FDD Praises Senators for Legislation to Pressure Assad to End Repression

FDD Praises Senators for Legislation to Pressure Assad to End

Repression

Sanctions Bill Supports Pro-Democracy Protesters in Syria

Washington, D.C. (August 2, 2011) – During a week of the most dramatic protests witnessed since anti-Assad demonstrations began some four months ago, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies praised a bipartisan group of senators for introducing a sanctions bill aimed at holding the Syrian regime accountable for its human rights abuses by targeting the Assad regime’s critical energy sector.

The Syria Sanctions Act of 2011 sponsored by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) would require the President to impose sanctions on individuals or entities that knowingly invest $5 million or more at one time in Syria’s energy sector, or a combination of $20 million in one year. It would apply to all development of Syria’s energy sector, including technologies, equipment, refining, shipping, transportation, financing and insurance services. The bill would also enable the President to impose such sanctions with respect to exports of petroleum by Syria and imports of refined petroleum products to Syria, in the amount of $1 million in a single transaction or $5 million over a year.

Energy sanctions are a critical point of leverage because the Syrian regime receives at least a quarter of its revenue – money used to buy tanks and fund its security services to repress its population – from the sale of oil.

Syria does not have the technology or resources to meet its demand for petroleum and relies heavily on foreign companies from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, China, Russia, Canada, India, and Croatia. No foreign company can do business in Syria’s energy sector without the regime’s involvement through either state-owned petroleum companies or the involvement of Syria’s wealthiest businessman, Rami Makhlouf, Assad’s cousin, who has been designated by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

FDD’s white paper entitled Syria’s Energy Sector: Its Importance in Sanctioning the Assad Regime and Supporting Pro-Democracy Reformers is available here.

FDD scholars write timely research and analysis on the situation on the ground in Syria. They include former CIA operative Reuel Marc Gerecht, John Hannah, who served as a senior foreign policy advisor in both Democratic and Republican administrations, Tony Badran, whose works on Syria and Lebanon are considered “must reads” by government officials, and sanctions expert Mark Dubowitz. These scholars provide critical policy recommendations to Congress and the White House, and engage Syrian dissidents to ensure that their voices are heard during this pivotal time.

“The Assad regime’s ruthlessness is on vivid display as the Syrian security forces, with Iranian assistance, continue their bloody campaign to crush a four-month long democratic uprising. Less well known are the lucrative joint ventures and investment partnerships between the Alawite business mafia and the international energy companies that provide the funds for the regime’s vast system of domestic repression,” said FDD executive director Mark Dubowitz.

“Reports that Iran has promised Assad $5.8 billion in loans and 290,000 barrels of oil each day underscore how concerned Tehran is about the survival of Assad. Syrian energy sanctions could both tighten the screws on Assad and cost Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei more of the resources he needs to withstand western pressure on his battered regime.”

As with the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act, which President Obama signed on July 1, 2010, the Gillibrand-Kirk-Lieberman bill would also deny Syria the ability to engage in foreign exchange transactions, transactions with U.S. financial institutions, and property transactions within the United States, as well as the opportunity to bid on U.S. government contracts and seek support from the U.S. Export-Bank.

To discuss the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ work on Syria, or to schedule an interview, please contact David Donadio at
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The Foundation for Defense of Democracies is a non-profit, non-partisan policy institute dedicated exclusively to promoting pluralism, defending democratic values, and fighting the ideologies that drive terrorism. Founded shortly after the attacks of 9/11, FDD combines policy research, democracy and counterterrorism education, strategic communications, and investigative journalism in support of its mission. For more information, please visit www.defenddemocracy.org.