Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, determine that the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been marked by widespread violence and atrocities that continue to threaten regional stability and was addressed by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 1596 of April 18, 2005, Resolution 1649 of December 21, 2005, and Resolution 1698 of July 31, 2006, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. To address that threat, I hereby order:
Section 1. (a) Except to the extent that section 203(b)(1), (3), and (4) of the IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1), (3), and (4)) may apply, or to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order, all property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, including their overseas branches, of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:
(i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order; and
(ii) any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of State:
(A) to be a political or military leader of a foreign armed group operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that impedes the disarmament, repatriation, or resettlement of combatants;
(B) to be a political or military leader of a Congolese armed group that impedes the disarmament, demobilization, or reintegration of combatants;
(C) to be a political or military leader recruiting or using children in armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in violation of applicable international law;
(D) to have committed serious violations of international law involving the targeting of children in situations of armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, and forced displacement;
(E) to have directly or indirectly supplied, sold, or transferred to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or been the recipient in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of, arms and related materiel, including military aircraft and equipment, or advice, training, or assistance, including financing and financial assistance, related to military activities;
(F) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, the activities described in subsections (a)(ii)(A) through (E) of this section or any person listed in or designated pursuant to this order; or
(G) to be owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person listed in or designated pursuant to this order.
(b) I hereby determine that, to the extent section 203(b)(2) of the IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) may apply, the making of donations of the type of articles specified in such section by, to, or for the benefit of any person listed in or designated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in this order, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include but are not limited to (i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person listed in or designated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, and (ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
Sec. 3. For the purposes of this order:
(a) the term "person" means an individual or entity;
(b) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; and
(c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.
Sec. 4. For those persons listed in or designated pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that, because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in this order, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to subsection 1(a) of this order.
Sec. 5. The Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by the IEEPA and the UNPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government, consistent with applicable law. All executive agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order and, where appropriate, to advise the Secretary of the Treasury in a timely manner of the measures taken. The Secretary of the Treasury shall ensure compliance with those provisions of section 401 of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641) applicable to the Department of the Treasury in relation to this order.
Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to submit the recurring and final reports to the Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of the IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).
Sec. 7. The Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized, subsequent to the issuance of this order, to determine, and to take necessary action to give effect to that determination, that circumstances no longer warrant the blocking of the property and interests in property of, or the prohibiting of transactions with, a person listed in the Annex to this order.
Sec. 8. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.
Sec. 9. This order is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on October 30, 2006.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
October 27, 2006.
Annex
Individuals
1. Laurent Nkunda [born February 6, 1967; Founder, National Congress for the People's Defense, 2006; Senior Officer, Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (RCD-G), 1998-2006; Officer, Rwandan Patriotic Front, 1992-1998]
Laurent Nkunda
Eastern rebel leader, Rally for Congolese Democracy. Terrrorized Eastern Congo towns.
Tutsi, Rwanda backed
Frequently operates in Bakuva, Goma
Born in Kivu province
2. Ignace Murwanashyaka [born May 14, 1963; President, Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR)]
Ignace Murwanashyaka
current leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Rwandan Hutu rebel group working in Congo
President of FDLR, exercising influence over policies, and maintaining command and control over the activities of FDLR forces, one of the armed groups and militias referred to in paragraph 20 of Res. 1493 (2003), involved in trafficking of arms, in violation
Born in Gikongoro, southwest Rwanda
3. Khawa Panga Mandro [born August 20, 1973; former President, Party for Unity and Safeguarding of the Integrity of Congo (PUSIC)]
Khawa Panga Mandro
Ex-President of militia group Party for Unity and Safeguarding of the Integrity of Congo- created PUSIC in early February 2003. Most members appear to be Hema from the south. Uganda supports the party as part of the FIPI coalition. Chief Kahwa was backed briefly by the Rwandans when he was in the UPC, but claims that PUSIC currently has no such support and is more interested in working with Kinshasa. PUSIC may have allied with the UPC against the Lendu in Bunia in May 2003; if so, this alliance of convenience would be tenuous and probably short-lived. PUSIC appears to have continued close links with Ugandan authorities. Involved in arms trafficking, in violation of the arms embargo. In prison in Bunia since 04/05 for sabotage of the Ituri peace process.
Formerly involved in the Union of Congolese Patriots- purportedly launched to promote reconciliation, the UPC quickly became a predominately Gegere-led political party intent on promoting the interests of the Hema and related Gegere. It came to power in Bunia in August 2002 with the help of the Ugandans and used Hema militia as part of its armed forces. It turned to Rwanda for support and formed an alliance with the Rwandan-backed RCD-Goma after being excluded by the RCD-ML and the MLC from the Mambasa ceasefire talks in December 2002. Having turned from Uganda politically, the UPC was ousted from Bunia by the Ugandan army in March 2003 but fought its way back into town in May.
4. Viktor Anatolijevitch Bout [born January 13, 1967; Owner, Great Lakes Business Company, Compagnie A rienne des Grands Lacs; Bukavu Aviation Transport, and Business Air Services]
The activities of Russian businessman Victor Vassilyevich Bout and his associates shed light on the process of arms trafficking into Central Africa. Bout has been linked to the arming of members of the DRC government alliance, as well as various armed opposition groups supported by Rwanda and Uganda. Since the early 1990s, Bout has overseen the development of a complex network of over 50 aircraft, several airline companies and freight-forward companies operating in many parts of the world, and he has been under investigation by police agencies and the UN for suspected involvement in sanctions-busting activities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
5. Sanjivan Singh Ruprah [born August 9, 1966; BusinessmUN Report on Sierra Leone, S/2001/1015 of 26 October 2001. According to the UN findings, Ranjivan Ruprah, a close business partner of Victor Bout, also set up the ghost airline West Africa Air Services
The elite network maintains close commercial ties with transnational criminal networks, including those of Victor Bout, Sanjivan Ruprah and Richard Muamba Nozi. Victor Bout's aircraft are utilized for a number of purposes including transport of coltan and cassiterite, the transport of supplies into mining sites, and the transport of military troops and equipment. During the last major military campaign in Pweto, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Victor Bout's aircraft were used to transport RPA personnel to the area.
