President Joe Biden on Dec. 23 signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which includes a sanctions provision targeting human rights abusers in China. Congress passed the bill earlier this month (see 2112140077 and 2112160076).
The U.N. Security Council Dec. 21 added two new entries to its sanctions list. The UNSC added Sanaullah Ghafari to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Sanctions List and sanctioned Ali Darassa under the Central African Republic. Ghafari is the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan group, the UNSC said, and Darassa leads the CAR-based militia group Unite pour la Paix en Centrafrique (Union for Peace in the CAR). Both were also sanctioned by the United Kingdom (see 2112220024).
The Treasury Department’s new “dangerous” humanitarian-related general licenses for Afghanistan lack oversight and could empower the Taliban, said Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. McCaul said the licenses are “broad sanctions carveouts” that could “reward, legitimize and enable the same Taliban that took power by force and has shown no interest in abiding by international norms.”
The Treasury Department amended the Weapons of Mass Destruction Trade Control Regulations with several technical changes, the agency said in a Federal Register notice. The changes, effective Dec. 27, removed appendix 1 from the regulations, which lists people who contribute to foreign countries’ efforts to develop and stockpile weapons of mass destruction. OFAC also amended certain definitions to reflect the removal of appendix I and made other “technical edits.”
The Wassenaar Arrangement last week published export control changes agreed to by member states during the 2021 plenary. The changes include new controls for “computer-assisted-design software tools for high-end components” and “new classes of metallic and organic substrates used in highly sophisticated applications,” the plenary chair said in a Dec. 23 statement. The changes also include some “relaxed” controls, including loosened restrictions on “fluorinated silicon fluids, metal working parameters for commercial applications, the performance level of High-Performance Computers and multi-mode lasers and radars used in automotive anti-collision applications.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined TD Bank about $115,000 for two separate instances of sanctions violations, the agency said Dec. 23. The bank illegally processed nearly 1,500 transactions that violated U.S. sanctions against North Korea and maintained two accounts for more than four years for a U.S. resident who was sanctioned under Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations. OFAC said both cases resulted from “multiple sanctions compliance breakdowns,” including human errors and screening deficiencies.
The United Kingdom added entries to its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime and to its Central African Republic sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a pair of notices. Sanaullah Ghafari, the ISIL-K emir in Afghanistan, was added to the list, after being appointed by the ISIS core to lead ISIL-K in June 2020. Ali Darassa was added to the CAR sanctions regime. He founded and leads the CAR-based militia group Unite pour la Paix en Centrafrique (Union for Peace in the CAR), which has committed human rights violations.
Seven countries aligned with the European Union's decision to sanction 17 individuals and 11 entities relating to the ongoing situation in Belarus, the European Council said Dec. 22. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also sanctioned the relevant parties. On Dec. 2, the EU, along with the U.S. and other allies, sanctioned a host of individuals and entities in Belarus for aiding illegal border crossings through Belarus to the EU (see 2112020023).
Former U.S. Navy sailor Ye Sang "Ivy" Wang of San Diego was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $20,000 for conspiring with her husband, Shaohua "Eric" Wang, to illegally export military equipment to China, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California said. Ivy Wang bought military equipment for Naval Special Warfare units as part of her duties in her role as a logistics specialist first class assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Command in 2015-2019. In March 2018, Wang ordered a device for identifying U.S. military personnel in the field -- an item that was subject to Commerce Department export controls. Deployed in Iraq at the time the object arrived in San Diego, Wang told her command that the package containing the device was something she bought for her husband for a camping trip, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Instead, she bought the device so her husband could resell it to China for a profit. In October 2018, Ivy Wang told agents interviewing her that her husband was illegally shipping military equipment to China. Even still, Ivy Wang took the device from her Navy command and gave it to her husband, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Eric Wang pleaded guilty in 2019 to illegally selling export-controlled military equipment to China through his business and using his wife's Navy position to buy the equipment. Eric Wang also admitted to maintaining a warehouse in China to keep the equipment, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. “This defendant used her position of trust to put the Navy and the nation at risk, and the sentence imposed today holds her accountable for her actions,” acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The 24 notifications, from July through September, feature arms sales to numerous countries, including the U.K., Israel, Australia, Canada, France, South Korea, Spain, Qatar, Italy, Germany and the United Arab Emirates.