— Alleged Corrupt Liberian Gov’t Officials Survive; Ousted Guinea former Pres. Alpha Condo Hooked
Sanctions Mark Human Rights Day and International Anti-Corruption Day – December 9, 2022
WASHINGTON – Friday, December 9, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in recognition of International Anti-Corruption Day and Human Rights Day, is sanctioning a diverse array of over 40 individuals and entities that are connected to corruption or human rights abuse across nine countries.
Over the course of 2022, Treasury took numerous actions to promote accountability for human rights abusers and corrupt actors across the world, including sanctions on dozens of individuals and entities including in the Western Balkans, Belarus, Liberia, Guatemala, the Russian Federation, Burma, and Iran. Treasury utilized various tools and authorities — including Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act — to demonstrate the U.S. government’s focus on promoting respect for human rights and countering corruption.
“Corrupt actors and human rights abusers both rely on deficiencies in the international financial system to perpetrate their activities,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Over the past year, Treasury has made combatting corruption and serious human rights abuse a top priority, including through the use of financial sanctions and addressing vulnerabilities in the U.S. and international financial systems. By exposing the egregious behavior of these actors, we can help disrupt their activities, dismantle their networks, and starve them of resources.”
The United States is committed to taking actions consistent with its values and recognizes that respect for human rights is a prerequisite for global peace, security, and prosperity. Today OFAC also designated two individuals and the networks of entities that they control in connection with serious human rights abuse aboard distant water fishing vessels.
“Today’s actions are also a key component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to implement the first-ever U.S. Strategy for Countering Corruption, released in December 2021. Treasury is working diligently to implement other elements of the strategy, including efforts to curb illicit finance related to corruption. For example, as part of Treasury’s ongoing work implementing the Corporate Transparency Act, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued in September 2022 a final rule on beneficial ownership information reporting requirements, which will help stop corrupt actors and other criminals from using anonymous shell companies to hide their ill-gotten gains. Additionally, Treasury is working to enhance the transparency of the real estate sector, as well as strengthen global efforts to counter corruption at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and other bodies, in support of the Strategy. Through these and other efforts, the Treasury Department is focused on addressing the vulnerabilities in the U.S. and international financial systems that the corrupt exploit to launder their illicit proceeds.”
SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN GUINEA
Former Guinea President Alpha Conde sanctioned by US government
OFAC is designating Alpha Conde (Conde), the former President of Guinea, who was ousted in a coup d’état in September 2021. Under his presidency, security forces engaged in violence against supporters of Conde’s opposition leading up to a March 2020 constitutional referendum that enabled Conde to run for a third term. Violence against opposition members continued through and after the October 2020 Guinean presidential election.
In early 2020, Conde ordered ministers to create a police unit to respond to anti-Conde protesters, with violence if necessary. Reports indicate that in 2020 the government arbitrarily arrested and detained opposition members. Around the October 2020 Guinean presidential election, security forces used excessive force to disperse opposition supporters. Among other incidents, security forces reportedly fired live bullets into crowds that had gathered to celebrate the victory announcement of Conde’s opposition and shot two minors, killing one, and shot another in the back as he ran away. After the October 2020 election, security forces reportedly killed over a dozen individuals, including individuals killed at close range who presented no immediate danger to the security forces.
Conde is designated pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who is or has been a leader or official of an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, serious human rights abuse relating to his tenure.
CORRUPTION IN MALI
Karim Keita (Keita) is the son of former Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and the former president of the Security and Defense Commission of Mali’s National Assembly. Keita oversaw Mali’s defense spending from February 2014 until August 2020, when the military overthrew his father. Keita allegedly used his position to receive bribes, assign contracts to affiliates who subsequently paid him kickbacks, and embezzle government funds by overpaying on contracts for materiel. Through his father, Keita allegedly arranged to remove from their positions officials who did not support his corruption. Keita also ostensibly arranged bribes to support his father’s re-election. After his father was ousted, Keita fled to Cote d’Ivoire, where he serves as the CEO of Konijane Strategic Marketing.
OFAC is designating Keita pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who is a current or former government official, or person acting for or on behalf of such an official, who is responsible for or is complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery. OFAC is also designating Cote d’Ivoire-based Konijane Strategic Marketing for being owned or controlled by Keita.
Separately, Keita is also alleged to have arranged the abduction, torture, and apparent murder of Birama Toure (Toure), a reporter who was investigating Keita’s involvement in corruption. Multiple witnesses claim to have seen Toure at a prison run by Mali’s intelligence service with clear signs of having been brutally tortured. At least one witness claimed to have seen Toure’s apparently lifeless body removed from the prison in Keita’s presence. Keita purportedly pressured a lawyer not to take up Toure’s case, while another witness claimed Toure had told him in prison that Toure had been arrested on Keita’s orders.
The US Treasury has also sanction individuals and entities as follow:
HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS LINKED TO THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA (DPRK); CORRUPTION IN EL SALVADOR; CORRUPTION IN GUATEMALA; SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN IRAN; SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN THE PHILIPPINES; THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION’S ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS; And SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN THE TIBETAN AUTONOMOUS REGION OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons, individually or in the aggregate Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Department of the Treasury’s List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List), but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please visit here.
GLOBAL MAGNITSKY
Building upon the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, E.O. 13818 was issued on December 20, 2017, in recognition that the prevalence of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, had reached such scope and gravity as 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; and undermine economic markets. The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.
INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY
International Anti-Corruption Day has been observed annually on December 9 since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) on October 31, 2003, to raise public awareness of the importance of anti-corruption initiatives in countering corruption and preventing it from undermining democratic institutions, eroding governmental stability, and slowing economic development. Treasury’s actions today are part of a whole-of-government effort, including hosting this year’s International Anti-Corruption Conference that commemorate these events.
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
Human Rights Day is observed annually on December 10, which marks the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. That declaration enumerates human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedoms of expression, religion or belief, association, and peaceful assembly, and the right to be free from arbitrary interference with privacy.
