US President Barack Obama has extended a 9-year-long national emergency regime with respect to Belarus for one more year, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.
The national emergency with regard to Belarus was first introduced by the then U.S. President George Bushon June 16, 2006.
“The actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Belarus and other persons continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” the document reads. ”For this reason, the national emergency declared on June 16, 2006, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond June 16, 2015. Therefore, <…> I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13405,” Barack Obama said in the statement.
According to the U.S. President, ‘certain members of the Government of Belarus and other persons undermine Belarus’s democratic processes or institutions’. The U.S. accuse them of committing human rights abuses related to political repression, including detentions and disappearances, and engaging in public corruption, including by diverting or misusing Belarusian public assets or by misusing public authority.
The list of persons in it is annually renewed, though Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the secretary of Security Council, Chair of the KGB, and the head of the Central Election Committee are permanently in the list.
The sanctions ban the blacklisted persons from entering the U.S. and freeze their assets in U.S.banks; prohibit U.S. companies from doing business with them.
Apart from Mr Lukashenka, the US sanctions target his eldest son Viktar, presidential aide for national security since 2005; Lidziya Yarmoshyna, chairperson of the central election commission since 1996; Viktar Sheyman, the then state secretary of the Security Council who is currently special presidential aide; Dzmitry Paulichenka, the then chief of the Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) of the interior ministry; Stsyapan Sukharenka, the then chief of the Committee for State Security (KGB), etc. According to U.S. legislation, the full list is not published.
