- The United States State Department sanctioned the oldest son of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Hafez, to prevent him from working on behalf of his father.
- In total, 14 Syrian regime officials faced sanctions from the United States Department in the second round of sanctions under the Cesar Law, which was passed in June.
- The sanctions were dubbed Hama and Maarat Al-Numan sanctions to honor the victims lost in the 2011 siege of the city of Hama and the 2019 bombing of a busy market in Maarat Al-Numan that killed 42 Syrians.
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The United States State Department has sanctioned 14 Syrian regime officials, including President Bashar al-Assad’s eldest son.
Under the Caesar Act, 18-year-old Hafez Bashar al-Assad will not be allowed to travel or have assets in the U.S., The Guardian reported.
According to France24, the Cesar Law went into effect last month and is intended to hold Bashar al-Assad accountable.
“We will continue to hold Bashar al-Assad and his regime accountable for their atrocities, while keeping the memory of their victims alive. It is time for Assad’s brutal and unnecessary war to end. This, above all, is what our sanctions campaign is about. meant to provoke, “said a statement from the State Department.
The Guardian reported that this is the second round of sanctions since June 17, when the businessmen who financed Assad were sanctioned.
Assad and his wife have already been sanctioned; The sanctions against his son are designed to prevent him from working on behalf of his father.
“There has been a tendency for major Syrian regime actors and entrepreneurs who have been active in the regime to do business through their adult relatives to evade sanctions,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joel Rayburn told The Guardian. “It seems very clear that Bashar al-Assad’s immediate family and his in-laws are trying to consolidate economic power within Syria so that they can use this to further consolidate political power.”
The country is in its ninth year of a brutal civil war that began in 2011 as an attempt to overthrow Assad and is struggling with hyperinflation, food shortages, and the coronavirus. In 2014, the situation started to get complicated when ISIS declared parts of Syria under its new state, as Business Insider explained earlier.
“Syria’s sanctions are not intended to harm the Syrian people and are not aimed at humanitarian assistance or hinder our stabilization activities in northeast Syria,” the statement from the State Department read.
Sanctions were also imposed on Major General Zuhair Tawfik al-Assad and his son.
The sanctions were dubbed Hama and Maarat Al-Numan sanctions to honor the victims lost in the 2011 siege of the city of Hama and the 2019 bombing of a busy market in Maarat Al-Numan that killed 42 Syrians.
“There must be responsibility and justice for the victims of Hama, Maarat al-Numan and of the other war crimes and crimes against humanity of the Assad regime. The Assad regime and those who support it have a simple option: take irreversible steps Towards an enduring life political solution to end the Syrian conflict as required by UNSCR 2254 or face new stretches of crippling sanctions, “the State Department wrote in a statement.
