US to crack down on violators of Sudan sanctions: Official
February 07, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — A senior US official today disclosed that Washington intends to clamp down on companies that have violated sanctions imposed on Sudan and said that hefty civil penalties will be forthcoming.
The US official also said that OFAC will step up enforcement of existing sanctions on the Sudanese government.
“Sudan is at the top of our list, among our most serious concerns. We are investigating a number of significant Sudanese violations,” Szubin told Reuters. However he declined to name the companies that will be impacted but suggested that they include both US and foreign based firms.
Last May the US president George Bush ordered stiffened sanctions on Sudan that will bar 31 companies controlled by the government from doing business in the U.S. financial system as well as sanctions on four Sudanese individuals, including two senior Sudanese officials and a rebel leader suspected of involvement in the Darfur violence.
Relations between Washington and Khartoum have deteriorated in recent weeks in light of Sudan’s refusal to admit containers that belong to the US embassy. The Sudanese government has refused to admit the shipment without payment of custom fees, something which Washington has rejected.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas Greenfield who visited Khartoum last month failed to convince Sudanese officials to reverse their decisions.
Greenfield met with Sabir Mohammed Hassan, governor of Sudan Central Bank who told her that he will not grant the shipment any exemption from custom fees unless sanctions are lifted. However the US official said that no payment will be made and that the embassy is entitled to the exemption.
Hassan told reporters after the meeting that US sanctions are hurting Sudan’s economy and disclosed that his government may be forced to shed its ownership in a newly merged bank to avoid the sanctions.
Sudanese officials have appeared to be taking a retaliatory stance on the issue of relations with Washington particularly with regards to sanctions.
Mustafa Ismail, Sudanese President’s adviser and senior National Congress Party (NCP) official told US Charge D’affaires Alberto Fernandez last month that there needs to be a roadmap for normalizing ties between both countries that included lifting sanctions imposed by Washington.
The timing of Szubin announcement was related to Senate resolution S.1612 signed by Bush last October into a law. The “International Emergency Economic Powers Enhancement Act” (IEEPE) increases civil and criminal penalties for violations of economic sanctions imposed.
Under IEEPE a company or a person who violates any sanctions will be subject to a $250,0000 fine per transaction or “an amount that is twice the amount of the transaction that is the basis of the violation with respect to which the penalty is imposed”.
Szubin said that the recent increase in penalties for sanctions violators “strengthened OFAC’s hand”.
“What we were seeing in a few cases would be a company that facilitated, let’s say, a handful of petroleum sales for Sudan out of the United States … and then was caught.”
Before the penalty increase, the company would have only had to pay up to $50,000 for each illegal sale — a charge that many organizations could write off.
“We’re now able to say, if your transactions totaled $40 million, and those were violating transactions, you could be facing a maximum penalty of $80 million. And that is no longer something that people will shrug off.”
The announcement will likely infuriate Khartoum who constantly argued that they have fulfilled Washington’s conditions for normalizing relations. A visit by newly appointed US special envoy to Sudan Richard S. Williamson that was scheduled for late January got postponed and no new date was set.
There was no word on the reasons behind the delay. However some sources speaking to Sudan Tribune cited “security measures being taken in Khartoum” without elaborating while others have mentioned less than enthusiastic Sudan for Williamson’s who they view as a ‘hardliner’.
(ST)
Some information for this report provided by Reuters.