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Summary President Barack Obama levied new sanctions on people and entities in Syria, as well as in Iran.
Under pressure to stop the Syrian governments deadly crackdown, President Barack Obama on Monday levied new sanctions on people and entities in Syria, as well as in Iran, that use technology to target their citizens and perpetrate human rights abuses.Obamas announcement underscored the degree to which technology, from cellphones to social media, has not only fueled popular uprisings in countries throughout the Arab world, but also given autocratic regimes new ways to track dissidents and suppress political dissent.These technologies should be in place to empower citizens, not to repress them, said Obama, as he announced the sanctions during a solemn speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.Surrounded by the haunting memories of the Holocaust, Obama spoke broadly about the international communitys obligation to prevent the madness of mass killings. And he issued a sharp warning to governments that launch violent crackdowns on civilians.National sovereignty is never a license to slaughter your people, he said.As Obama spoke, Syrian troops armed with heavy machine guns killed dozens in the central city of Hama, a direct violation of a shaky United Nations-backed cease-fire. More than 9,000 people have been killed in 13 months of clashes between rebels and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.The White House has struggled to find an international solution to halt Assads crackdown. While the U.S. and other Western powers have little appetite for a military campaign in Syria, tough diplomatic action at the U.N. has been blocked by Russia and China. And sanctions that have leftAssads regime increasingly isolated have done little to push the Syrian president out of office. In fact, many U.S. policymakers are now resigned to that fact that Assad continues to have a tight grip on power.Obama held firm Monday in his belief that the U.S. cannot and should not intervene militarily every time there are human rights abuses around the world. He touted the new technology sanctions as one more step that we can take toward the day that we know will come, the end of the Assad regime that has brutalized the Syrian people.The executive order Obama signed authorizing the sanctions contends that the Syrian and Iranian governments have rapidly increased their capabilities to disrupt, monitor, and track communications networks that are essential for their citizens to engage with each other and the outside world.The new penalties target entities and individuals within Iran and Syria, including Syrias intelligence service and its director, Irans intelligence ministry and law enforcement organizations, and Irans Revolutionary Guard. An Iranian internet provider and a Syrian communications firm were also sanctioned.The U.S. is eyeing potential sanctions on entities outside of Syria and Iran that provide technology to both regimes, though officials would not say what entities or countries might be subject to the penalties.U.S. sanctions have for years made it illegal for most American-made goods to be sold in Syria. Still, U.S. officials consulted with American technology companies about Mondays executive order, putting them on notice that they would be expected to comply with it when undertaking international transactions.
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