On August 7, 2020, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, in cooperation with the United Nations Security Council, designated Bi Sidi Souleymane, also known as Sidiki Abbas, pursuant to Executive Order 13667, for acts of violence in the against women children or civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR), and other serious human rights abuses, committed in violation of international humanitarian laws that threaten the peace and stability of the CAR. The UN Security Council’s CAR Sanctions Committee has issued a travel ban on Souleymane and has frozen his assets.
Souleymane is the head of Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation (3R), a CAR-based militia group that has displaced thousands of people since 2015, committing murder, kidnapping and illegal taxation to support the group and achieve its goals. In 2016, 3R raided the village of De Gaulle, killing 17 villagers, raping women and children, and torturing many of the villagers. In May of 2019, the group executed 34 unarmed civilians in the Ouham-Pende province, violating a Peace Agreement that was signed in February of 2019. In June 2020, 3R officially announced that it suspended its participation in the Peace Agreement.
As a result of these designations, all US property belonging to this individual is blocked, and all transactions in the US are generally prohibited. In addition, all UN Member States are required to enforce the asset freeze and travel ban in accordance with UN sanctions.