The European Union renewed sanctions against Tunisia until Jan. 31, 2022, and deleted four sections entries under the regime, the EU said in Jan. 25 notices. The deleted entries are for Bouthaina Bent Moncef Ben Mohamed Trabelsi, Nabil Ben Abderrazek Ben Mohamed Trabelsi, Akrem Ben Hamed Ben Taher Bouaouina and Slim Ben Tijani Ben Haj Hamda Ben Ali.
President Joe Biden recently ordered a review of all U.S. and multilateral financial and economic sanctions to see if they are hindering the COVID-19 pandemic response. The Jan. 21 executive order calls on the secretaries of the State, Treasury and Commerce departments, with input from the Department of Health and Human Services secretary and the U.S. Agency for International Development administrator, to conduct the review and provide recommendations on the state of these sanctions to the national security adviser and COVID-19 response coordinator. This sanctions-review provision is part of a broader order on reestablishing American leadership in the global pandemic response and reorienting the U.S.'s national security priorities to combat COVID-19.
The United Nations Security Council removed Iraqi nationals Zuhair Talib Abd al-Sattar al-Naqib and Amir Rashid Muhammad al-Ubaidi from its sanctions list, a Jan. 18 news release said. Both were designated in 2003.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation revised a range of entries under six different sanctions regimes, according to Jan. 21 notices. OFSI amended sanctions entries listed under the regimes for South Sudan, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, counterterrorism, and the Central African Republic; and it deleted 11 entries under its North Korean sanctions regime.
Serica Energy, a United Kingdom-based energy company, said it received a renewed license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control to continue providing goods, services and support to the North Sea Rhum field, the company said Jan. 21. Serica also said it received “secondary sanctions assurance” from OFAC and will be allowed to continue providing services to Rhum beyond the Feb. 28 expiration of its current license. The new license is valid through Jan. 31, 2023. The Rhum gas field is partly owned by an Iranian oil company. OFAC declined to comment.
A European Union Parliament resolution adopted Jan. 21 calls on the EU to sanction people and entities involved in the arrest and imprisonment of Alexei Navalny in Russia earlier this month. Although the EU sanctioned several Russian officials last year for poisoning Navalny (see 2010150008), a Russian opposition politician, the Parliament said those measures need to be expanded and “significantly” strengthened.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended 15 sanctions entries under its regime for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and removed two entries from its regime for Iraq, according to Jan. 19 notices. The U.K. updated identifying information for the 15 entries listed under the DRC and removed entries for Zuhair Talib Abd-Al-Sattar Al-Naqib and Amir Rashid Muhammad Al-Ubaidi under Iraq.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended entries under eight sanctions regimes, the U.K. said in Jan. 19 notices. OFSI amended entries under its regimes for Belarus, Burma, Chemical Weapons, North Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Russia and Syria. The amendments update identifying information for the entries, which are still subject to asset freezes.
China announced sanctions on 28 Trump administration officials and advisers who have “seriously violated China's sovereignty,” according to a Jan. 20 statement by China's Foreign Ministry. The sanctions target former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, former White House adviser Peter Navarro and others. The sanctions include a ban on traveling to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau and will prohibit the former officials from “doing business with China.”
China’s Foreign Ministry imposed retaliatory sanctions against U.S. officials, lawmakers and entities for the State Department’s decision this month to designate Chinese and Hong Kong officials (see 2101150038). China sanctioned U.S. executive branch officials, members of Congress and nongovernmental organizations that “behaved egregiously” on Hong Kong-related issues, a ministry spokesperson said Jan. 18 during a regular agency press conference, according to a transcript it provided. She did not provide names. China urged the U.S. to “stop meddling with Hong Kong affairs.” The move follows Chinese announcements last year of similar retaliatory sanctions against U.S. officials (see 2012100022). The White House didn’t comment.