73. While Sanjivan Ruprah has frequently worked within Victor Bout's criminal organization, he maintains an independent affiliation with the Congo Desk in Kigali. On 7 February 2002, Mr. Ruprah was arrested in Belgium on suspicion of planning to provide 6 million new zaire banknotes - still valid in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo - to RCD-Goma with financing by diamond dealers based in Belgium. The President of RCD-Goma, Adolphe Onusumba, who has kinship and business ties with Mr. Ruprah, played a key role in this counterfeit operation. Another group, the Muamba Nozi counterfeiting operation, also provides counterfeit Congolese francs to RCD-Goma. Its regional base of operations is located at Nairobi, where they print and distribute to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo large quantities of counterfeit Congolese francs. Officials in the Central Bank of Kinshasa have informed the Panel that Mr. Muamba Nozi's counterfeit activities are politically motivated and designed to deliberately destabilize the present regime by weakening the currency.
6. Dimitri Igorevich Popov [born February 13, 1961; General Manager, Great Lakes Business Company and Compagnie A rienne des Grands Lacs]
The activities of two aviation companies based in Goma need close attention: the Compagnie Aérienne des Grands Lacs (CAGL), and the Great Lake Business Company (GLBC). A local Congolese businessman linked to RCD-Goma, manages the GLBC, but investigation by the UN Group of Experts indicates that a Russian businessman named Dimitri Popov runs the company as well as the CAGL and that he in turn is allegedly linked to Victor Bout. The UN Group of Experts reported that: "Numerous sources interviewed by the Group noted that the aircraft operated by those two companies were linked to the network of internationally renowned arms broker Viktor Bout through one of his frontmen, Dimitri Popov…
Douglas Mpano [born December 28, 1965; Manager, Great Lakes Business Company and Compagnie A rienne des Grands Lacs]
Businessmen interviewed by the Group, who hire Mr. Mpano’s aircraft for cargo transport, volunteered that Mr. Popov was integral to the management of GLBC and CAGL operations and that they often negotiated directly with Mr. Popov on matters pertaining to the hiring of GLBC planes, even when he was in the United Arab Emirates or the Russian Federation." UN Group of Experts report, 25 January 2005, (S/2005/30), paragraphs 67-69, and see also APPG report, 24 December 2004, op cit: pages 21-22.
From this locale (Likasi), it is a relatively straightforward road passage through northern Zambia to Tanzania and its ports on the Indian Ocean. Not surprisingly, Congo's warlords have often used the radioactive ore a currency. In 1997, after Mobuto fled the country, four of his generals turned over 800 kilograms of the precious ore in a bid to ingratiate themselves with the victorious Laurent-Désiré Kabila. According to intelligence sources, after failing to sell it to Libya's Mu‘ammar Qadhafi, Kabila père offloaded the hoard on North Korea's Kim Jong-Il.
Eventually, pressure from the United States forced the elder Kabila to break off contact with the North Koreans. However, it seems that his son has decided to go into business with another charter member of the "axis of evil." The younger Kabila's longtime minister of state at the presidency was one Augustin Katumba Mwanke, a former governor of Katanga and one-time employee of Bateman Mining of South Africa. Mwanke figured prominently in a 2002 UN report, S/2002/1146, on illegal exploitation of resources during the war in the DRC. Although popular opinion forced Joseph Kabila to officially accept Mwanke's resignation, it is apparent that the latter is still involved in the affairs of state. Last year alone, he traveled twice to Iran – hardly a tourist destination for ex-ministers from the developing world.
On August 9, 2006 the Sunday Times published a report claiming that Iran was seeking to import "bomb-making uranium" from the Shinkolobwe mine. [3], quoting the UN report of July 18, 2006. This report gives "Tanzanian customs officials" as its sole source for their claim that the Uranium was destined for processing in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan via the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. This has drawn comparison with the claim that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger which formed part of the case made by George W. Bush for the invasion of Iraq[4].[5]
Leads:
-Melkior Resources Inc., holds a concession that covers both Likasi and Shinkolobwe
-In December 2002, the United States accused North Korea of having a uranium based nuclear weapons programme, in violation of the Agreed Framework and the NPT, and suspended heavy oil shipments. North Korea confirmed that it had a clandestine enriched uranium weapons programme, and responded to US sanctions by lifting the freeze on its plutonium-based nuclear weapons program and expelling IAEA inspectors who had been monitoring the freeze. North Korea withdrew from the NPT on 10 January 2003 (the first state ever to do so), and on 10 February 2005, the North Korean Foreign Ministry announced that North Korea had manufactured nuclear weapons
The Congressional Research Services report RS21391 explains that in 2002, an “unclassified CIA working paper on North Korea’s nuclear weapons and uranium enrichment estimated that North Korea ;is constructing a plant that could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for two or more nuclear weapons per year when fully operational — which could be as soon as mid-decade.’ Such a plant would need to produce more than 50kg of HEU per year, requiring cascades of thousands of centrifuges. The paper notes that in 2001, North Korea ‘began seeking centrifuge-related materials in large quantities.’ Although not much is known about the program or facilities, Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan probably offered the same P-2-design centrifuges to North Korea as he did to Libya and Iran.”