The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Russian state-owned shipping company and fleet operator Joint Stock Company Sovcomflot along with 14 of its crude oil tankers. Deputy Treasury Secretary said the designation will deal a “huge blow” to Russia’s shadow fleet operations (see 2303230010), which it uses to try to evade the global price cap on Russian oil.
The U.N. Security Council and the U.K. this week sanctioned six military leaders involved in violence or human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The designations target Apollinaire Hakizimana, Ahmad Mahmood Hassan, Michel Rukunda, Mohamed Ali Nkalubo, William Amuri Yakutumba and Willy Ngoma. The U.S. announced similar sanctions last year when it designated six Rwandan or Congolese nationals contributing to conflict in the DRC (see 2308240019).
The State Department this week released its 2023 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act Annual Report, detailing actions it took to impose Magnitsky sanctions last year, including 78 foreign person designations. The report lists each of the designations, including why they were designated.
President Joe Biden extended a national emergency that authorizes sanctions against people and entities in Libya, the White House said Feb. 21. The U.S. said the situation in Libya continues to pose a threat to American national security, citing ongoing violence in the country, human rights abuses, violations of the arms embargo imposed by U.N. Security Council and the misappropriation of Libya’s natural resources. The emergency was extended for one year beyond Feb. 25.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two Russian nationals for their ties to LockBit, a Russia-based ransomware group. The designations target Ivan Gennadievich Kondratiev, a LockBit affiliate and leader of the National Hazard Society, a LockBit affiliate sub-group; and Artur Sungatov, a Lockbit ransomware group affiliate who has “actively engaged in LockBit ransomware attacks,” OFAC said.
The Biden administration is considering “a whole number of options” to respond to the reported death in prison of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, President Joe Biden told reporters on Feb. 16 when asked if he is looking at increasing sanctions on Russia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Feb. 16 issued a new guidance document on U.S. sanctions against Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, to coincide with sanctions taking effect on the Yemeni group that same day pursuant to its formal addition to the Specially Designated Nationals list.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is modifying its North Korea sanctions regulations to amend a general license for humanitarian activities carried out by non-governmental organizations in North Korea. The agency also is adding three new general licenses for Commerce Department-authorized transactions, agricultural and medical goods, and some journalistic activities, it said.
U.S. agencies met with European officials at a “Sanctions Coordinators Forum” Feb. 14 in Brussels to “discuss impacts and enforcement of our Russia sanctions regimes," the State Department said in a news release. State, along with the Commerce and Treasury departments, met with senior EU and member state government officials and delegations from the U.K. and Ukraine on topics including “the use of targeted sanctions to deter and disrupt malign Russian activity and to demonstrate our readiness to take action to defend international norms.”
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., pressed the Treasury Department on Feb. 14 to consider sanctioning Chinese online store Temu over allegations it uses forced labor to make its garments. During a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Luetkeyemer noted that Temu aired a commercial during the Feb. 11 Super Bowl, reflecting its growing presence in the U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson testified during the hearing that he would “take on board" the congressman's concern but could not comment on any potential sanctions activity by his department. Temu didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.