WASHINGTON — In recent months, the United States has punished the following people for alleged human rights violations and corruption:
A former Gambian president who led terror and assassination squads. A Chechen leader involved in torture, kidnapping and murder. A Pakistani man at the center of a human-organ trafficking network.
And a former Russian sports minister who was implicated in a nation’s systematic doping scheme that tainted several Olympics and other international competitions?
Well, not the last person — at least not yet.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency is exploring the use of government sanctions to punish Russian officials involved in the state-supported doping program that turned the 2014 Sochi Games into a sham.