Two lawmakers are asking President Joe Biden to determine whether Russia’s imprisonment of opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza constitutes a human rights violation and should be met with sanctions. In a letter to Biden last week, Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said Kara-Murza’s “history of defending and promoting human rights” and his opposition to the war in Ukraine may have led to assassination attempts against him in 2015 and 2017 and to his “current wrongful imprisonment.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 27 released quarterly reports on certain licensing activities for Iran and Sudan, covering the period from April 2019 through September 2021. The reports provide licensing statistics for exports of agricultural goods, medicine and medical devices to both countries as required by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.
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Although President Joe Biden’s recent executive order on foreign direct investment isn’t expected to significantly change review outcomes, it sends a clear signal to industry about the U.S.’s FDI priorities and could help companies better understand whether they should submit a voluntary filing, law firms said this month. One firm said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. may use the order as further reason to reach out to businesses about non-notified transactions.
Oil exports from Iran have dipped in recent months given greater competition from Russia in the Asian market, Bloomberg reported. Dropping from a peak of 1 million barrels of crude oil exports a day to an average of 750,000 barrels, Iran's exports are dealing with direct competition from Russia in countries such as China. The competition has forced Tehran to constantly review and adjust its prices, Bloomberg said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security extended the comment period for an information collection related to international import certificates (see 2206100006). Importers use the certificate to certify to the U.S. government that they won’t reexport the goods “except in accordance with the export control regulations” of the U.S. BIS is allowing for another 30 days of public comments.
A new, bipartisan bill in the Senate and House would introduce new sanctions measures to “hold the Russian Federation accountable for the countless human rights abuses” in Ukraine. The bill -- introduced by in the Senate by Todd Young, R-Ind., and Jacky Rosen D-Nev., and in the House by Pat Fallon, R-Texas, and Jimmy Panetta D-Calif. -- would create a “congressional nomination process” for new human rights sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. It would also “update” U.S. policy to “address” people involved in Russia’s forced relocation and retention activities in Ukraine, and it would require the State Department to include details on human rights abuses in Ukraine in its annual human rights report. It would also require the administration to submit a classified report to Congress on the scope of Russia’s war crimes, including abuses to human rights.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Diana Kajmakovic, a state prosecutor in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), for corruption and undermining democratic processes in the Western Balkans. OFAC said Kajmakovic is a “brazenly corrupt BiH state prosecutor with links to criminal organizations.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published in the Federal Register a group of previously issued general licenses. One notice covers two general licenses issued under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations and the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, and the other notice covers three general licenses issued under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions program. The full text of each license appears in the respective notice.
People subject to U.S. jurisdiction can send remittances to Cuba through digital payments in certain situations, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a new frequently asked question this week. OFAC said remittances involving digital payments -- including money transfers through credit cards and digital bank accounts -- are permissible if the transaction is authorized under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations and if the digital payment service provider is a “U.S.-registered money transmitter or other qualifying banking institution.”