About Ammitto

Ammitto is a free, open-source platform providing unified access to global sanctions data. But it's more than a database — it's a response to the fractured, arbitrary, and often hypocritical system of international sanctions.

The Name: Ammitto

Our name comes from the Latin verb amittere — "to lose" or "to send away." This word operates on multiple levels, capturing the essence of what sanctions do:

• For the sanctioned entity: They "lose" access to financial systems, trade opportunities, and international engagement. They are "sent away" from the global community.
• For compliance officers: They must identify who to "let go of" — which business relationships to terminate, which transactions to block.
• For the platform itself: Ammitto encompasses both the action (excluding entities) and the knowledge (who has been excluded).

The name is linguistically elegant and functionally descriptive. It captures what sanctions do — cause loss — while sounding authoritative and international.

Our Logo: Three Eyes

Our logo depicts three stylized eyes arranged in a circular, non-hierarchical pattern. This isn't random design — it represents the reality of modern sanctions:

But here's the crucial insight: these roles aren't fixed. Each eye simultaneously:

• Watches (enforces its own restrictions)
• Is watched (is targeted by others' restrictions)
• Judges (decides whom to exclude)

Russia counters Western sanctions with export bans on strategic materials. China maintains an "unreliable entity list" responding to US restrictions. Iran and North Korea build sanction-resistant financial networks. Each becomes both enforcer and target.

The three eyes aren't hierarchical — they're circular. Each stares at the other two. None is dominant. This visualizes how sanctions create a fragmented world where everyone is simultaneously enforcer, target, and judge.

The "Bad Game" of Sanctions

Sanctions are often portrayed as a clean, surgical diplomatic tool — "smart power" that avoids military conflict. This narrative is incomplete at best, deceptive at worst.

The Unfairness

Imagine a playground where one kid tells everyone else: "If you want to be my friend, you can't play with that kid over there." Now imagine three kids doing this simultaneously, each demanding their friends choose sides. That's the sanctions system.

The unfairness multiplies:

• Ordinary people suffer — sanctions rarely hurt the elites they target, but they devastate civilians through inflation, shortages, and isolation
• Small actors are coerced — a bank in Kenya or a trading company in Vietnam must comply with US, EU, UK, and Chinese restrictions simultaneously, even when those restrictions conflict
• Rules are arbitrary — who gets sanctioned often depends more on geopolitics than on consistent criteria
• The powerful exempt themselves — sanctions have carve-outs for "national interests" that let the imposers continue business as usual

The Hypocrisy

Consider: the same governments that impose sanctions for "human rights violations" often maintain relationships with other violators who happen to be strategic allies. The same entities that demand compliance from others have themselves been sanctioned by someone else.

We don't take sides in these disputes. We simply observe: the system is riddled with contradictions. Ammitto exists to make these contradictions visible.

What We Do

Given this reality, what is Ammitto's role? We don't endorse sanctions — but we recognize that organizations must navigate this system to survive.

We help you protect yourself.

By providing free, open, comprehensive sanctions data, we enable:

• Small businesses to understand their compliance obligations without expensive consultants
• Developing nations to access the same data as wealthy countries
• Researchers and journalists to analyze patterns in sanctions regimes
• Civil society to hold sanctioning bodies accountable for consistency

Our Data Sources

We aggregate sanctions data from 15 official sources worldwide:

• United Nations - Security Council Consolidated List
• European Union - Sanctions Map & Vessels List
• United States - OFAC SDN and Consolidated Lists
• United Kingdom - UK Sanctions List
• Australia - DFAT Consolidated List
• Canada - SEMA and Special Economic Measures
• Switzerland - SECO Sanctions List
• China - MOFCOM and MFA Sanctions
• Russia - MID Unfriendly Countries List
• Turkey - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Japan - METI End User List
• New Zealand - MFAT Sanctions Register
• World Bank - Debarment List

Truly Free and Open

Unlike many "open" data services, Ammitto is released under CC0 (Public Domain). No attribution required. No commercial restrictions. No catch.

We believe that compliance with sanctions — whether you agree with them or not — shouldn't be gated behind paywalls. When the cost of compliance is high, the smallest actors suffer most. We level the playing field.

Technology

Ammitto is built with modern web technologies:

• Frontend: Vue.js 3, Vite, Tailwind CSS
• Search: FlexSearch for fast client-side full-text search
• Data Format: JSON-LD for semantic web compatibility
• Ontology: Custom schema for harmonized sanctions data
• Ruby Gem: Official gem for easy integration

Contact

Ammitto is an open-source project. For questions, suggestions, or contributions, please visit our GitHub repository.