[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 23 (Friday, February 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4950-4953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02070]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice: 10258]
Global Magntisky Human Rights Accountability Act Annual Report
AGENCY: Department of State.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice contains the text of the report, submitted by the
President required by the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability
Act, as submitted by the Secretary of State.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin A. Kraut, Email: Krautb@state
gov, Phone: (202) 647-9452.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 21, 2017, The Secretary of State
approved the following report pursuant to a delegation of authority
from the President under Executive Order 13818. Executive Order 13818,
which implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
(Pub. L. 114-328, Subtitle F), was issued by the President on December
20, 2017 with an effective date of December 21, 2017. The text of the
report follows:
As required by Section 1264 of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights
Accountability Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, Subtitle F) (the ``Act''),
and in accordance with the executive order (E.O.) issued to implement
the Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of
the Treasury, submits this report to detail the Administration's
implementation of the Act in 2017.
Enacted on December 23, 2016, the Act authorizes the President to
impose financial sanctions and visa restrictions on foreign persons
responsible for acts of corruption or certain human rights violations.
On December 20, 2017, the President issued an executive order to
implement the Act. This executive order authorizes the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney
General, to impose financial sanctions on persons determined to be
directly or indirectly responsible for serious human rights abuse or
acts of significant corruption. The executive order also authorizes the
Secretary of State to impose visa restrictions on persons designated
pursuant to the executive order.
The United States is committed to protecting and promoting human
rights and combatting corruption around the world. These efforts
advance a world order that reflects U.S. values and increases the
security of the United States, its allies, and its partners. The United
States has led, and is uniquely positioned to continue leading, the
international community in efforts to combat human rights abuse and
corruption on the international stage. Sanctions issued pursuant to the
Act, as implemented by the executive order, are consistent with these
longstanding efforts.
The United States will, under the executive order, pursue tangible
and significant consequences for those who commit serious human rights
abuse and engage in corruption. This tool will be used without
hesitation to advance U.S. interests in cases involving human rights
abusers or corrupt actors who are beyond the reach of other U.S.
sanctions authorities, but whose designation could have an impact on
these and other malign actors.
Financial Sanctions
Over the last year, various departments and agencies of the United
States Government have actively collected information from multiple
sources--including the Intelligence Community, U.S. missions around the
world, non-governmental organizations,
[[Page 4951]]
and Congress--to support sanctions designations under the executive
order.
In the executive order, the President issued sanctions and visa
restrictions on several persons around the world for human rights abuse
or corruption. Simultaneously, the Department of the Treasury issued a
number of designations targeting individuals and entities engaged in
human rights abuse or corruption or supporting those sanctioned by the
President. The Annex and designations issued this year pursuant to the
executive order are detailed below:
Yahya Jammeh: Yahya Jammeh (Jammeh), the former President of The
Gambia who came to power in 1994 and stepped down in 2017, has a long
history of engaging in serious human rights abuses and corruption.
Jammeh created a terror and assassination squad called the Junglers
that answered directly to him. Jammeh used the Junglers to threaten,
terrorize, interrogate, and kill individuals whom Jammeh assessed to be
threats. During Jammeh's tenure, he ordered the Junglers to kill a
local religious leader, journalists, members of the political
opposition, and former members of the government, among others. Jammeh
used the Gambia's National Intelligence Agency (NIA) as a repressive
tool of the regime--torturing political opponents and journalists.
Throughout his presidency, Jammeh routinely ordered the abuse and
murder of those he suspected of undermining his authority.
During his tenure, Jammeh used a number of corrupt schemes to
plunder The Gambia's state coffers or otherwise siphon off state funds
for his personal gain. Ongoing investigations continue to reveal
Jammeh's large-scale theft from state coffers prior to his departure.
According to The Gambia's Justice Ministry, Jammeh personally, or
through others acting under his instructions, directed the unlawful
withdrawal of at least $50 million of state funds. The Gambian
Government has since taken action to freeze Jammeh's assets within The
Gambia.
Related to Jammeh's designation, the Department of the Treasury
also designated Africada Airways, Kanilai Group International, Kanilai
Worni Family Farms Ltd, Royal Africa Capital Holding Ltd, Africada
Financial Service & Bureau de Change Ltd, Africada Micro-Finance Ltd,
Africada Insurance Company, Kora Media Corporation Ltd, Atlantic
Pelican Company Ltd, Palm Grove Africa Dev't Corp. Ltd, Patriot
Insurance Brokers Co. Ltd, and Royal Africa Securities Brokerage Co
Ltd.
