Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the UK has a duty to “promote free and open societies” as he approved the highest number of sanctions the UK has brought together in one package.
Political reporter @alixculbertson
Friday 9 December 2022 11:54, UK
The UK has announced fresh sanctions on 30 individuals and entities the government described as “corrupt political figures, human rights violators and perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence”.
Included in the sanctions are people involved in the torture of prisoners and the mobilisation of troops to rape civilians.
People from 11 countries, including Russia, Iran, Myanmar and South Sudan, have been sanctioned – the most the UK has ever brought together in one package.
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The government said the sanctions were coordinated with international partners to mark International Anti-Corruption Day and Global Human Rights Day.
“It is our duty to promote free and open societies around the world,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.
“Today our sanctions go further to expose those behind the heinous violations of our most fundamental rights.”
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As part of the package, eight individuals involved in serious human rights abuses and violations have been designated under the Global Human Rights regime, which allows the UK to stop them from entering the country, channelling money through UK banks or profiting from the British economy.
Geographical sanctions have been placed on Iran and Russia, while five “corrupt actors” from Serbia, Moldova and Kosovo have been placed on the list.
The UK has now sanctioned more than 1,200 individuals in Russia, including members of the military. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister Sergey Lavrov were sanctioned in February when Russia invaded Ukraine.
All sanctioned individuals will have their assets frozen and a travel ban imposed, while entities are subject to asset freeze.
Those included in the latest wave of sanctions are:
• Ten Iranian officials connected to Iran’s judicial and prison systems, including former directors of Evin Prison where Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was held, and those responsible for handing out death penalties to protesters
• Russian Colonel Ibatullin, commander of the 90th Tank Division, who has been on the front line of the Ukraine invasion
• Two county commissioners in South Sudan who mobilised troops to rape civilians during conflicts earlier this year
• Mali’s Katiba Macina group, also known as the Macina Liberation Front, who are known for sexual violence, including forced marriages
• Divisions of the Myanmar armed forces for sexual violence and Myanmar’s office of the chief of military and security affairs following reports of torture, rape and sexual violence
• Muslim cleric Mian Abdul Haq for forced conversions and marriages of girls and women from religious minorities in Pakistan
• Uganda’s former inspector general of police, general Kale Kayihura, for overseeing human rights violations, including torture
• The mayor and deputy mayor of Matagalpa in Nicaragua for promoting and supporting grievous human rights violations
• Russian federal security service member in Crimea, Andrey Tishenin, and Artur Shambazov, a senior detective in Crimea, for torturing Ukrainian activist Oleksandr Kostenko in 2015
• Russian Federation major of justice Valentin Oparin and Oleg Tkachenko, head of public prosecutions in Rostov for obstructing complaints of torture and using torture to extract testimony.
