Policy:Policy Group
The policy group monitors the political situation and the sanction initiatives of national governments, and evaluates proposed sanctions in light of the project's guiding principles and precedents in international law and norms, including those governing fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and access to information. If a sanction is deemed in-scope, the policy group defines the sanctioned entities and passes them to the OSINT group. The policy group is also responsible for determining when existing sanctions should be repealed.
The work of the policy group is done on the discussion mailing list (which you're welcome to join, or you can consult its archives of past discussion) and its results are published here.
Thoughts and Articles
Open Issues
- The "human shield" problem
- The "more specific domain" question
- Data formatting issues
- Intake database
Specific Sanction Reviews
2022
Multiple vs. Russia and Belarus
Near the end of February 2022, many countries began levying sanctions against more than a thousand entities in Russia and Belarus, in connection with Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. In some cases, the sanctions were additive with preexisting ones associated with Russia's 2014 military invasion of Ukraine. Discussion of these sanctions can be found here.
Afghanistan vs. United States et al.
In March, 2022, the Afghan government sanctioned Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Deutsche Welle. Discussion of these sanctions can be found here.
United States vs. Iran
In March, 2022, the United States government added Iranian procurement agent Mohammad Ali Hosseini and his associated companies to existing sanctions aimed at Iran's ballistic missile development program. Discussion of these sanctions can be found here.