Roberto Jose Rivas Reyes: As President of Nicaragua's Supreme
Electoral Council, drawing a reported government salary of $60,000 per
year, Roberto Jose Rivas Reyes (Rivas) has been accused in the press of
amassing sizeable personal wealth, including multiple properties,
private jets, luxury vehicles, and a yacht. Rivas has been described by
a Nicaraguan Comptroller General as ``above the law,'' with
investigations into his corruption having been blocked by Nicaraguan
government officials. He has also perpetrated electoral fraud
undermining Nicaragua's electoral institutions.
Dan Gertler: Dan Gertler (Gertler) is an international businessman
and billionaire who amassed his fortune through hundreds of millions of
dollars' worth of opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Gertler has used his close
friendship with DRC President Joseph Kabila to act as a middleman for
mining asset sales in the DRC, requiring some multinational companies
to go through Gertler to do business with the Congolese state. As a
result, between 2010 and 2012 alone, the DRC reportedly lost over $1.36
billion in revenues from the underpricing of mining assets that were
sold to offshore companies linked to Gertler. The failure of the DRC to
publish the full details of one of the sales prompted the International
Monetary Fund to halt loans to the DRC totaling $225 million. In 2013,
Gertler sold to the DRC government for $150 million the rights to an
oil block that Gertler purchased from the government for just $500,000,
a loss of $149.5 million in potential revenue. Gertler has acted for or
on behalf of Kabila, helping Kabila organize offshore leasing
companies.
Related to Gertler's designation, the Department of the Treasury
designated Pieter Albert Deboutte, Fleurette Properties Limited,
Fleurette Holdings Netherlands B.V., Gertler Family Foundation, Oil of
DR Congo SPRL, Jarvis Congo SARL, International Diamond Industries,
D.G.D. Investments Ltd., D.G.I. Israel Ltd, Proglan Capital Ltd, Emaxon
Finance International Inc., Africa Horizons Investment Limited,
Caprikat Limited, Foxwhelp Limited, Caprikat and Foxwhelp SARL, Lora
Enterprises Limited, Zuppa Holdings Limited, Orama Properties Ltd, DGI
Mining Ltd, and Rozaro Development Limited.
Slobodan Tesic: Slobodan Tesic (Tesic) is among the biggest dealers
of arms and munitions in the Balkans; he spent nearly a decade on the
United Nations (UN) Travel Ban List for violating UN sanctions against
arms exports to Liberia. In order to secure arms contracts with various
countries, Tesic would directly or indirectly provide bribes and
financial assistance to officials. Tesic also took potential clients on
high-value vacations, paid for their children's education at western
schools or universities, and used large bribes to secure contracts.
Tesic owns or controls two Serbian companies, Partizan Tech and
Technoglobal Systems DOO Beograd, and two Cyprus-based companies Grawit
Limited and Charso Limited. Tesic negotiates the sale of weapons via
Charso Limited and used Grawit Limited as a mechanism to fund
politicians.
Related to Tesic's designation, the Department of the Treasury
designated Preduzece Za Trgovinu Na Veliko I Malo Partizan Tech DOO
Beograd-Savski Venac (``Partizan Tech''), Charso Limited, Grawit
Limited, and Technoglobal Systems DOO Beograd.
Maung Maung Soe: In his former role as chief of the Burmese Army's
Western command, Maung Maung Soe oversaw the military operation in
Burma's Rakhine State responsible for widespread human rights abuse
against Rohingya civilians in response to attacks by the Arakan
Rohingya Salvation Army. The Secretary of State determined on November
22 that the situation in northern Rakhine state in Burma constituted
ethnic cleansing. The United States Government examined credible
evidence of Maung Maung Soe's activities, including allegations against
Burmese security forces of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, and
arbitrary arrest as well as the widespread burning of villages.
Security operations have led to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya
refugees fleeing across Burma's border with Bangladesh. In August 2017,
witnesses reportedly described mass killings and arson attacks by the
Burmese Army and Burmese Border Guard Police, both then under Maung
Maung Soe's command in northern Rakhine State. In August 2017, soldiers
described as being from the Western Command allegedly entered a village
and reportedly separated the inhabitants by gender. According to
witnesses, soldiers opened fire on the men and older boys and committed
multiple acts of rape. Many of the women and younger children were
reportedly also shot. Other witnesses described soldiers setting huts
on fire with villagers inside.
Benjamin Bol Mel: Benjamin Bol Mel (Bol Mel) is the President of
ABMC Thai-South Sudan Construction Company Limited (ABMC), and has
served as the Chairman of the South Sudan Chamber of Commerce,
Industry, and Agriculture. Bol Mel has also served
[[Page 4952]]
as South Sudanese President Salva Kiir's principal financial advisor,
has been Kiir's private secretary, and was perceived within the
government as being close to Kiir and the local business community.
