[JURIST] President George W. Bush signed two bills into law Friday separately imposing sanctions on North Korea and Sudan in light of the former's nuclear test [JURIST report] earlier this week and reports of continued atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region [JURIST news archive]. The North Korea Nonproliferation Act of 2006 [text, PDF] is designed to restrict the transfer of weapons of mass destruction materials into North Korea (DPRK) [JURIST news archive] and amends existing legislation similarly restricting Syria and Iran. It threatens sanctions such as the loss of government contracts and US export licenses to any foreign national who transports materials related to nuclear weapons or other WMD technology to the restricted countries. Persons receiving such materials from these countries can also be punished under the act.

Also Friday, President Bush signed [White House statement] the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act [text, PDF], imposing sanctions on persons responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Such persons will have their assets frozen and will be barred from entering the US. The legislation, passed [VOA report] in September with bipartisan congressional support, also raises the prospect of denying the Sudanese government access to oil revenues. Along with the bill, the President issued an executive order [text] to stop Americans from doing oil-related business in Sudan, as well as loosening certain restrictions to ease humanitarian aid to the region. Other existing US sanctions on Sudan continue. Reuters has more.