US imposes tough sanctions on Syrian president, wife

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced tough sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, his wife, and individuals and businesses that support his regime and obstruct a peaceful, political resolution to the country's deadly conflict.

The Treasury Department and State Department released 39 designations under the Caesar Act and Executive Order 13894.

This is the beginning of what will be a sustained campaign of economic and political pressure to deny the Assad regime revenue and support it uses to wage war and commit mass atrocities against the Syrian people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said

Among those slapped with sanctions include the alleged funder of these atrocities Mohammed Hamsho and Iranian militia Fatemiyoun Division.

The US is also designating Maher al-Assad, along with his Fourth Division of the Syrian Arab Army and its leadership Ghassan Ali Bilal and Samer al-Dana pursuant.

The US has also slapped sanctions against Bushra al-Assad, Manal al-Assad, Ahmad Sabir Hamsho, Amr Hamsho, Ali Hamsho, Rania al-Dabbas, and Sumaia Hamcho.

“We anticipate many more sanctions and we will not stop until Assad and his regime stop their needless, brutal war against the Syrian people and the Syrian government agrees to a political solution to the conflict as called for by UNSCR 2254,” Pompeo said.

“We will undertake our campaign of economic and political pressure in full cooperation with other like-minded nations, especially our European partners, who only three weeks ago renewed their own sanctions against the Assad regime for precisely the same reasons,” he said.

Many of the dozens of people and companies the US sanctioned have played a key role in obstructing a peaceful political solution to the conflict, he said, adding that others have aided and financed the Assad regime’s atrocities against the Syrian people while enriching themselves and their families.

“I will make special note of the designation for the first time of Asma al-Assad, the wife of Bashar al-Assad, who with the support of her husband and members of her Akhras family has become one of Syria’s most notorious war profiteers. Now anyone doing business with any of these persons or entities is at risk of sanctions,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo alleged that for more than nine years, the Assad regime has waged a bloody war against the Syrian people and committed innumerable atrocities, some of which rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and the use of chemical weapons.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, nine years of civil war in Syria has left more than 380,000 people dead, including over 115,000 civilians.

“Since the conflict began, more than half a million Syrians have died and eleven million people – half of Syria’s pre-war population – have been displaced. Bashar al-Assad and his regime squander tens of millions of dollars each month to fund their needless war, destroying homes, schools, shops, and public markets. Their destructive war has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, prevented life-saving assistance from reaching those in need, and brought misery to the Syrian people,” he said.

Since the 2011 start to the Syrian conflict, the Assad regime has committed innumerable atrocities against Syrians, including arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, and murder.

These despicable acts have devastated the country's people, infrastructure, and economy, displacing more than half of Syria's population, the White House said.

“Today's designations send a clear message that no individual or business should enter into business with or otherwise enrich such a vile regime,” the White House said in a statement.

According to the State Department, these sanctions are designed to deter Bashar al-Assad and his regime from abusing the international financial system and global supply chain to continue brutalising the Syrian people.

“We also intend to prevent the Assad regime and its associates from profiteering from the war that the regime itself has thrust upon the Syrian people,” it said.

“The Assad regime has a choice: take irreversible steps towards a peaceful resolution of the nearly decade-long conflict or face further crippling sanctions,” the State Department said.