The European Union announced sanctions against 40 people involved in the repression of peaceful protesters and election interference in Belarus, the European Council said in an Oct. 2 news release. The designations target senior Belarusian government officials, military leaders, and police and election officials. The U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada also announced Belarus sanctions last week (see 2010020041 and 2009300011).
Australia officially launched its new sanctions portal (see 2009230004), the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Oct. 1. The portal, Pax, will “improve the process for making enquiries” about Australian sanctions and applying for sanctions permits, the agency said. Australia also issued guidance for users transitioning to Pax and information on sanctions permits.
A Brazilian government official said that a U.S.-Brazil agreement that covers trade facilitation, best regulatory practices and anti-corruption chapters is in legal scrub, and that should be done by mid-October. “We hope to have them signed this month,” said Yana Dumaresq, assistant deputy minister for foreign trade and international affairs. Joseph Semsar, the lead negotiator from the Commerce Department on this agreement, said that the two administrations are aligned, and “this is a unique opportunity to get things done that seemed unattainable.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security imposed a license requirement on certain exports of water cannon systems and revised its licensing policy for crime control (CC) items. The moves will place more oversight on exports that have potential to be used for human rights violations, BIS said in final rules released Oct. 5. Both rules take effect Oct. 6.
Two Massachusetts residents and their semiconductor company were charged with stealing proprietary information from another U.S. semiconductor company, the Justice Department said Oct. 1. Husband and wife Haoyang Yu and Yanzhi Chen and their company, Tricon MMIC LLC, allegedly stole hundreds of files belonging to Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). Yu and Chen face potential prison sentences and fines for their charges, which include smuggling, transporting stolen goods and possession of a trade secret.
A group of human rights lawyers and law professors sued the Trump administration over its sanctions against the International Criminal Court, saying the measures violate freedom of speech laws and the U.S. Constitution. The group said the sanctions (see 2009300003) -- which the administration said are designed to target ICC officials for “harassment” and “abuse” of U.S. government officials (see 2006110028) -- will affect worldwide support for international justice.
The United Kingdom added six entries to its Ukraine-related sanctions and revised 330 entries under its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in Oct. 2 notices.
The European Union and the United Kingdom on Oct. 2 delisted two leading political figures in Libya. Sanctions were removed from Agila Saleh, speaker of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, and Nuri Abu Sahmain, former president of the General National Congress of Libya, due to Saleh’s recent “engagement in support of a negotiated political solution” and Sahmain’s absence from the Libyan political process, the EU said. “Delisting is appropriate wherever the criteria for listing are no longer met,” the EU said, “as was the case here.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned eight people for their roles in the illegitimate Belarusian presidential election this summer, OFAC said in an Oct. 2 press release. The designations target Belarus’ Minister of the Interior Yuriy Khadzymuratavich Kareau, Deputy Minister of the Interior Alyaksandr Pyatrovich Barsukou and commander and deputy commander of the Minister of the Interior’s Internal Troops Yuriy Henadzievich Nazaranka and Khazalbek Bakhtsibekavich Atabekau, respectively. OFAC also sanctioned Ivan Uladzimiravich Kubrakou and Dzmitriy Uladzimiravich Balaba, who lead organizations that detain peaceful protestors in Minsk, and Vadzim Dzmitrievich Ipatau and Alena Mikalaeuna Dmukhayla, senior election commission officials. The U.S. sanctions follow similar designations by the United Kingdom and Canada (see 2009300011).
The State Department announced procurement bans and export controls on 11 entities and one person for violating export restrictions imposed by multilateral control groups. The restrictions, said a notice released Oct. 2, apply to entities in China, Russia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, their subsidiaries and one person in China for illegally trading items restricted by multilateral control groups, including the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group. The order bans U.S. government procurement and government sales to any of the entities or people involving items on the U.S. Munitions List and controlled under the Arms Export Control Act. It also suspends export licenses for items controlled under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and the Export Administration Regulations. The order took effect Sept. 23 and will remain in place for two years. It applies to the following entities: