Former Congo Official Challenges Denied Removal From Specially Designated Nationals List

Norbert Basengezi Katintima, former vice president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI), launched a case Nov. 5 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to challenge his spot on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. Katintima is challenging the decision made by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to deny his delisting application. The former CENI official says that the circumstances that contributed to his original listing have changed, necessitating his removal from the list (Norbert Basengezi Katintima v. Bradley Smith, et al., D.D.C. #21-02917).

Katintima says he was listed in 2019, along with two other election officials, for "allegedly engaging in actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in the DRC." He said there had been a change in circumstances in that since then he has resigned from his position as a CENI VP, and so now OFAC has an insufficient factual basis to make the designation. OFAC subsequently denied the delisting bid "without any hint of fair consideration," the brief said.

"No fair consideration of Katintima’s delisting petition and supplemental filings could support an argument that he continues to meet the criteria for designation under E.O. 13413, as amended, particularly given the change in circumstances that have occurred since initial designation," Katintima said. "Specifically, Katintima is no longer an election official, nor otherwise a government official, in the DRC, and OFAC has no reason to believe that he will resume such a role in future. OFAC’s denial letter, however, makes no effort to reason why -- in light of the information contained in Katintima’s filings -- why the circumstances which led to Katintima’s designation have not changed."

His complaint argues that OFAC's denial of the delisting petition and failure to provide adequate notice of the reasons for the denial of the delisting petition run afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act. The district court should vacate this denial and rescind Katintima's designation, he said. The brief also calls for the court to order OFAC to hand over unclassified summaries of classified information in the administrative record and give alternative means by which Katintima may be given sufficient notice as to the reasons for his denial in case the classified information cannot be shared.