On Thursday 20 July, the Council of the European Union adopted restrictive measures against 18 individuals and five entities under the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, because of their responsibility for serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Ukraine and Russia.
The EU also imposed restrictive measures against 12 other individuals and five entities responsible for serious human rights violations in Russia. These measures are aimed at those who, according to the Council, have “misused facial recognition technology to carry out mass arbitrary arrests” in Russia and “politically motivated rulings” against political opponents Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza.
They include two City of Moscow departments, three companies producing or organising tenders for the supply of facial recognition systems, a minister in the city government, a deputy mayor of Moscow, people responsible for managing the penal colony where Alexei Navalny is being held, and an agent of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) who was personally involved in an assassination attempt on Vladimir Kara-Murza.
The Council also registered six people found responsible for sexual and gender-based violence. These include the Taliban Ministers of Education and Justice and the Taliban Chief Justice of Afghanistan for their role in depriving Afghan girls and women of their right to education, access to justice and equal treatment for men and women.
A senior officer in the armed forces of South Sudan, a leader of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central African Republic (FPRC) and a commander of the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade of the Russian armed forces have also been sanctioned for committing widespread attacks against the civilian population, including sexual and gender-based violence.
With these new measures, 61 individuals and 20 entities have been sanctioned under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.
See the legal act: https://aeur.eu/f/87g (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)