Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 122.djvu/2656

 12 2 STA T . 2 63 3 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 2 8 6 —J UL Y 2 9, 2008 (B)traf f ics i npe rs o ns ( C ) d iscri m inates a g ainst w omen and et h nic minorities; ( D ) forci bly recr u its child soldiers and child labor; and ( E ) commits other serious v iolations of human rights , including e x tra j udicial k illings, custodial deaths, disappear - ances, rape, torture, abuse of prisoners and detainees, and the imprisonment of citi z ens arbitrarily for political motives . ( 4 ) A ung S an Suu K yi has been arbitrarily imprisoned or held under house arrest for more than 12 years. ( 5 ) I n O ctober 2 0 0 7, P resident Bush announced a new Executive Order to tighten economic sanctions against Burma and block property and travel to the U nited States by certain senior leaders of the SPDC, individuals who provide financial backing for the SPDC, and individuals responsible for human rights violations and impeding democracy in Burma. Additional names were added in updates done on October 1 9, 2007, and F ebruary 5, 200 8 . H owever, only 3 8 discrete individuals and 13 discrete companies have been designated under those sanc- tions, once aliases and companies with similar names were removed. By contrast, the Australian G overnment identified more than 400 individuals and entities subject to its sanctions applied in the wake of the 2007 violence. T he European Union ’ s regulations to implement sanctions against Burma have identi- fied more than 400 individuals among the leadership of govern- ment, the military, and the USDA, along with nearly 1300 state and military-run companies potentially subject to its sanc- tions. ( 6 ) The Burmese regime and its supporters finance their ongoing violations of human rights, undemocratic policies, and military activities in part through financial transactions, travel, and trade involving the United States, including the sale of petroleum products, gemstones and hardwoods. (7) In 2006, the Burmese regime earned more than $ 500 million from oil and gas projects, over $500 million from sale of hardwoods, and in excess of $300 million from the sale of rubies and jade. At least $500 million of the $2.16 billion earned in 2006 from Burma’s two natural gas pipelines, one of which is 28 percent owned by a United States company, went to the Burmese regime. The regime has earned smaller amounts from oil and gas exploration and non-operational pipe- lines but United States investors are not involved in those transactions. Industry sources estimate that over $100 million annually in Burmese rubies and jade enters the United States. Burma’s official statistics report that Burma exported $500 million in hardwoods in 2006 but N GOs estimate the true figure to exceed $900 million. R eliable statistics on the amount of hardwoods imported into the United States from Burma in the form of finished products are not available, in part due to widespread illegal logging and smuggling. (8) The SPDC seeks to evade the sanctions imposed in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003. M illions of dollars in gemstones that are exported from Burma ulti- mately enter the United States, but the Burmese regime attempts to conceal the origin of the gemstones in an effort to evade sanctions. For example, according to gem industry experts, over 90 percent of the world’s ruby supply originates

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