Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the First Vice President of South Sudan, Taban Deng Gai (Deng) for his involvement in serious human rights abuse, including the disappearance and deaths of civilians. Deng has acted to divide and sow distrust within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – In Opposition (SPLM-IO) and broader Nuer community, which has extended the conflict in South Sudan and deteriorated the reconciliation and peace process. In January 2017, South Sudan’s First Vice President Deng Gai reportedly advised and influenced another South Sudanese government official to execute Dong and Aggrey after they were kidnapped from Kenya. Deng ostensibly believed that by murdering Dong and Aggrey he would weaken support for opposition leader Riek Machar and thus solidify his political position within the SPLM-IO and keep his position as First Vice President. Further, Deng had reportedly arranged the abduction of Dong and Aggrey in an effort to intimidate SPLM-IO members and officials to abandon Riek Machar and return to Juba, South Sudan to support Deng. Deng had regularly sent his own security officials to monitor and plan the abduction of SPLM-IO members located outside of South Sudan, and it was believed that Deng wanted to send a clear message to all SPLM-IO members that they were not safe even outside of South Sudan and that they must support Deng.
Deng is being designated for being responsible for, being complicit in, or having directly/ indirectly engaged in serious human rights abuse.
On December 23, 2016, the President signed the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Pub. L. 114-328, Title XII, Subtitle F) (the “Act”) into law. The Act authorized the President to impose targeted sanctions on any foreign person the President determines is, among other things, responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, or a government official, or a senior associate of such an official, responsible for, or complicit in, ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, acts of significant corruption.
On December 20, 2017, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) (IEEPA), issued Executive Order 13818 (82 FR 60839, December 26, 2017) (E.O. 13818), effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on December 21, 2017.
In E.O. 13818, the President determined that serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States and declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.
OFAC is issuing the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 583 (the “Regulations”), to implement the Act and E.O. 13818, pursuant to authorities delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury in E.O. 13818. A copy of E.O. 13818 appears in appendix A to this part.
