The European Council on March 22 sanctioned 33 people and two entities linked to the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The listings, under the EU's global human rights sanctions regime, include the two penal colonies where Navalny was held from June 2022 until his death last month, along with the head of one of those colonies, Vadim Kalinin, and other "various deputy heads of the colony." Members of the judiciary were also sanctioned, including Andrey Suvorov, who sentenced Navalny to 19 years in prison, and Kirill Nikiforov, who rejected Navalny's suit against the penal colony.
The EU General Court on March 20 annulled the sanctions listing of tire maker Belshyna AAT, finding that the company wasn't a significant source of revenue for the Belarusian government.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on three information collections involving export activities. Comments for each are due May 24.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said March 21 he’s “deeply concerned” the Biden administration has “politicized” anti-corruption sanctions by using them against foreign officials it perceives as “conservative,” such as former Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, and not using them against “leftist" ones.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Wendy Carolina Morales Urbina, Nicaragua’s attorney general, for her ties to corruption as part of President Daniel Ortega’s government. OFAC said she has helped the government “steal” real property from independent media outlets, international organizations and political prisoners, under law “explicitly to suppress freedom of association.” Morales Urbina does this by giving existing property deeds to new owners declaring properties as “now being made for public use,” the agency said.
The U.S. last week sanctioned 15 members of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel and six Mexican businesses for their involvement in a “Black Market Peso Exchange” scheme to launder millions in illegal fentanyl proceeds for the cartel. The designations target cellphone businesses and their owners, fentanyl suppliers, money launderers, food service companies and clothing retailers, a former Mexican police officer and more.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will again change the export control threshold for certain high-energy storage capacitors to remove license requirements from capacitors that are widely commercially available and no longer provide military or intelligence advantages. The change, outlined in a final rule published March 25 and effective April 24, decontrols certain capacitors with a voltage rating of 500 volts or less.
The EU General Court on March 20 annuled the sanctions listing of former Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin, saying the link between Mazepin and his father -- sanctioned Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin -- is insufficient for the driver's listing on the Russia sanctions regime.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act, which gives the Federal Maritime Commission power to investigate allegations against shipping exchanges, passed the House March 21 by a vote of 393-24. It also directs the FMC to establish standards for price indexes published by shipping exchanges, such as the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 28-22 this week to approve a bill that would impose property-blocking sanctions on Chinese Communist Party leaders for committing human rights violations.