23 April 2012
Obama Bans Electronic Aid to Iran and Syria -- Executive Order 13606
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/executive-order-blocking-property-and-suspending-
entry-united-states-cer
EXECUTIVE ORDER
13606
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BLOCKING THE PROPERTY AND SUSPENDING ENTRY INTO THE
UNITED STATES OF CERTAIN PERSONS WITH RESPECT TO GRAVE
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF IRAN AND SYRIA
VIA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
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.), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act of 1952, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United
States Code,
I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, hereby determine
that the commission of serious human rights abuses against the people of
Iran and Syria by their governments, facilitated by computer and network
disruption, monitoring, and tracking by those governments, and abetted by
entities in Iran and Syria that are complicit in their governments
malign use of technology for those purposes, threaten the national security
and foreign policy of the United States. The Governments of Iran and Syria
are endeavoring to rapidly upgrade their technological ability to conduct
such activities. Cognizant of the vital importance of providing technology
that enables the Iranian and Syrian people to freely communicate with each
other and the outside world, as well as the preservation, to the extent possible,
of global telecommunications supply chains for essential products and services
to enable the free flow of information, the measures in this order are designed
primarily to address the need to prevent entities located in whole or in
part in Iran and Syria from facilitating or committing serious human rights
abuses. In order to take additional steps with respect to the national
emergencies declared in Executive Order 12957 of March 15, 1995, as relied
upon for additional steps in subsequent Executive Orders, and in Executive
Order 13338 of May 11, 2004, as modified in scope and relied upon for additional
steps in subsequent Executive Orders, and to address the situation described
above, I hereby order:
Section 1.
(a) 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 any United States person, including any
foreign branch, 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, in consultation
with or at the recommendation of the Secretary of State:
(A) to have operated, or to have directed the operation of, information and
communications technology that facilitates computer or network disruption,
monitoring, or tracking that could assist in or enable serious human rights
abuses by or on behalf of the Government of Iran or the Government of Syria;
(B) to have sold, leased, or otherwise provided, directly or indirectly,
goods, services, or technology to Iran or Syria likely to be used to facilitate
computer or network disruption, monitoring, or tracking that could assist
in or enable serious human rights abuses by or on behalf of the Government
of Iran or the Government of Syria;
(C) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material,
or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the
activities described in subsections (a)(ii)(A) and (B) of this section or
any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant
to this order; or
(D) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for
or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests
in property are blocked pursuant to this order.
(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the
extent provided by statutes, or 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.
Sec. 2. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the type of articles
specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or
for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are
blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal
with the two national emergencies identified in the preamble to this order,
and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.
Sec. 3. The prohibitions in section 1 of this order include but are not limited
to:
(a) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services
by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in
property are blocked pursuant to this order; and
(b) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services
from any such person.
Sec. 4. I hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry
into the United States of aliens who meet one or more of the criteria in
section 1 of this order would be detrimental to the interests of the United
States, and I hereby suspend the entry into the United States, as immigrants
or nonimmigrants, of such persons. Such persons shall be treated as persons
covered by section 1 of Proclamation 8693 of July 24, 2011 (Suspension of
Entry of Aliens Subject to United Nations Security Council Travel Bans and
International Emergency Economic Powers Act Sanctions).
Sec. 5.
(a) Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States
that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation
of, 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. 6. Nothing in section 1 of this order shall prohibit transactions for
the conduct of the official business of the United States Government by
employees, grantees, or contractors thereof.
Sec. 7. For the purposes of this order:
(a) the term "person" means an individual or entity;
(b) the term "information and communications technology" means any hardware,
software, or other product or service primarily intended to fulfill or enable
the function of information processing and communication by electronic means,
including transmission and display, including via the Internet;
(c) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture,
corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization;
(d) 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;
(e) the term "Government of Iran" means the Government of Iran, any political
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including the Central Bank
of Iran, and any person owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf
of, the Government of Iran; and
(f) the term "Government of Syria" means the Government of the Syrian Arab
Republic, its agencies, instrumentalities, and controlled entities.
Sec. 8. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked
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 those measures ineffectual. I therefore determine
that for these measures to be effective in addressing the two national
emergencies identified in the preamble to this order, there need be no prior
notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1 of this order.
Sec. 9. The Secretary of the Treasury, in 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 IEEPA 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 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.
Sec. 10. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary
of State, is hereby authorized to determine that circumstances no longer
warrant the blocking of the property and interests in property of a person
listed in the Annex to this order and to take necessary action to give effect
to that determination.
Sec. 11. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities,
its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Sec. 12. The measures taken pursuant to this order with respect to Iran are
in response to actions of the Government of Iran occurring after the conclusion
of the 1981 Algiers Accords, and are intended solely as a response to those
later actions.
Sec. 13. This order is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on April
23, 2012.
BARACK OBAMA
__________________
ANNEX
Individual
1. Ali MAMLUK [director of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, born
1947]
Entities
1. Syrian General Intelligence Directorate
2. Syriatel
3. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
4. Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security
5. Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran
6. Datak Telecom
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Annex from Federal Register:
http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2012-09933_PI.pdf
[FR Doc. 2012-10034 Filed 04/23/2012 at 11:15 am; Publication Date: 04/24/2012]
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