Britain Drops Economic Sanctions on Dozens of World Human Rights Violators

London, MINA – The British government impose economic sanctions on dozens of individuals and organizations from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, and North Korea to punish violators of human rights.

The UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Monday the sanctions targeted those behind “some notable human rights violations in recent years” and to stop laundering “blood money”. Thus quoted from Al Jazeera.

The Foreign Ministry said Britain’s first sanctions would target 25 Russian citizens who were said to be involved in the persecution and death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, and 20 Saudi nationals responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“Today, the government is sending a very clear message on behalf of the British people that those who are covered in blood will not be free to wander into this country to buy property on King’s Road, to shop for Christmas at Knightsbridge, or continue to siphon dirty money through British banks or institutions other finance, “said Raab.

Saudis whose names are on the sanction list include former Saudi Kingdom adviser Saud al-Qahtani, former Saudi royal adviser, and former Deputy Chief of Intelligence Ahmed al-Asiri. The Saudi court has made them guilty after 11 suspects were tried in December 2019 for the murder of Khashoggi. Five people were sentenced to death.

The first Russian name on the British list was Alexander Bastrykin, whose Investigation Committee reported directly to President Vladimir Putin.

Bastrykin has also been blacklisted by the United States and Canada for the death of Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was arrested in 2008 after accusing Russian officials of being involved in large-scale tax fraud.

It also included in the list of 49 individuals and organizations are Min Aung Hlaing, the top commander of Myanmar’s armed forces, and Myanmar’s military commander Soe Win. They are accused of orchestrating systematic violence against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.

North Korean organizations – the Department of State Security and the People’s Security Bureau have been sanctioned for running prison camps in the authoritarian communist country. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)