Yesterday, the President Donald Trump Administration extended the sanctions regime targeting human rights abusers and corrupt actors around the world. President Donald J. Trump by his letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate extended the Executive Order of 2017, December 20 declaring a national emergency with respect to serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world and providing for the imposition of sanctions on actors engaged in these malign activities, the letter said.
In an Annex to the said Order, the President imposed sanctions on 13 serious human rights abusers and corrupt actors, among which Gulanara Karimova. In addition, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), acting on behalf of the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, imposed sanctions on an additional 39 affiliated individuals and entities under the newly-issued Order.
As a result of the letter, all of the assets within U.S. jurisdiction of the individuals and entities included in the Annex to the Order or designated by OFAC shall remain blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
The prevalence and severity of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or substantial part, outside the United States, continue to threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; undermine economic markets; and continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13818 with respect to serious human rights abuse and corruption, it also said in the letter.
