Canada on March 3 sanctioned six Russian officials connected to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a prison last month. All six are senior officials of Russia’s “prosecution, judicial and correctional services who were involved in the violation of Mr. Navalny’s human rights, his cruel punishment and ultimately, his death,” Canada said. The designations target Vadim Konstantinovich Kalinin, Alexandr Vladimirovich Varapaev, Igor Borisovich Rakitin, Marina Andreyevna Bobek, Yekaterina Sergeyevna Frolova, Kirill Sergeevich Nikiforov.
The U.S. this week repealed its sanctions authority for Zimbabwe and instead announced new designations under its Global Magnitsky human rights program, part of an effort to highlight the people and entities most responsible for abuses and corruption in the country, the Treasury Department said.
The U.S. is hoping to use export controls to better place restrictions around transfers of sensitive technology information, said Bonnie Jenkins, the State Department’s undersecretary for arms control and international security. Jenkins, who is leading the agency’s effort to implement the AUKUS trilateral security partnership between Australia, the U.S. and the U.K., said the three countries need to be diligent about stopping “information getting out.”
The compromise six-bill appropriations package that congressional negotiators unveiled March 3 contains $191 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security in FY 2024, the same as the FY 2023 enacted level and $31 million below the Biden administration’s request.
The U.K. corrected one entry under its Russia sanctions regime and one under its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida restrictions list, in a pair of March 1 notices. Under the Russia regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation corrected the national identification number for Vladimir Vladimirovich Mikheychik, general director of 224th Flight Unit State Airlines. Under the ISIL regime, OFSI added the U.N. reference number for Khatiba Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad (KTJ), a terrorist organization under the Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant.
An British court of appeals declined to hear one appeal, and found in favor of the government in another, in cases regarding U.K. sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The EU should create a new legal regime to allow European countries to seize frozen Russian assets and use those assets to help rebuild Ukraine, the European Parliament said in a resolution last week. The resolution, which passed 451-46 with 49 abstentions, "underlines" that Russia “must be obliged to pay reparations” to Ukraine. The idea also has support from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen 2402270043).
Australia on March 1 issued another round of sanctions against Russian prison officials with ties to opposition figure Alexei Navalny's death (see 2402280017). The new designations apply to three Russian officials “linked to the prison” where Navalny died last month, the country’s ministry of foreign affairs said. Australia said it holds President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government “responsible for Mr Navalny’s treatment and death in prison” and called for “an independent and transparent investigation” into the issue. The announcement didn’t name the sanctioned prison officials.
A bipartisan group of nine senators, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., urged the Biden administration on Feb. 29 to consider taking additional steps, including economic restrictions, to pressure Nicaraguan government officials to end their crackdown on political dissent and religious freedom.
Nine Republican senators urged President Joe Biden to rescind his recent executive order on West Bank sanctions and his new memorandum on U.S. foreign military aid, saying both treat Israel unfairly.