US announces new sanctions against Myanmar military regime – JURIST – News

The US State Department announced on Friday new sanctions against 22 people connected to the military regime in Myanmar, as well as against four units that support the regime financially or materially.

The announcement noted that the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added seven members of the regime to its list of sanctioned persons, including three members of the State Administrative Council (SAC), which was appointed by the military after its February body created 2 coups and four cabinet ministers. In addition, OFAC designated fifteen spouses or adult children of SAC members. As a result, any property and interests of such persons located in the United States or controlled by US persons will be blocked. Andrea Gacki, director of OFAC, promised that in response to its violent actions against its people, the US “will continue to impose increasing costs on the Burmese military”.

The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has added four companies to its Entities List. The new sanctions include King Royal Technologies Co., Ltd., a telecommunications company that provides satellite communications services to the military, and Wanbao Mining and two of its subsidiaries, copper mining companies, which have revenue-sharing agreements with the Burmese Ministry of Defense. Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo said: “The US government will continue to promote responsibility for the perpetrators of the coup and stand by the side of the Burmese people and their democratic institutions.”

In his press release on the new round of sanctions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “The United States is committed to promoting accountability to the Burmese military, the SAC and all those who supported the military coup.” Restore democracy in Myanmar and allow people to “determine the future of their country”.