U.S. Sanctions for Human Rights Abuses

On December 9, the United States sanctioned 17 Iranian law enforcement, prison, and government officials for the ongoing crackdown. “We reiterate our condemnation of Iran’s brutal acts of violence against peaceful protestors, ongoing denial of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and pervasive oppression and state-sponsored violence against women,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “Today, we are responding to this repressive behavior in coordination with international partners.” The move signaled continued U.S. support for Iranian demonstrators after nearly three months of unrest.

The State and Treasury Departments announced the sanctions on International Anti-Corruption Day—also the morning before International Human Rights Day. They designated dozens of individuals and entities for corruption and rights abuses across 17 countries, including Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, Guatemala, and more. The sanctions froze any assets under U.S. jurisdiction held by the Iranian men and firms and prohibited transactions with them. They were issued under four different executive and legislative authorities. The Treasury named the following individuals:

  • Ali Akbar Javidian, Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) commander in Kermanshah province
  • Ebrahim Kouchakzaei, LEF commander in Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchistan province
  • Allah Karam Azizi, warden of Rejaee Shahr Prison in Karaj, Alborz province

The State Department separately named the following individuals:

  • Mohammed Reza Ostad, warden of Bushehr prison (previously sanctioned under a different authority: New U.S. Sanctions over Iran’s Protests)
  • 13 current and former government officials (the officials were not named)

The following are excerpts on Iran from the State Department and the Treasury.

Secretary of State Blinken

Secretary of State Blinken
Secretary of State Blinken

On International Anti-Corruption Day and on the eve of Human Rights Day, the United States is taking dozens of actions to promote accountability for corruption and human rights abuse around the world. In doing so, we are using a range of accountability tools, including Global Magnitsky sanctions and the Department of State’s Section 7031(c) visa restriction authority, to designate more than 65 individuals and entities connected to corruption and human rights abuses in 17 countries.

We reiterate our condemnation of Iran’s brutal acts of violence against peaceful protestors, ongoing denial of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and pervasive oppression and state-sponsored violence against women.  Today, we are responding to this repressive behavior in coordination with international partners.

The United States is committed to ensuring that our authorities are applied to maximum effect, by addressing corruption and human rights abuse in all their forms, supporting the most vulnerable populations, and coordinating with allies and partners wherever possible.

 

Department of State Factsheet

On the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day and on the eve of International Human Rights Day, the United States is taking the following actions to promote accountability for corruption and human rights abuse around the world.  These actions include financial sanctions, using Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Act, and four additional country-focused Executive Orders.  The actions also include visa restrictions pursuant to Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022 (Div. K, P.L. 117-103), as carried forward by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2023 (Div. A, P.L. 117-180) and pursuant to Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

All property and interests in property of individuals or entities designated under E.O.s 14024, 13818, 13722, 13687, or 13553 that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.  Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, 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 are prohibited.  The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

Section 7031(c) provides that in cases where there is credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are generally ineligible for entry into the United States and must be either publicly or privately designated.  INA Section 212(a)(3)(C) provides grounds for the Secretary of State to exclude any alien whose entry he determines would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.

Iran

Ali Akbar Javidian (Javidian), Kermanshah Province Commander of the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF)

  • Pursuant to E.O. 13818, the Department of the Treasury is designating Javidian for his connection to serious human rights abuse.  During Javidian’s tenure members of the LEF used excessive force against protestors, resulting in extrajudicial killings.

Allah Karim Azizi (Azizi), warden of Rezaee Shah Prison

  • Pursuant to E.O. 13818, the Department of the Treasury is designating Azizi for his connection to serious human rights abuse.  During Azizi’s tenure, prison guards have engaged in maltreatment of prisoners, including serious physical abuse.

Ebrahim Kouchakzaei (Kouchakzaei), LEF commander in Chabahar, in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province

  • Pursuant to E.O. 13553, which authorizes the imposition of sanctions with respect to serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran, the Department of the Treasury is designating Kouchakzaei for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Iran’s LEF.  He is the alleged perpetrator of a rape of a 15-year-old girl in mid-September 2022.

Mohammed Reza Ostad (Ostad), warden of Bushehr Prison

  • Pursuant to Section 7031(c), the Department of State is designating Ostad for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners.

13 Iranian government officials

  • Pursuant to INA Section 212(a)(3)(C), the Department of State is also taking action to impose visa restrictions on 13 current and former Iranian government officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, the abuse, detention or killing of peaceful protestors or inhibiting their rights to freedom of expression or peaceful assembly, including through censorship via a country-wide internet shutdown in Iran.

 

Department of the Treasury

Today 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.

U.S. Treasury SealOver 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 IRAN

Iran has experienced mass, countrywide protests following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Iran’s Morality Police in mid-September 2022 for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab. Iranian security forces have responded with violence to the protests, reportedly killing hundreds, including children, and arresting thousands. Since September, Treasury has issued five rounds of sanctions targeting the Morality Police, a range of Iranian security and government officials involved in the use of violence against Iranian protestors, prison officials involved in the detention of protestors, Iranian media officials associated with broadcasts of coerced confessions relating to the protests, and officials responsible for shutting down Iran’s Internet to stifle freedom of expression online.

Today’s action targets Ali Akbar Javidan (Javidan), the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF) commander in Iran’s Kermanshah Province who has direct oversight over forces that have killed protesters, including children and the elderly. The LEF was designated in 2011 pursuant to E.O. 13553, an Iran human rights authority, for being responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses in Iran since the June 2009 disputed presidential election. The LEF has repeatedly used excessive force in response to protests in Iran in recent years, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of unarmed protesters. Javidan has made public statements justifying the police response to the ongoing protests while valorizing the LEF forces for suppressing them. Javidan also publicly vowed to punish so-called moral crimes, including the alleged improper wearing of the hijab, during a July 2022 roundup of 1700 people.

Javidan 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.

Ebrahim Kouchakzaei (Kouchakzaei) served as an LEF commander in Chabahar, in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province. Kouchakzaei is the alleged perpetrator of a mid-September 2022 rape of a 15-year-old girl. According to reports, the incident, which occurred shortly after the death of Mahsa Amini, fueled major protests throughout the province in late September, leading to a violent backlash from security forces and the killings of more than 60 people.

Kouchakzaei is designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Iran’s LEF.

OFAC is also designating Allah Karam Azizi (Azizi), the warden of Iran’s notorious Rejaee Shahr Prison. Rejaee Shahr Prison is known to house political prisoners and those who protest against the regime. Those imprisoned there have suffered serious physical abuse at the hands of the prison’s guards. Azizi has personally ordered these abuses; under Azizi’s leadership, Rezaee Shahr Prison has remained a place rife with abuse, where prisoners suffer from physical abuse.and medical neglect.

Azizi 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.