Several officials were linked to ABMC in spite of a constitutional
prohibition on top government officials transacting commercial business
or earning income from outside the government.
Bol Mel oversees ABMC, which has been awarded contracts worth tens
of millions of dollars by the Government of South Sudan. ABMC allegedly
received preferential treatment from high-level officials, and the
Government of South Sudan did not hold a competitive process for
selecting ABMC to do roadwork on several roads in Juba and throughout
South Sudan. Although this roadwork had been completed only a few years
before, the government budgeted tens of millions of dollars more for
maintenance of the same roads.
Related to Bol Mel's designation, the Department of the Treasury
designated ABMC Thai-South Sudan Construction Company Limited and Home
and Away LTD.
Mukhtar Hamid Shah: Mukhtar Hamid Shah (Shah) is a Pakistani
surgeon specializing in kidney transplants who Pakistani police believe
to be involved in kidnapping, wrongful confinement, and the removal of
and trafficking in human organs. As an owner of the Kidney Centre in
Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Shah was involved in the kidnapping and detention
of, and removal of kidneys from, Pakistani laborers. Shah was arrested
by Pakistani authorities in connection with an October 2016 incident in
which 24 individuals from Punjab were found to be held against their
will. Impoverished and illiterate Pakistanis from the countryside were
reportedly lured to Rawalpindi with the promise of a job, and
imprisoned for weeks. Doctors from the Kidney Centre were allegedly
planning to steal their kidneys in order to sell them for a large
profit. Police state that one of the accused arrested in connection
with the events estimated that more than 400 people were imprisoned in
the apartment at various times.
Gulnara Karimova: Gulnara Karimova (Karimova), daughter of former
Uzbekistan leader Islam Karimov, headed a powerful organized crime
syndicate that leveraged state actors to expropriate businesses,
monopolize markets, solicit bribes, and administer extortion rackets.
In July 2017, the Uzbek Prosecutor General's Office charged Karimova
with directly abetting the criminal activities of an organized crime
group whose assets were worth over $1.3 billion. Karimova was also
charged with hiding foreign currency through various means, including
the receipt of payoffs in the accounts of offshore companies controlled
by an organized criminal group, the illegal sale of radio frequencies
and land parcels, siphoning off state funds through fraudulent dividend
payments and stock sales, the illegal removal of cash, the non-
collection of currency earnings, and the import of goods at inflated
prices. Karimova was also found guilty of embezzlement of state funds,
theft, tax evasion, and concealment of documents. Karimova laundered
the proceeds of corruption back to her own accounts through a complex
network of subsidiary companies and segregated portfolio funds.
Karimova's targeting of successful businesses to maximize her gains and
enrich herself in some cases destroyed Uzbek competitors. Due in part
to Karimova's corrupt activities in the telecom sector alone, Uzbeks
paid some of the highest rates in the world for cellular service.
Angel Rondon Rijo: Angel Rondon Rijo (Rondon) is a politically
connected businessman and lobbyist in the Dominican Republic who
funneled money from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction company, to
Dominican officials, who in turn awarded Odebrecht projects to build
highways, dams, and other projects. According to the U.S. Department of
Justice, Odebrecht is a Brazil-based global construction conglomerate
that has pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to violate the anti-
bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and agreed to
a criminal fine of $4.5 billion. In 2017, Rondon was arrested by
Dominican authorities and charged with corruption for the bribes paid
by Odebrecht.
Artem Chayka: Artem Chayka (Chayka) is the son of the Prosecutor
General of the Russian Federation and has leveraged his father's
position and ability to award his subordinates to unfairly win state-
owned assets and contracts and put pressure on business competitors. In
2014, reconstruction of a highway began, and Chayka's competitor for
supplying materials to the project suddenly fell under prosecutorial
scrutiny. An anonymous complaint letter with a fake name initiated a
government investigation against the competitor. Government inspectors
did not produce any documents confirming the legality of the
inspections, and did not inform subjects of the investigation of their
rights. Traffic police were deployed along the route to the competitor,
weight control stations were suddenly dispatched, and trees were dug up
and left to block entrances. The competitor was forced to shut down,
leaving Chayka in a position to non-competitively work on the highway
project. Also in 2014, Chayka bid on a state-owned stone and gravel
company, and was awarded the contract. His competitor contested the
results and filed a lawsuit. Prosecutors thereafter raided his home.
After Chayka's competitor withdrew the lawsuit, prosecutors dropped all
charges.
