US sanctions senior Houthi military officer for seizing opposition property News
© WikiMedia (Roman Boed)
US sanctions senior Houthi military officer for seizing opposition property

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Thursday designated senior Houthi military leader Saleh Mesfer Alshaer. OFAC added Alshaer to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list, which generally blocks designated persons’ assets and prohibits US persons from dealing with them.

In an accompanying press release, OFAC Director Andrea Gacki named Alshaer as the principal military officer responsible for seizing the assets of Yemenis. The Houthi movement controls the Yemeni government and the majority of the country’s cities.

OFAC claims that Alshaer has overseen the seizure of more than $100 million worth of property. This property is held by the Houthi-controlled government, whose courts hold the assets as “judicial custodians” of assets confiscated from opponents of the Houthis. Many of these assets have been seized using extortion, and the proceeds have been used to fund the Houthi war effort in the Yemeni Civil War. The government has seized assets from thirty-five Yemeni parliamentarians not aligned with the Houthi movement.

The US blocks assets in Yemen under Executive Order 13611, which was signed by former President Obama in 2012. The executive order empowers OFAC to block the property of persons threatening the peace, security, or stability of Yemen. The United States’ decision to designate Alshaer follows the United Nations’ sanction of Alshaer earlier this month. Sanction by the US is an especially important part of UN sanctions enforcement because it prohibits US financial institutions from doing business with designated individuals. The importance of the US financial system globally contributes to the powerful effect of SDN designation.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UK parliament passed Statute of Westminster

On December 3, 1931, the UK Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster, under which the British dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland gained complete legislative independence. The statute received royal assent and came into force on December 11.

President Theodore Roosevelt calls for dissolution of trusts

On December 3, 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt called for the dissolution of business trusts in his first State of the Union address. Roosevelt would go on to dissolve 44 trusts during his administration, earning the nickname "Trust Buster".