A bill was introduced in the House that could lead to new export controls on genetic mapping technology and sanction entities in China and elsewhere involved in certain genetic mapping efforts. The bill would specifically direct the Commerce Department to deny licenses for those exporting these items to certain countries unless the exporter can submit documentation to the government "to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that, if the license is approved, the technology will not be used for human rights abuses or by an entity that has engaged in human rights abuses."
Canada this week sanctioned four people and 29 entities for having “direct ties” to either Russia’s military-industrial complex, its financial industry or its nuclear sectors. Among those designated was a Russian military official associated with the “downing” of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 flight over Russian-controlled territory in 2014. Canada also sanctioned companies making dual-use aviation, marine and special nuclear equipment -- including Promtekhnologiya LLC, which produces weapons for Russian private military company Wagner Group -- and other financial entities linked to the Russian government.
The State Department this week sanctioned 11 people and two entities for their involvement in forcibly transferring and deporting Ukrainian children from Russia-occupied territories to Russia.
DOJ this week indicted two co-founders of virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, which it said facilitated more than $1 billion in money laundering transactions for the Lazarus Group, the sanctioned North Korean cybercrime organization. The agency said Roman Storm of Auburn, Washington, and Russian national Roman Semenov knowingly conspired to violate U.S. sanctions.
The U.K. High Court of Justice's Administrative Court on Aug. 18 rejected a sanctions designation appeal by Eugene Shvidler, an associate of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and a director of mining giant Evraz. The court ruled the designation was "proportionate" and not "discriminatory."
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Aug. 17 amended the entry for Igor Viktorovich Makarov on its Russia sanctions list. The change updated identifying information for Makarov, who supports the Russian government through his work in the country’s energy sector.
Canada announced another set of Russia sanctions last week, designating 15 people and three judicial courts for human rights violations. The designations target senior officials of the Russian government, the judiciary committee, an investigative committee and federally funded courts, including the “notorious” Basmanny District Court. The court has been “directly involved” in human rights abuses against Russian political figures who oppose the government, including Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alexei Navalny, Canada said.
The U.N. this month launched an online sanctions research platform, an “independent reference tool for collecting, researching and analyzing global sanction data,” the organization said in a press release. The platform is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish and is open to anyone “interested in or working on issues related to sanctions and their impact, with no access or usage restrictions.” The tool is aimed at providing a “comprehensive online repository” for information on sanctions and their impact on human rights.
The U.S., Japan and South Korea last week agreed to boost export control cooperation -- including enforcement -- to prevent technologies with military or dual-use applications from being “illegally exported or stolen abroad.” The commitment was one of several made after Aug. 18 meetings at Camp David -- the first stand-alone summit among the three nation’s leaders -- and “signifies a new era of trilateral cooperation," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned four people involved in the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. OFAC said Alexey Alexandrovich Alexandrov, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, Ivan Vladimirovich Osipov and Vladimir Alexandrovich Panyaev are Russian Federal Security Service operatives who were reported to be involved in the attack on Navalny. All four were previously sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act of 2012 for their ties to “extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out” by Russia, the agency said.