member states to sanction human rights abusers in the country. “States can consider targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel bans,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a Jan. 27 statement. The U.N. said Sri Lanka has created “parallel military task forces and commissions that encroach on civilian functions” and reversed “important institutional checks and balances.” Bachelet urged “the international community to listen to the determined, courageous, persistent calls of victims and their families for justice, and heed the early warning signs of more violations to come.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Feb. 2 updated a general license that authorizes transactions involving Venezuela’s ports and airports. General License No. 30A, which replaces No. 30 (see 1908060048), also authorizes certain transactions and activities that involve Venezuela’s Instituto Nacional de los Espacios Acuáticos (INEA) or any entity INEA owns by 50% or more. OFAC said the license does not authorize transactions or activities related to the export or reexport of “diluents” to Venezuela.
Japanese lawmakers plan to launch a multi-partisan group to draft sanctions legislation targeting human rights violations, the EU Sanctions blog said in a Jan. 28 post. The group plans to hold its first meeting this month.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control extended a general license authorizing certain transactions involving securities of companies that “closely” match the name of a company identified as a Chinese military company (see 2011130026), a Jan. 27 notice said. General License No. 1A, which replaced General License No. 1 (see 2101120026), authorizes the transactions through 9:30 a.m. EDT May 27 and past the original expiration date of Jan. 28. OFAC also added language to the license to specify that it does not authorize transactions with securities of entities listed on OFAC’s Non-Specially Designated Nationals Communist Chinese Military Companies List or Defense Department-issued lists (see 2101150006). The agency updated frequently asked questions 878 and 879 to reflect the change.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its sanctions list search tool to include “fuzzy logic that is more resource efficient,” a Jan. 25 notice said. The changes will improve the performance and responsiveness of the search tool, OFAC said. Users “may see differences between search results from the previous version of the tool and the newer version.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 25 issued a new general license and updated an existing frequently asked question related to trade with Yemen-based Ansarallah, a U.S.-sanctioned foreign terrorist organization (see 2101110015). General License No. 13 authorizes certain transactions with Ansarallah or its subsidiaries through 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 26. OFAC also updated FAQ 876 to mention the new general license. OFAC issued four general licenses on Jan. 19 to authorize certain transactions with Ansarallah, including trade in humanitarian goods (see 2101190016).