Text of Legal Injunction to Stop Dismantling of USAID

 The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) filed on 6 February a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief against Donald Trump, the US Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, the United States Treasury Department, Marco Rubio, and Scott Bessent.

The action seeks "injunctive relief with respect to a series of unconstitutional and illegal actions taken by President Donald Trump and his administration that have systematically dismantled the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)."  The plaintiffs "seek a temporary restraining order directing Defendents to reverse these unlawful actions and to halt any further steps to dissolve the agency until the Court has an opportunity to more fully consider the issues on the merits."

Trump-appointed federal judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approved on 7 February a limited temporary restraining order that would block USAID employees from being put on administrative leave.  Details on the pause will follow in a forthcoming filing.

U.S. Removes Human Rights Sanctions on Ethiopia

 Foreign Policy published on 29 June 2023 an article titled "U.S. Lifts Human Rights Violation Designation on Ethiopia" by Robbie Gramer.

The United States has lifted the legal designation that will allow it to resume U.S. and international economic aid to Ethiopia.  However, the decision follows a suspension of American food aid to Ethiopia because of massive theft from the program.  

US Sanctions on Foreigners Whose Actions Threaten Peace and Security of Sudan

 The White House issued on 4 May 2023 an "Executive Order Imposing Sanctions on Certain Persons Destabilizing Sudan and Undermining the Goal of a Democratic Transition."

President Biden in an executive order detailed reasons for imposing sanctions on foreign persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, for actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Sudan.  The executive order does not identify any individual by name but offers a wide range of reasons for potentially sanctioning offending individuals.

The Hill published on 5 May 2023 an article titled "Biden Expands Ability to Sanction In Response to Violence in Sudan" by Brett Samuels.

The article offers some background on President Biden's executive order.  

US Ramps Up Sanctions on Russia's Wagner Group

 The U.S. Treasury Department designated the Russian Wagner Group as a Transnational Criminal Organization on 26 January 2023.  It included as part of the sanctions numerous entities and individuals that support the Wagner Group's military operations in Ukraine and Africa, including the Central African Republic, Libya, and Mali.  One of the sanctioned support groups was China's Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute Co. Ltd. 

 The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, an independent think tank, published on 25 January 2023 an analysis titled "Understanding the US Designation of the Wagner Group as a Transnational Criminal Organisation" by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Emelie Chace-Donahue, and Colin P. Clarke.  This piece looks at the reasons for designating the Wagner Group a Transnational Criminal Organization.  It emphasizes that the organization's natural resource smuggling (gold and diamonds) from Africa (Central African Republic, Sudan and Mali) is one of the primary reasons. The Wagner Group also engages in money laundering and illicit financing and has been implicated in the violation of the international arms embargo in Libya.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators issued a press release on 15 February 2023 announcing they have introduced legislation called Holding Accountable Russian Mercenaries that would require the Secretary of State to designate the Wagner Group as a foreign terrorist organization, a significant escalation of sanctions.

US Slaps Sanctions on Eritrea

 The U.S. Department of the Treasury on 12 November 2021 imposed sanctions on four Eritrean entities and two individuals in connection with the crisis in Ethiopia.  The individuals and entities sanctioned are the Eritrean Defense Force, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice, Abraha Kassa Nemariam, Hidri Trust, Hagos Ghebrehiwet W Kidan, and Red Sea Trading Corporation. 

The U.S. Department of State issued a press release at the same time titled "Imposing Sanctions in Connection with the Conflict in Ethiopia."  It explains that although today's sanctions are directed at the Eritrean government and ruling party, the United States remains gravely concerned about the conduct of all parties to the conflict.  The US is not imposing sanctions at this time on elements aligned with the Government of Ethiopia and TPLF to allow time and space to see if talks among the conflicting parties can make progress.  

Why Ethiopia Rejected US Blue Nile Dam Deal

Ethiopia Insight posted on 2 April 2020 a news analysis titled "Why Ethiopia Rejected the U.S.-drafted GERD Deal."

Ethiopia rejected the draft U.S.-Egypt agreement concerning the fill rate and subsequent water release from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) because it was designed to help ensure implementation of the 1959 agreement, which allocated 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water to Egypt even during periods of severe drought in the region. During these periods the Nile might not be able to provide that amount of water, which would require Ethiopia to drain the reservoir behind the GERD to meet a treaty commitment that Ethiopia was never part of and, without the existence of the GERD, has occurred in the past.

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and International Law

Ethiopia Insight published on 30 March 2020 a commentary titled "Ethiopia Does Not Need Egypt's Permission To Start Filling GERD" by Mahemud Tekuya, PhD candidate in international legal studies at University of Pacific.

The author looks at the filling of the reservoir behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam from the perspective of his interpretation of international law.

Criticism of US Position on Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Ethiopia Insight posted on 29 March 2020 a commentary titled "Why the U.S. Lost Its Way on the Nile" by Zerihun Addisu, student at York University in Toronto.

This is a critical analysis of U.S. efforts to resolve the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia on the fill rate of the reservoir behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile.

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: What Role is the U.S. Playing?

The U.S. Department of the Treasury posted on 28 February 2020 a "Statement by the Secretary of the Treasury on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the request of President Trump has been meeting since early this year with representatives of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia in an effort to reach an agreement on the fill rate of the reservoir behind Ethiopia's large hydropower dam on the Blue Nile River known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The dam is about 70 percent complete. The Blue Nile provides more than 50 percent of the water that eventually reaches Egypt via the Nile River. While the reservoir behind the dam is being filled, it will hold back water that would normally flow to Sudan and then Egypt. It is essential that the fill rate not harm Sudan and Egypt. But it is also essential to fill the reservoir in a manner that will allow Ethiopia to produce hydropower without unreasonable delays.

The statement by the Treasury secretary is strange in that it appreciates the readiness of Egypt to sign the U.S.-brokered agreement, which is not part of the public record, but warns Ethiopia that "final testing and filling should not take place without an agreement." Ethiopia has not yet signaled that it is prepared to accept the agreement and, apparently, neither has Sudan. The United States seems to be putting its thumb on the scale in favor of Egypt. Perhaps it is time to make the agreement public so that everyone can see what the United States is proposing.

The fact that the U.S. Treasury Department is in charge of this effort is surprising. In any other administration, the State Department, which actually has expertise on this issue, would broker the agreement. So I wonder. What is the United States up to?

The Somali Remittance Lifeline

Remittances account for between 25 and 45 percent of Somalia's economy and exceed the amount it receives in humanitarian aid, development aid, and foreign direct investment combined.  As Somali money transfer operators lose their bank accounts, Somali families are losing their only formal or transparent channel through which to send money.

Adeso, Global Center on Cooperative Security, and Oxfam published on 19 February 2015 a joint report titled "Hanging by a Thread: The Ongoing Threat to Somalia's Remittance Lifeline" that explains the dilemma. 

Bank Crackdown Threatens Remittances to Somalia

Foreign Policy published on 30 January 2015 an article titled "Bank Crackdown Threatens Remittances to Somalia" by Jamila Trindle.  The article notes that Merchants Bank of California, which handles 60 to 80 percent of the remittances sent to Somalia from the United States, announced it is dropping the accounts of companies that transfer money on behalf of Somalis in the United States.