Addis Ababa – US President Joe Biden has extended his September 2021 Executive Order “imposing sanctions on certain individuals with respect to the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Ethiopia”. Although the sanction is a year old, the US government has not released the names of the sanctioned officials.
In a Sept. 9 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Speaker Patrick Leahy on the “continuing national emergency regarding Ethiopia,” President Biden announced that the “Executive Order 14046 of September 17, 2021 shall remain in effect beyond September 17, 2022.”
“The situation in and in relation to northern Ethiopia has been marked by activities that threaten the peace, security and stability of Ethiopia and the greater Horn of Africa region – in particular violence widespread, atrocities and serious human rights violations, including those involving ethnic violence, rape and other forms of gender-based violence, and the obstruction of humanitarian operations – continue to pose an unusual threat and extraordinary for the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to maintain the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14046 with respect to Ethiopia,” said the full text explaining Biden’s reason for extending the regime of penalties.
Among the multiple restrictions set forth in the executive order is a section authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to impose sanctions, including the blocking of all real property and interests, on individuals who “threaten the peace, security or stability of the Ethiopia, or which have the purpose or effect of widening or extending the crisis in northern Ethiopia or of impeding a ceasefire or peace process”.
The sanctions regime applies to individuals deemed to be “a political subdivision, agency or instrument of the Government of Ethiopia, the Government of Eritrea or its ruling party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, the People’s Liberation Front people of Tigray, the regional government of Amhara or the regional or irregular forces of Amhara. AS
