On Monday, the European Council imposed sanctions on 22 individuals and four entities from around the world for “serious human rights violations and abuses”. The list includes 11 Burmese military officials, four Chinese officials, two North Korean officials, two Libyan militia leaders, two Russian officials, and one South Sudanese army general. The four targeted entities include the public security bureau in Xinjiang, the public prosecutor’s office in North Korea, the Kaniyat Militia in Libya, and the National Security Agency in Eritrea.
The four Chinese officials targeted include Zhu Hailun, Wang Junzheng, Wang Mingshan, and Chen Mingguo, all of whom are seen as orchestrators of “large-scale surveillance, detention and indoctrination programme targeting Uyghurs and people from other Muslim ethnic minorities” in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
Next, Jong Kyong-thaek and Ri Young Gil are respectively the Minister of State Security and the Minister of Social security in North Korea. They were both sanctioned for “torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings, enforced disappearance of persons, and arbitrary arrests or detentions, as well as widespread forced labour and sexual violence against women” and for “running prison camps and short-term labour detention centres”.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Khalifa Al-Kani, who is the head of the Kaniyat Militia in Libya, and Abderrahim Al-Kani, who is the brother of Mohammed Khalifa and a senior official within the militia, were sanctioned for “extrajudicial killings and disappearances of persons between 2015 and June 2020 in Tarhuna”.
Aiub Vakhaevich, the Head of Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the city of Argun in Chechnya, was held responsible for “widespread and systematic persecutions” since 2016, including against “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons, those presumed to belong to LGBTI groups, and other individuals suspected of being opponents of the Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov”. Vakhaevich and his ministry have thus been accused of propagating “torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as arbitrary arrests and detentions and extrajudicial or arbitrary executions and killings”. Also sanctioned is Abuzaid Dzhandarovich Vismuradov, who is the Commander of the Special Rapid-Response United and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic.
Lastly, the Major General of South Sudan’s People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), Gabriel Moses Lokujo, was sanctioned for abducting and killing personnel from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, displacing citizens, and failing to address the safety and security concerns of citizens in the region.
Among the list of four entities who were sanctioned is the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) Public Security Bureau, which is a state-owned economic and paramilitary organisation that oversees security and the management of detention centres which are home to “large-scale arbitrary detentions and degrading treatment inflicted upon Uyghurs and people from other Muslim ethnic minorities”. At these centres, the Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities are subjected to forced labour and sexual abuse.
Also included is the Central Public Prosecutor’s Office in North Korea, which looks after ‘criminal proceedings’ in the country, including “investigation, interrogation, pre-trial detention, and trial”. The body is accused of leading “fundamentally unfair trials” by failing to uphold the legal and human rights of detainees and prisoners.
Meanwhile, the Kaniyat Militia in Libya, which took control of the town of Tarhuna from 2015 to June 2020, has been held to account for “extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances of persons”. Likewise, the Eritrean government’s National Security Agency has been held responsible for “arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances of persons and torture committed by its agents”.
The sanctions on China were issued in conjunction with the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States (US), and involve an asset freeze and a travel ban, and a ban on citizens and companies doing business with the individuals and entities listed.
The Council also added the names of 11 military officials from the Burmese military, also known as the Tatmadaw, for leading a coup to overthrow the civilian government last month. Since then, the military has directed a number of human rights abuses against protesting civilians and engaged in political suppression by cementing control over media outlets and restricting access to the internet.
On February 22, the Council “called for de-escalation of the crisis through an immediate end to the state of emergency, the restoration of the legitimate civilian government and the opening of the newly elected parliament” and for the military to release President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, and “all those who have been detained or arrested in connection with the coup”. They further “insisted that unimpeded telecommunications must be ensured, freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, and access to information guaranteed, and the rule of law and human rights respected”.
Following this, on February 28, EU foreign policy Chief Josep Borrell “condemned the brutal repression and called upon the military authorities to immediately stop the use of force against civilians and allow the population to express their right to freedom of expression and assembly”.
Keeping this in mind, this week, the Council slapped 11 Tatmadaw officials with travel bans and asset freezes, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, Lieutenant General Myint Swe, and Deputy-Commander-in-Chief Soe Win. On the same day, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Chief of Police Than Hlaing Bureau of Special Operations commander Lieutenant General Aung Soe. In fact, the US, UK, and Canada imposed sanctions on high-ranking officials within the Burmese military much earlier than the EU.
The EU said that today’s sanctions form part of its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, which it said indicates its “strong determination to stand up for human rights and to take tangible action against those responsible for violations and abuses”.
EU Sanctions 22 Individuals & 4 Entities From Around the World, Including China & Myanmar
The EU said the sanctions indicate its “strong determination to stand up for human rights and to take tangible action against those responsible for violations and abuses”.
March 23, 2021
IMAGE SOURCE: EUROPEAN COUNCILThe sanctions on China were issued in conjunction with the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States (US), and involve an asset freeze and a travel ban, and a ban on citizens and companies doing business with the individuals and entities listed.