The United Kingdom it imposed economic sanctions on dozens of people and organizations in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea under new British powers to punish human rights violators.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Monday that sanctions targeted those behind “some of the notorious human rights violations in recent years, “and aimed to stop the laundering of” blood money. “
The first UK sanctions will target 25 Russian citizens who he said were involved in the mistreatment and death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, and 20 Saudi citizens responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Foreign Ministry said.
“Today this government … sends a very clear message on behalf of the British people that those with blood on their hands – the thugs and despots, the henchmen and the dictators – will not be free to enter the country to buy property on King’s Road , to do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge, or frankly to divert dirty money through British banks or other financial institutions, “Raab said.
“The appointments will also include those responsible for the brutal murder of the writer and journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”
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After leaving the European Union in January, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to forge a new independent role for Britain in foreign and trade affairs, and this was the first time that London could impose asset freezes and bans on visas independently.
Among the list of Saudi names are Saud al-Qahtani, a former Saudi royal adviser, and Ahmed al-Asiri, a former deputy intelligence chief. They both filed charges against them in a Saudi court after 11 suspects were tried last December for Khashoggi’s murder. Five were sentenced to death.
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old Washington Post columnist, was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. Turkish authorities said his body was dismembered by the killers and that his remains have yet to be found.
Turkish prosecutors charged 20 Saudi citizens with the Khashoggi murder, including several with ties to the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the de facto ruler of the kingdom.
Some western governments, as well as the CIA, said they believed MBS ordered the murder, an accusation that Saudi officials have denied.
‘Particularly outrageous’
The biggest RussiaA name on the UK list is Alexander Bastrykin, whose Investigation Committee reports directly to President Vladimir Putin.
Bastrykin has also been blacklisted by the United States and Canada for the death of Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer arrested in 2008 after alleging RussiaOfficials were involved in large-scale tax fraud. Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison in 2009 after complaining of abuse.
“It is particularly outrageous that the high representatives of the Attorney General’s Office and the Investigation Committee of the Russian The Federation and the judges were included in the penalties list, “the RIA news agency cited a Russian spokesperson for the embassy in London as saying.
Also on the list of 49 individuals and organizations is Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, and Commander of the Myanmar Army, Soe Win. They are accused of orchestrating systematic violence against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar.
North Korean organizations, the State Ministry’s Security Bureau and the Correctional Bureau of the People’s Security Ministry, were sanctioned for running prison camps in the authoritarian communist state.
‘Battered earnings bathed in blood’
Britain previously imposed sanctions as part of the European Union or under the auspices of the United Nations. Since leaving the EU in January, she has implemented her own version of the U.S. Magnitsky Act, which allows authorities to ban or confiscate property from people guilty of human rights abuses.
Today I will present a sanctions regime that will focus on the people who have committed the most serious human rights violations. Global Britain will be an even stronger force for good in the world for years to come.
– Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) July 6, 2020
UK law authorizes the British government to prevent sanctioned persons from entering the country, channeling money through British banks, or benefiting from the British economy.
“You can’t set foot in this country and we’ll take advantage of your battered blood-soaked profits if you try.” Raab said in announcing the new sanctions.
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However, some analysts questioned the impact that the sanctions would have.
Bill Browder, CEO and Hermitage Capital Management and the head of the of the Global Magnitsky Justice campaign, said that while the Saudis will be upset by the inclusion of officials on the sanctions list, “the beauty of the Magnitsky Act is that it sanctions individuals and not countries.”
“In that way, the UK is likely to continue diplomatic and commercial relations while expressing its discontent with those involved in human rights violations at the same time,” Browder told Al Jazeera.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Britain’s move. “This sanctions regime marks the beginning of a new era for UK sanctions policy and cooperation between our two democracies,” it said in a statement.
“The United States will continue to seek additional allies and partners to jointly take advantage of all the tools at our disposal to deny access to the international and US financial systems to all those who commit serious human rights abuses.”
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