Figure 1: The European Union flag. The golden stars represent unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe. Source: Unsplash.
Brussels, Belgium - On 7 December 2020, the European Council adopted a new set of regulations that allow to target individuals, entities and bodies that are associated with serious human rights violations. The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EUGHRSR) aims to put an end to human rights violations worldwide, thus fulfilling one of the EU’s main goals.
1. Who is targeted?
The EUGHRSR targets anyone, be they individuals, entities or bodies, that are responsible for or involved in serious human rights violations or abuses worldwide, or persons that are associated with them. These can be state or non-state actors, regardless of whether the violations were committed in their own state, other states or across state borders.
2. Which acts are considered serious human rights violations?
The regime covers acts including, but not limited to, genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and/or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, slavery, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary arrests and detentions. It also includes human trafficking, abuses of human rights of migrant smugglers, sexual and gender-based violence, violations or abuses of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, violations or abuses of freedom of opinion and expression, and violations or abuses of freedom of religion or belief.
Figure 2. The EU's founding values are 'human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.' Source: Unsplash.
3. Which sanctions are implemented?
Perpetrators are banned by the EUGHRSR from entering any EU member state, their assets are frozen within EU member states and EU citizens are prohibited from making available to perpetrators funds and any other economic resources.
According to Article 5 of the Council Decision, EU sanctions are authorized by EU Member States and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. This position is currently held by Josep Borrell.
On 2 March 2021, the European Council imposed sanctions on four Russian individuals: Head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, the Prosecutor-General, Igor Krasnov, the Head of the National Guard, Viktor Zolotov and the Head of the Federal Prison Service, Alexander Kalashnikov. They were accused of conducting arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as repression of freedom of peaceful assembly and of opinion, all related to the protests about Alexei Navalny.
On 22 February 2021, the Foreign Affairs Council banned these individuals from travelling within the European Union and froze their assets in every EU member state. Additionally, all persons and entities are forbidden from making funds available to those listed.
Figure 3. United in diversity. Source: Unsplash.
On 22 March 2021, the European Council imposed further sanctions in the basis of large-scale arbitrary detentions of, in particular, Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China, repression in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Libya, torture and repression against LGBTI persons and political opponents in Chechnya, Russia, and torture, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings in South Sudan and Eritrea. The imposed sanctions are, once again, banning from travelling within the EU, asset freezing and prohibiting EU citizens from financially assisting the perpetrators.
The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime is a landscape policy, since it allows the European Union to further protect and establish the importance of human rights globally. Furthermore, it provides major assistance towards fulfilling the EU’s Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024 of 25 March 2020, which aims to eradicate human rights violations.
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