The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Venezeulan biometric technology company and its directors for supporting the Nicolas Maduro regime, OFAC said Dec. 18. The sanctions target Ex-Cle Soluciones Biometricas C.A. and co-directors Guillermo Carlos San Agustin and Marcos Javier Machado Requena. OFAC said the company provides “management solutions” to Venezuela government entities and serves as an “electoral hardware and software vendor” to agencies under the Maduro regime.
The U.S. extended by one year from Dec. 20, 2020, a national emergency authorizing sanctions against serious human rights abuses and corruption, the White House said Dec. 16. The White House said human rights abuses and corruption “continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy.
The U.S. sanctioned one person and five entities for supporting the sale of Iranian petrochemical products, the Treasury Department said Dec. 16. Treasury sanctioned China-based Donghai International Ship Management Limited and Petrochem South East Limited, and United Arab Emirates-based Alpha Tech Trading FZE and Petroliance Trading FZE. The State Department sanctioned Vietnam Gas and Chemicals Transportation Corporation and its managing director Vo Ngoc Phung, Treasury said. Treasury said the people and entities are involved in “significant transactions for the transport of petroleum products from Iran.” The agency said the four entities it sanctioned helped Hong Kong-based Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (see 2001230040) -- which was sanctioned in January -- export energy products from Iran.
Switzerland announced sanctions Dec. 11 on 15 people in Belarus, including President Alexander Lukashenko, for human rights violations in the wake of the country’s contested elections earlier this year. Switzerland also announced an embargo on certain “armaments and goods” shipped to Belarus that may be used for “internal repression.” The country said it is “deeply concerned by the ongoing tensions” in Belarus and urged the country to “respect its international human rights obligations.” The sanctions add to Switzerland's previous sanctions (see 2010150005) and align it with some European Union sanctions measures (see 2010050010).
The European Council renewed sanctions against the Democratic Republic of Congo for one year until Dec. 12, 2021, it announced Dec. 11. The DRC sanctions list contains 11 people. The council said it will continue to “review the restrictive measures” against the DRC and “stands ready to adjust them accordingly.”
The U.S. designated the Saraya al-Mukhtar group, an Iran-backed terrorist organization, as a specially designated global terrorist, the State Department said Dec. 15. The group is reportedly backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and has plotted attacks against U.S. personnel in Bahrain, the State Department said.
The U.S. sanctioned Ashraf al-Qizani, the leader of an Islamic State group affiliate in Tunisia, for terrorism, the State Department said Dec. 11. The announcement designated al-Qizani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist due to his “numerous attacks” in Tunisia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two senior Iranian intelligence officials involved in the 2007 abduction of a U.S. law enforcement agent, OFAC said Dec. 14. The sanctions target Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai, officials at Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, for the abduction of Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent at the time who was working as a private investigator.
The Treasury Department said it has not found evidence of any foreign banks facilitating “significant transactions” for the Hong Kong officials sanctioned by the U.S. in August (see 2008070039), the agency said in a report released to Congress Dec. 11. Treasury said it will “continue to monitor for any activity that meets these criteria” and will “engage foreign governments” and financial institutions “to ensure they understand the reporting requirements and sanctions risks under” the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (see 2007140068), the report said. The agency said it has had “constructive conversations” with “foreign counterparts across the globe” about complying with U.S. sanctions and has asked other governments to “communicate these requirements and risks to financial institutions within their respective jurisdictions.”
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added 11 entries under its global human rights sanctions regime, it said Dec. 10. The designations target 11 politicians, officials and other human rights violators in Russia, Venezuela, The Gambia and Pakistan, it said. This is the third time the U.K. has imposed sanctions under its human rights regime since launching it in July (see 2007060025).