UK and allies sanction human rights abusers 75 years after Universal Declaration of Human Rights

  • 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 UK’s 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 announcing 46 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 Assad’s 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.

Today’s 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 Eberahim 
  5. Zhijiang She  
  6. Colonel Saw Chit Thu  
  7. Colonel Saw Min Min Oo 
  8. ZhengHeng Group Co Ltd 
  9. Heng He Casino 
  10. K.B Hotel   
  11. Pacific Real Estate Management Co. 
  12. Hum Sovanny  
  13. Dong Lecheng 
  14. 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. 

  1. Petr Aleksandrovich Orlov 
  2. Sergei Aleksandrovich Epikhov  
  3. Vyacheslav Ivanovich  Tuleyko  
  4. Valentina Nikolaevna Zenkevich  
  5. Svetlana Aleksandrovna Bondarenko  
  6. Roman Ivanovich Bizyuk  
  7. Aleksandr Vladimirovich Karol 
  8. Sergey Fedorovich Khripach 
  9. Anton Vladimirovich Kolyago  
  10. Marina Sviatoslavovna Zapasnik 
  11. Mikhail Kavaliou 
  12. Valentina Gennadevna Kulik   
  13. Igor Viacheslavovich Liubovitski 
  14. Mikhail lvanovich Dola 
  15. Tatyana Alexandrovna Grakun 
  16. Sergei Sergeevich Girgel   
  17. 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. 

  1. Hassan Shahrestani  
  2. Ali Salehi  
  3. Alireza Adyani  
  4. Ali Akbar Javidan  
  5. 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. 

  1. Major Mohammad Kanjou  
  2. Major General Yazan Al-Homsi 
  3. Boutros al Hallaq  
  4. Louai Emad El-Din al-Munajjid  
  5. Firas Hassan Qaddour  
  6. Mohsen Abdul Karim Ali  
  7. Abdel Qader Jokhadar 
  8. 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. 

  1. Fednel Monchery 
  2. Joseph Pierre Richard Duplan
Published 8 December 2023