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WASHINGTON
U.S. Department of the Treasury

Tightened sanctions target Syrian human rights abuses

Gregory Korte
USA TODAY
A woman walks past huge banner of President Bashar al-Assad hanging from the central bank building in the capital in Damascus on February 28, 2012. Syria will exhaust its foreign currency reserves in three to five months, sparking crisis in an economy reeling from sanctions over its crackdown on protests, a Western diplomat told reporters in London.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department tightened its sanctions against Syria Thursday, prohibiting Americans from doing business with 12 people and companies accused of providing support to the Syrian regime.

Another top Syrian official was also added to the sanctions list for alleged human rights abuses on behalf of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Treasury officials say Qusay Mihoub, a brigadier general in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence, was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of protesters in 2011. Mihoub ordered a special branch of the Syrian military to "stop the protesters by all possible means," including lethal force, and his unit also engaged in assassinations, torture, electric shock and even the burning alive of civilians, U.S. officials allege.

"We will continue to increase economic and financial pressure on the Syrian regime so long as it commits egregious human rights violations and attacks its own people," said a statement by Treasury Under Secretary David Cohen, who just returned from a tour of Persian Gulf allies this week in an effort to combat financial networks of the Islamic State.

Also added to the sanctions list: Two Cypriot companies, two of their directors, a Lebanese company and its general manager, four Syrian state banks and two Syrian government officials. All are accused of supporting the Assad regime.

"Our actions today reaffirm our commitment to target any individual or entity that supports the illegitimate rule of Bashar al-Assad and is responsible for the regime's brutality against Syrian civilians," Cohen said.

In a separate action Thursday, the Treasury Department removed from the sanctions list a German company of accused facilitating oil trades with Iran.

Deutsche Forfait Aktiengesellschaft and its U.S. subsidiary were removed from the list after taking "extensive remedial steps," Treasury officials said. However, a former company director, Ulrich Wippermann, remains on the sanctions list.

Follow @gregorykorte on Twitter.

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