The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed new sanctions on Syria which targeted Syrian First Lady Asma Assad, her parents and brothers who reside in London with dual Syrian-British citizenship, Assad’s key adviser Lina al-Kinayeh, and the Central Bank of Syria.
The new sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle are intended to punish them for years of well documented human rights violations while denying them the means to continue to pursue such acts. The Central Bank of Syria was punished for its “deep banking ties to Iran.”
On December 20, 2019, President Donald Trump signed into law the “Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019” (the Caesar Act). Named after the Syrian photographer who bravely shared with the world thousands of photographs documenting torture in Assad’s prisons, the Caesar Act provides the US government with a powerful way to promote accountability for the Assad regime’s atrocities.
Executive Order 13894, signed on October 14, 2019, includes menu-based sanctions including travel restrictions to the United States and isolation from the United States’ financial system for foreign persons who engage in or finance the obstruction, prevention, or disruption of a ceasefire or political solution to the conflict in Syria and members of their family, among other actions.
Mandatory sanctions under the Caesar Act target foreign persons who facilitate the Assad regime’s acquisition of goods, services, or technologies that support the regime’s military activities as well as its aviation and oil and gas production industries.
The Caesar Act also mandates sanctions on those profiting from the Syrian conflict by engaging in reconstruction activities.
Leaked 2012 emails from Asma Assad’s father Dr. Fawas Akhras, a cardiologist, revealed that he offered his son-in-law advice on how to spin the graphic video footage showing the torture of children by Syrian forces. Over 9 months, Akhras, 74, co-chair of the British Syrian Society, advised the Butcher of Damascus on how to put a better face on the reports of his brutality. Akhras advised Assad to respond to a Channel 4 film showing a video of children being tortured in Syria by saying it is British propaganda. He also sent the president and the first lady 13 talking points to rebut criticisms of the Syrian regime by “directing the argument or the discussion toward the other side.” Essentially, each point responded to accusations against Syria by depicting reports of similar violations committed by Western allies.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday issued a statement suggesting “the Assad and Akhras families have accumulated their ill-gotten riches at the expense of the Syrian people through their control over an extensive, illicit network with links in Europe, the Gulf, and elsewhere.”
“Meanwhile, the Syrian people continue to wait in long lines for bread, fuel, and medicine as the Assad regime chooses to cut subsidies for these basic essentials that Syrians need,” Pompeo said.
Assad called the American sanctions “economic warfare” against his people. But US officials said the sanctions are not aimed at harming the Syrian people or deprive them of humanitarian assistance – it is aimed at depriving the Assad regime of the ability to carry out new atrocities.