With President Biden taking up office on 20th January 2021, two Rights Groups have appealed to the Biden administration to withdraw the last minute sanction imposed by former President Trump on an Israeli billionaire who is accused of corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dan Gertler was slapped down with sanctions by the US State Department in December 2017 for “opaque and corrupt mining deals” which was done in conjunction with his friend Joseph Kabila who was the then President of the DRC. According to Washington’ reports, Gertler corrupt acts denied the DRC of $1.4 billion in tax revenues over the past decade.
According to the Right Group, Global Witness, there was a significant ease on the sanctions on Dan Gertler by the US Treasury during the last few days Trumps presidency. “Gertler cannot be allowed to carry on doing business with US companies and accessing funds held in the US” while investigations are ongoing, the group added. We call on the new Biden administration to take a strong stance against corruption by reapplying the sanctions in full without delay.”
The Trump administration “gave… Gertler and his businesses a license to, in effect, nullify sanctions,” rights group The Sentry said in a statement. The move “strikes a terrible blow to the heart of one of the most lauded and effective anti-corruption programs of the last decade,” the group co-founded by actor George Clooney added.
The Sentry reports that, while Gertler and his companies still remain on the sanctions list, Trump granted licenses allowing them to proceed with transactions and to unfreeze their assets in a list of banks and financial institutions. While the Biden administration is being asked to “revoke this effective pardon”, the group also urged the affected banks not to “open accounts or otherwise conduct transactions for or on behalf of Gertler and his network”.
Last year, the DRC was told by the International Monetary Fund that all mining contracts should be published for transparency purposes.
