When the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday sanctioned Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin Mohamed, their company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Mae Toussaint Jnr Thomas it did so under the rubric of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and Executive Order (EO) 13818.
Given the shockwaves generated here by the announcement it is worth examining the background to these two provisions. As set out by the US Department of the Treasury, EO 13818 was issued on December 20, 2017, in recognition that the prevalence of human rights abuse and corruption that have their genesis, wholly or in substantial part, outside the United States, “had reached such scope and gravity as to threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets. The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons”.
Interestingly the name of the act derives from a 2012 law focused on Russia, the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which was enacted in response to the detention and death in Russia of lawyer and tax auditor Sergei Magnitsky after he exposed Russian government corruption.
Mr Magnitsky had been hired to probe a case of corruption. According to the UK Guardian in 2007 a group of interior ministry officials had managed to obtain a US$230m rebate from the Russian state. They had fraudulently taken over three companies belonging to Hermitage Capital, an asset management firm. Most Hermitage staff fled abroad but Mr Magnitsky stayed behind and elucidated the scam. The officials he accused had Mr Magnitsky arrested and put in jail, where prison guards beat him up. He died in custody in 2009 after being refused medical treatment or family visits. He was just 37.
The success of the Magnitsky campaign has been attributed to Bill Browder, Hermitage’s chief executive, who the Guardian said mounted an international drive to hold those responsible for Mr Magnitsky’s death to account. Realising there was little prospect that the perpetrators would be punished in Russia, he pushed for asset freezes and travel bans abroad.
The US Congress passed the first Magnitsky legislation in 2012. The law rankled with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who responded by banning the adoption of Russian children by Americans. The US subsequently broadened the list of sanctioned human rights abusers.
The application of Global Magnitsky continues to rise. On December 8th last year US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States was marking Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th by taking actions to promote accountability for human rights abuses and violations. Together, the Departments of State and the Treasury announced the imposition visa restrictions and sanctions on 37 individuals in 13 countries.
Mr Blinken said that the sanctions addressed some of the most challenging and harmful forms of human rights abuses including those involving conflict-related sexual violence, forced labour, and transnational repression.
“Our actions promote accountability for these heinous acts, especially in environments with poor adherence to the rule of law, and support members of vulnerable and marginalized populations including political dissidents, women, civil society leaders and activists, LGBTQI+ persons, and human rights defenders and environmental activists targeted by repressive governments”, he said.
In that round of sanctions, four criminal gang leaders in Haiti involved in human rights abuses were included. Mr Blinken said that the designations of Haitian criminal gang leaders complemented previous U.S. government efforts to disrupt criminal activity in Haiti, including a State Department Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program reward offer of up to US$1 million and US$2 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Joseph Wilson and Vitel’homme Innocent, respectively.
The US also imposed visa sanctions here in 2020 to help ensure that the results of the elections were respected. In July of 2020, then senior government officials and others thought to be involved in undermining democracy here had their US visas revoked. The first cancellations were announced on July 15 by then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and this was followed by another wave on July 30th . Three days later the Granger administration handed over power.
Its extra-territorial implications notwithstanding, the invocation of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act by the US in targeting what it sees as corruption here is another example of international solidarity around the rule of law and ensuring those engaged in egregious acts of corruption do not get off scot-free. The alacrity with which Georgetown acted on Wednesday suggests that it perceived that the special relationship that has bloomed with Washington with oil and ExxonMobil as the centrepiece could be placed under stress.
The government has since acted in various directions and has asked for more information about the Mohameds and Toussaint Jnr Thomas. The government has however ignored locally generated complaints about corrupt behaviour such as the award of billion-dollar pump stations contracts to contractors who literally never built a chicken pen. That unresponsiveness is exactly why legislation like Global Magnitsky hits the mark. Governments that are disdainful of local, good faith efforts find themselves singing a different tune when they face the growing trend of the application of international accountability standards.
Local human rights advocates might also see a glimmer of hope in light of the reports that the government here plans to introduce yet unseen legislation to govern NGOs, a development that has triggered concerns in some quarters.
Global Magnitsky is a clear sign that governments like ours have to ensure that the rule of law prevails and that justice is served.
