US designates 4 Chinese officials, 8 others for gross human rights violations

On the 73rd anniversary of the UN adoption of the Human Rights declaration, the United States designated 12 officials, including 4 Chinese nationals, for their alleged involvement in gross human rights violations. The announcement was made by US Department of State Secretary Antony Blinken on December 10, as a part of the US' idea to promote accountability for human rights violations. The individuals were designated by the Department of State under Section 7031(c) for repression and mass human rights abuse. Notably, the designation comes after US formally announced a diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics after Peng Shuai's case, who went missing for weeks after she accused a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official of sexual assault.

The designated Chinese officials include Shohrat Zakir, Erken Yuniyaz, Hu Lianhe and Chen Mingguo, current and the former senior People's Republic of China (PRC) officials in Xinjiang, US State Department said in a statement. The officials were allegedly responsible for multiple breaches of human rights, including the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, the statement added. Additionally, Shohrat Zakir and Erken Tuniyaz were also designated by the Department of the Treasury under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program in connection with serious human rights abuse.

8 other individuals designated by the US

Apart from the 4 Chinese officials, the US also designated 8 others from Uganda, Belarus, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Mexico. Benazir Ahmed, who is the current Inspector General of the Bangladesh Police and former Director-General of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), has been added to the list and Miftah Uddin Ahmed, Lieutenant Colonel and former commanding officer of RAB Unit 7. The men are said to be involved in a gross violation of human rights, mainly in the May 2018 extrajudicial killing of Teknaf City Municipal Councillor Ekramul Haque in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, the State Department mentioned.

From Sri Lanka, Chandana Hettiarachchi, a Sri Lankan naval intelligence officer and Sunil Ratnayake, a former Staff Sergeant in the Sri Lanka Army have also been designated for violating human rights. While Hettiarachchi is accused of flagrant denial of the right to liberty of at least eight “Trincomalee 11” victims, from 2008 to 2009, Ratnayake was involved in the extrajudicial killings of at least eight Tamil villagers in December 2000.

Mario Plutarco Marin Torres, a former governor of Puebla, Mexico was held accountable for human rights violations in Mexico. The officials were involved in the arbitrary detention of journalist and human rights defender Lydia Cacho in December 2005. Lastly, Abel Kandiho, Major General and head of the Chieftancy of Military Intelligence within the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces was also designated for his involvement in a gross violation of human rights, namely torture.

On the other hand, the Department of Treasury office for Foreign Assets Control also imposed sanctions on 15 individuals, 10 entities for their roles in serious abuse of human rights across several countries.

"These designations underscore our support for human rights and commitment to promoting accountability for human rights abusers and violators the world over, " the State Department said in its statement.

(Image: @SecBlinken/Twitter)