Gao Yan: Gao Yan (Gao) was the Beijing Public Security Bureau
Chaoyang Branch director. During Gao's tenure, human rights activist
Cao Shunli was detained at Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau
Chaoyang Branch where, in March 2014, Cao fell into a coma and died
from organ failure, her body showing signs of emaciation and neglect.
Cao had been arrested after attempting to board a flight to attend
human rights training in Geneva, Switzerland. She was refused
visitation by her lawyer, and was refused medical treatment while she
suffered from tuberculosis.
Sergey Kusiuk: Sergey Kusiuk (Kusiuk) was commander of an elite
Ukrainian police unit, the Berkut. Ukraine's Special Investigations
Department investigating crimes against activists identified Kusiuk as
a leader of an attack on peaceful protesters on November 30, 2013,
while in charge of 290 Berkut officers, many of whom took part in the
beating of activists. Kusiuk has been named by the Ukrainian General
Prosecutor's Office as an individual who took part in the killings of
activists on Kyiv's Independence Square in February 2014. Kusiuk
ordered the destruction of documentation related to the events, and has
fled Ukraine and is now in hiding in Moscow, Russia, where he was
identified dispersing protesters as part of a Russian riot police unit
in June 2017.
Julio Antonio Juarez Ramirez: Julio Antonio Juarez Ramirez (Juarez)
is a Guatemalan Congressman accused of ordering an attack in which two
journalists were killed and another injured. Guatemalan prosecutors and
a UN-sponsored commission investigating corruption in Guatemala allege
that Juarez hired hit men to kill Prensa Libre correspondent Danilo
Efrain Zapan Lopez, whose reporting had hurt Juarez's plan to run for
reelection. Fellow journalist Federico Benjamin Salazar of Radio Nuevo
Mundo was also killed in the attack and is considered a
[[Page 4953]]
collateral victim. Another journalist was wounded in the attack.
Yankuba Badjie: Yankuba Badjie (Badjie) was appointed as the
Director General of The Gambia's NIA in December 2013 and is alleged to
have presided over abuses throughout his tenure. During Badjie's tenure
as Director General, abuses were prevalent and routine within the NIA,
consisting of physical trauma and other mistreatment. In April 2016,
Badjie oversaw the detention and murder of Solo Sandeng, a member of
the political opposition. In February 2017, Badjie was charged along
with eight subordinates with Sandeng's murder. Prior to becoming
Director General, Badjie served as the NIA Deputy Director General for
Operations. Prior to becoming a member of the NIA's senior leadership,
Badjie led a paramilitary group known as the Junglers to the NIA's
headquarters to beat a prisoner for approximately three hours, leaving
the prisoner unconscious and with broken hands. The following day,
Badjie and the Junglers returned to beat the prisoner again, leaving
him on the verge of death.
Visa Restrictions
Although no visa restrictions were imposed under the Act during the
first year of its enactment, persons designated pursuant to the
executive order may be subject to the visa restrictions articulated in
Sec. 2. Sec. 2 contains restrictions pursuant to Presidential
Proclamation 8693, which establishes a mechanism for imposing visa
restrictions on Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons
(SDNs) designated under the executive order and certain other executive
orders, as well as individuals designated otherwise for travel bans in
UN Security Council resolutions. In addition, the Department of State
continues to take action, as appropriate, to implement authorities
pursuant to which it can impose visa restrictions on those responsible
for human rights violations and corruption, including Presidential
Proclamations 7750 and 8697, and Section 7031(c) of the FY2017
Consolidated Appropriations Act. The Department of State continues to
make visa ineligibility determinations pursuant to the Immigration and
Nationality Act (INA), including Section 212(a)(3)(E) which makes
individuals who have participated in acts of genocide or committed acts
of torture, extrajudicial killings, and other human rights violations
ineligible for visas.
Termination of Sanctions
No sanctions imposed under the Act were terminated.
Efforts To Encourage Governments of Other Countries To Impose Sanctions
Similar to Those Authorized by the Act
The United States is committed to encouraging other countries to
impose sanctions on a similar basis to those provided for by the Act.
The Departments of State and Treasury have consulted closely with
United Kingdom and Canadian government counterparts over the last year
to encourage development and implementation of statutes similar to the
Act by those governments. Both countries have enacted similar laws. The
Departments of State and Treasury shared information with various
foreign partners regarding sanctions and other actions that might be
taken against persons pursuant to the Act, as implemented by the E.O.,
in parallel with other governments' relevant authorities.
Manisha Singh,
Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs,
Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2018-02070 Filed 2-1-18; 8:45 am]
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