FOREIGN POLICY/LEGAL/TREASURY: “The U.S. on Thursday [12-21-17] blacklisted 13 individuals it accused of serious human rights abuse and corruption, including a former Chinese security official, the son of a top Russian prosecutor, and a billionaire Israeli businessman linked to the Congo’s ‘blood diamond’ industry.
The sanctions are the first under new powers signed into law late last year by the Obama administration, and target people that public interest groups condemn as notorious human rights abusers. President Donald Trump said the severity of human-rights abuse and graft committed by the individuals ‘have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems.’
The penalties ban the 13 from entering the U.S., freeze their U.S.-based assets and complicate their international finance and travel because Western banks and governments keep sanctioned individuals at arm’s-length. Other Western nations have begun implementing similar sanction lists. In addition to the 13 main alleged offenders, the U.S. also blacklisted 39 people and entities affiliated with them.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whose office levied the punitive actions, said the U.S. was ‘taking a strong stand against human rights abuse and corruption globally.’
In addition to targeting human rights abusers, the law gave the U.S. power to impose sanctions on corrupt officials, requiring the administration to publish a list every year on Dec. 10 on “Human Rights Day.” It gives the White House flexibility on whom to target.”
-Ian Talley and Samuel Rubenfeld, “U.S. Blacklists 13 Foreign People It Says Abused Human Rights,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 22, 2017 09:14am