On Monday 22 July, the Council of the European Union adopted restrictive measures against four persons and two entities under the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.
They are the Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army, Abdel Karim Mohammad Ibrahim, and the former Minister of Defence and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Army, Ali Mahmoud Abbas. “Both are responsible for the actions of the armed forces under their command, that commit systematic and widespread torture, rape, as well as sexual and gender-based violence against civilians”, says the Council.
Sanctions have also been imposed on North Korea’s Minister of State Security, Ri Chang Dae, whom the Council considers to be responsible for numerous acts of sexual and gender-based violence committed by officials of the Ministry, notably against women showing their opposition to the regime or held in detention, and Evgeniy Sobolev, head of the so-called ‘penitentiary service’ set up by Moscow in the Kherson oblast. Under his command, there was a widespread and systematic pattern of human rights violations.
Two entities have also been sanctioned: Kokorat San Ras, a Haitian gang known for using violence against women as a common weapon, and the North Korean MSS Detention Centre in Onsong County, where torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are established practices, according to the Council.
A total of 117 individuals and 33 entities are subject to sanctions under the human rights regime.
See the legal act: https://aeur.eu/f/d3k (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)