The Department of State is holding 12 foreign government officials accountable for human rights violations, making them ineligible to enter the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently announced.
The statement was made by Blinken in recognition of Human Rights Day 2021 and the designation is made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriation. The law says that if there is credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in gross violation of human rights or corruption, they and their families will be banned, he said.
“The United States appreciates the coordinated actions taken today by the United Kingdom and Canada under their respective sanctions programs to target Burmese military actors responsible for violence and repression," the release stated.
Abel Kandiho is the major general and head of the Chieftancy of Military Intelligence within the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces, and he has been named due to his involvement in torture.
Current and former senior PRC officials in Xinjiang, China — including Shohrat Zakir, Erken Tuniyaz, Hu Lianhe and Chen Mingguo — were named due to human rights violations involving Uyghurs and other minority groups.
Ihar Kenyukh and Yauheni Shapetska are heads of the Akrestina Detention Center in Minsk Belarus. They were named due to human rights violations of torture and other “cruel, inhumane or degrading” treatment of detainees after a fraudulent presidential election last year.
Also named were Benazir Ahmed, current inspector general of the Bangladesh Police and former director general of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB); and Miftah Uddin Ahmed, lieutenant colonel and former commanding officer of RAB Unit 7. They were connected to the May 2018 extrajudicial killing of Teknaf City Municipal Councilor Ekramul Haque of Teknaf in Bangladesh.
Sri Lankan naval intelligence officer Chandana Hettiarachchi was named for his denial of the right to liberty of eight “Trincomalee 11” victims in 2008 and 2009. Former Sri Lankan Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake was also named due to the killing of eight Tamil villagers in December 2000.
Former Puebla, Mexico Gov. Mario Plutarco Marin Torres was on the list for his detention of journalist and human rights defender Lydia Cacho in December 2005.
The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has also imposed sanctions on 15 individuals and 10 entities for human rights abuse and repression
“These designations underscore our support for human rights and commitment to promoting accountability for human rights abusers and violators,” the release said.
