May 29, 2007
HP-427

Prepared Remarks of Adam J. Szubin
Director of the Treasury Department’s Office
of Foreign Assets Control

The Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Treasury Department administers financial sanctions to advance our national security and foreign policy goals.  The United States first levied financial sanctions against the Government of Sudan in 1997, in response to its repeated violations of human rights and support for international terrorism. In 2005, the United Nations Security Council put in place a targeted sanctions regime imposing worldwide financial and travel restrictions against individuals responsible for the crisis in Darfur. 

Over the past several months, at the direction of the President, Secretary Paulson, and Secretary Rice, my office has worked to both expand and strengthen financial measures against the Bashir regime and other culpable parties in Sudan.  These measures fall into four broad categories.

First, as the President announced this morning, we have today designated three individuals and one company under Executive Order 13400, which targets those who commit atrocities and foment instability in Darfur.  The designated individuals are:

• Ahmad Haroun, a Sudanese Government minister who has been publicly accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court in the Hague
• Awad Ibn Auf, the director of Sudan's Military Intelligence office, and
• Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the rebel group "Justice and Equality Movement," who is responsible for acts of violence in Darfur and for undermining the Darfur Peace Agreement. 

We have also designated Azza Air Transport under this authority, a company that has moved arms and artillery to Janjaweed militia and Sudanese Government forces in Darfur. 

Second, today we designated 30 companies owned or controlled by the Government of Sudan under Executive Orders 13067 and 13412.  The targeted companies include five petrochemical companies, Sudan's national telecommunications company, and an entity that has supplied armored vehicles to the Sudanese Government for military operations in Darfur. 

All of the individuals and companies designated today are now cut off from the U.S. financial system.  They may not do business with U.S. individuals or companies located anywhere in the world, and any of their assets that come into the possession of a U.S. person or institution must be frozen. 

Third, we have stepped up enforcement of our Sudanese sanctions across the board.  This means aggressive investigation of the methods and accomplices that the Government of Sudan may be using to circumvent our sanctions and access the U.S. financial system illegally.  Those who direct or facilitate evasion of our sanctions should be on notice:  we will be vigilant and the penalties are serious, including potential criminal prosecution.

Finally, our State Department colleagues are working to introduce a new U.N. Security Council resolution that will reinforce the measures we are taking in the United States, and impose new sanctions against the Government of Sudan and its agents on a global scale. 

Collectively, these measures are aimed at bringing stability and peace to Darfur, and ensuring that the Bashir regime takes meaningful steps to alleviate – rather than aggravate – the suffering that is occurring there.  We hope that is the case, and we will be watching.