On April 3, 2014, President Obama signed an Executive Order Blocking Property of Certain Persons With Respect to South Sudan. The Executive Order (EO) declares a national emergency to deal with the situation in and in relation to South Sudan, which has been marked by activities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan and the surrounding region, including widespread violence and atrocities, human rights abuses, recruitment and use of child soldiers, attacks on peacekeepers, and obstruction of humanitarian operations.

The EO freezes all assets that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person (including any foreign branch) of persons determined to

• to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have engaged in, directly or indirectly, any of the following in or in relation to South Sudan:

o actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan;
o actions or policies that threaten transitional agreements or undermine democratic processes or institutions in South Sudan;
o actions or policies that have the purpose or effect of expanding or extending the conflict in South Sudan or obstructing reconciliation or peace talks or processes;
o the commission of human rights abuses against persons in South Sudan;
o the targeting of women, children, or any civilians through the commission of acts of violence (including killing, maiming, torture, or rape or other sexual violence), abduction, forced displacement, or attacks on schools, hospitals, religious sites, or locations where civilians are seeking refuge, or through conduct that would constitute a serious abuse or violation of human rights or a violation of international humanitarian law;
o the use or recruitment of children by armed groups or armed forces in the context of the conflict in South Sudan;
o the obstruction of the activities of international peacekeeping, diplomatic, or humanitarian missions in South Sudan, or of the delivery or distribution of, or access to, humanitarian assistance; or
o attacks against United Nations missions, international security presences, or other peacekeeping operations;

• to be a leader of (A) an entity, including any government, rebel militia, or other group, that has, or whose members have, engaged in any of the activities described above or (B) an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order;
• to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of (A) any of the activities described above or (B) any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order; or
• to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order.