§10102 — Title 22 Foreign Relations and Intercourse | U.S. Code

Summary

The President can impose penalties on foreign people who, based on credible evidence, are responsible for or help carry out extrajudicial killings, torture, or other serious human rights abuses against people trying to expose government wrongdoing or exercise basic rights (like religion, speech, assembly, fair trials, or voting). The President can also target agents acting for those people, government officials or close associates who run or enable major corruption (for example, stealing property, bribery, corrupt government contracts, or moving corrupt proceeds abroad), and anyone who materially supports that corruption. Penalties for individuals can include being denied a U.S. visa or having a visa revoked. The President can also block and freeze all property and transactions in the United States or under U.S. control under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, but this blocking power does not include banning imports of goods. The President must consider information from the chair and ranking member of the appropriate congressional committees and credible reports from other countries and human rights groups. If Congress requests a review, the President must decide and report back within 120 days. The President can lift sanctions after notifying Congress 15 days before if there is evidence the person did not commit the act, was properly prosecuted, has changed behavior, or if lifting the sanctions is in U.S. national security interests. Violating these sanctions brings penalties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The State Department official for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor may send names to the Secretary of State for review. The relevant congressional committees are: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Senate Foreign Relations; House Financial Services; and House Foreign Affairs.

Title 22, §10102

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The President may impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person the President determines, based on credible evidence—

(1)is responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals in any foreign country who seek—

(A)to expose illegal activity carried out by government officials; or

(B)to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections;

(2)acted as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign person in a matter relating to an activity described in paragraph (1);

(3)is a government official, or a senior associate of such an official, that is responsible for, or complicit in, ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, acts of significant corruption, including the expropriation of private or public assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, bribery, or the facilitation or transfer of the proceeds of corruption to foreign jurisdictions; or

(4)has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, an activity described in paragraph (3).

(b)The sanctions described in this subsection are the following:

(1)In the case of a foreign person who is an individual—

(A)ineligibility to receive a visa to enter the United States or to be admitted to the United States; or

(B)if the individual has been issued a visa or other documentation, revocation, in accordance with section 1201(i) of title 8, of the visa or other documentation.

(2)(A)The blocking, in accordance with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all property and interests in property of a foreign person if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person.

(B)The requirements of section 202 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for purposes of this section.

(C)(i)The authority to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property under subparagraph (A) shall not include the authority to impose sanctions on the importation of goods.

(ii)In this subparagraph, the term “good” has the meaning given that term in section 16 11 See References in Text note below. of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4618) (as continued in effect pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)).

(c)In determining whether to impose sanctions under subsection (a), the President shall consider—

(1)information provided jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of each of the appropriate congressional committees; and

(2)credible information obtained by other countries and nongovernmental organizations that monitor violations of human rights.

(d)(1)Not later than 120 days after receiving a request that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) with respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an activity described in subsection (a), the President shall—

(A)determine if that person has engaged in such an activity; and

(B)submit a classified or unclassified report to the chairperson and ranking member of the committee or committees that submitted the request with respect to that determination that includes—

(i)a statement of whether or not the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions with respect to the person; and

(ii)if the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions, a description of those sanctions.

(2)(A)A request under paragraph (1) with respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an activity described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) shall be submitted to the President in writing jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional committees.

(B)A request under paragraph (1) with respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an activity described in paragraph (3) or (4) of subsection (a) shall be submitted to the President in writing jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of—

(i)one of the appropriate congressional committees of the Senate; and

(ii)one of the appropriate congressional committees of the House of Representatives.

(e)Sanctions under subsection (b)(1) shall not apply to an individual if admitting the individual into the United States would further important law enforcement objectives or is necessary to permit the United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United States, or other applicable international obligations of the United States.

(f)A person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of a sanction described in subsection (b)(2) that is imposed by the President or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out such a sanction shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.

(g)The President may terminate the application of sanctions under this section with respect to a person if the President determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 days before the termination of the sanctions that—

(1)credible information exists that the person did not engage in the activity for which sanctions were imposed;

(2)the person has been prosecuted appropriately for the activity for which sanctions were imposed;

(3)the person has credibly demonstrated a significant change in behavior, has paid an appropriate consequence for the activity for which sanctions were imposed, and has credibly committed to not engage in an activity described in subsection (a) in the future; or

(4)the termination of the sanctions is in the national security interests of the United States.

(h)The President shall issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this section.

(i)The Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs and other bureaus of the Department of State, as appropriate, is authorized to submit to the Secretary of State, for review and consideration, the names of foreign persons who may meet the criteria described in subsection (a).

(j)In this section, the term “appropriate congressional committees” means—

(1)the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and

(2)the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(2)(A), (C)(ii), is title II of Pub. L. 95–223, Dec. 28, 1977, 91 Stat. 1626, which is classified generally to chapter 35 (§ 1701 et seq.) of Title 50, War and National Defense. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1701 of Title 50 and Tables. section 16 of the Export Administration Act of 1979, referred to in subsec. (b)(2)(C)(ii), is section 16 of Pub. L. 96–72, Sept. 29, 1979, 93 Stat. 533, which was classified to section 4618 of Title 50, War and National Defense, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title XVII, § 1766(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 2232. Codification Section was formerly set out in a note under section 2656 of this title.

Executive Documents

Delegation of Authority Under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act Memorandum of President of the United States, Sept. 8, 2017, 82 F.R. 45411, provided: Memorandum for the Secretary of State [and] the Secretary of the Treasury By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby make the following delegations: I delegate to the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to administer financial sanctions under section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Public Law 114–328) (the “Act”) [22 U.S.C. 10102]. In exercising the authority delegated by this memorandum, the Secretary of the Treasury will coordinate with the Secretary of State. I also delegate to the Secretary of State the authority to administer visa sanctions under section 1263 of the Act. The delegations in this memorandum shall apply to any provision of any future public law that is the same or substantially the same as section 1263 of the Act. The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. Donald J. Trump.

§10102 Authorization of imposition of sanctions