Home Office
- UK, US and Canada lead coordinated action against human rights abusers and accessories to authoritarian governments around the world, 75 years after Universal Declaration of Human Rights was ratified.
- UK targets forced labour operations in Southeast Asia, and government-linked officials in Belarus, Haiti, Iran, and Syria complicit in repressing individual freedoms.
- These sanctions underline the UKs continued commitment to deterring malign activity around the world.
The UK, US and Canada are today announcing a sweeping package of sanctions targeting individuals linked to human rights abuses around the world, ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December.
Today the UK is announcing46 sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, in two categories.
The first set targets nine individuals and five entities for their involvement in trafficking people in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, forcing them to work for online scam farms which enable large-scale fraud. Victims are promised well-paid jobs but are subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The UN estimates at least 120,000 people in Myanmar alone are being forced to work for such schemes. The FCDO has helped a small number of British Nationals return to the UK who had become victims.
The second is aimed at a number of individuals linked to the governments, judiciaries and prosecuting authorities of Belarus, Haiti, Iran, and Syria, for their involvement in the repression of citizens solely for exercising fundamental freedoms in those countries. This includes:
- 17 members of the Belarusian judiciary including judges, prosecutors and an investigator involved in politically-motivated cases against political activists, independent journalists and human rights defenders,
- Five individuals in the Iranian judiciary, security forces and Tehran public transport system for their involvement in imposing and enforcing the mandatory hijab law,
- Eight individuals for complicity in atrocities against the Syrian people by Assads regime, and
- Two individuals in Haiti for their involvement in the 2018 La Saline attacks.
The Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, said:
We will not tolerate criminals and repressive regimes trampling on the fundamental rights and freedoms of ordinary people around the world.
I am clear that 75 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UK and our allies will continue to relentlessly pursue those who would deny people their freedom.
The Home Secretary James Cleverly said:
The UK is actively rooting out all facilitators of large-scale fraud, both nationally and internationally, to protect public welfare.
Todays announcement sends a clear warning: anyone attempting to gain from human rights abuses will be brought to justice.
Background
UK sanctions list
Click here to see the latest UK sanctions list.
US and Canada
More information on the US and Canadian designations will follow later today from the US Treasury and State Departments and Global Affairs Canada.
Asset freeze
An asset freeze prevents any UK citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by the designated person. It also prevents funds or economic resources being provided to or for the benefit of the designated person. UK financial sanctions apply to all persons within the territory and territorial sea of the UK and to all UK persons, wherever they are in the world.
Travel ban
A travel ban means that the designated person must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom, providing the individual is an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971.
Further information on the individuals and entities sanctioned by the UK today
Forced Labour in Southeast Asia
14 individuals and entities have been sanctioned for their links to forced labour schemes in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. The victims were trafficked to work for online scam farms. The aforementioned UN research into online scams in Southeast Asia is here.
1. Wei Zhao 2. Guiqin Su 3. Nat Rungtawankhiri 4. Abbas Eberahim5. Zhijiang She 6. Colonel Saw Chit Thu 7. Colonel Saw Min Min Oo8. ZhengHeng Group Co Ltd9. Heng He Casino10. K.B Hotel 11. Pacific Real Estate Management Co.12. Hum Sovanny 13. Dong Lecheng14. Golden Sun Sky Entertainment Co., Ltd.
Repression of Civilians in Belarus, Haiti, Iran & Syria
Belarus: 17 individuals have been sanctioned, including judges, prosecutors and an investigator involved in politically-motivated cases against political activists, independent journalists and human rights defenders, including Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski.
15. Petr Aleksandrovich Orlov16. Sergei Aleksandrovich Epikhov 17. Vyacheslav Ivanovich Tuleyko 18. Valentina Nikolaevna Zenkevich 19. Svetlana Aleksandrovna Bondarenko 20. Roman Ivanovich Bizyuk 21. Aleksandr Vladimirovich Karol22. Sergey Fedorovich Khripach23. Anton Vladimirovich Kolyago 24. Marina Sviatoslavovna Zapasnik25. Mikhail Kavaliou26. Valentina Gennadevna Kulik 27. Igor Viacheslavovich Liubovitski28. Mikhail lvanovich Dola29. Tatyana Alexandrovna Grakun30. Sergei Sergeevich Girgel 31. Denis Alexandrovich Mikushev
Iran: Five individuals in the Iranian judiciary, security forces and Tehran Metro have been sanctioned for their involvement in imposing and enforcing the mandatory hijab law.
32. Hassan Shahrestani 33. Ali Salehi 34. Alireza Adyani 35. Ali Akbar Javidan 36. Masoud Dorosti
Syria: Eight Syrian regime individuals have been sanctioned for their involvement in atrocities committed against the Syrian people. This includes government ministers and senior members of the armed forces involved in Military Field Courts.
37. Major Mohammad Kanjou 38. Major General Yazan Al-Homsi39. Boutros al Hallaq 40. Louai Emad El-Din al-Munajjid 41. Firas Hassan Qaddour 42. Mohsen Abdul Karim Ali 43. Abdel Qader Jokhadar44. Ahmed Mohammad Bustaji
Haiti: Two individuals in Haiti have been sanctioned for their involvement in the 2018 La Saline attacks, in which over 70 protestors were killed by armed criminal gangs with support from government officials.
45. Fednel Monchery46. Jose