BRUSSELS 鈥� The European Union, Britain, Canada and the United States on Monday launched
The EU targeted four senior officials in Xinjiang. The sanctions involve a freeze on the officials鈥� assets and a ban on them
The 27-nation bloc also froze the assets of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau, which it describes as a 鈥渟tate-owned economic and paramilitary organization鈥� that runs Xinjiang and controls its economy.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the measures were part of 鈥渋ntensive diplomacy鈥� by the U.K, the United States, Canada and the 27-nation EU to force action amid mounting evidence about serious rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim people.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that 鈥渁 united transatlantic response sends a strong signal to those who violate or abuse international human rights, and we will take further actions in
鈥淲e will continue to stand with our allies around the world in calling for an immediate end to the PRC鈥檚 crimes and for justice for the many victims," Blinken said.
China responded immediately to the EU's move, slapping sanctions on 10 European individuals and four institutions that it said had damaged China鈥檚 interests and 鈥渕aliciously spread lies and disinformation.鈥�
Initially, China denied the existence of camps for detaining Uyghurs in Xinjiang but has since described them as
Xinjiang had been a hotbed of anti-government violence, but Beijing claims its massive security crackdown brought peace in recent years.
China鈥檚 Foreign Ministry denounced the EU sanctions as 鈥渂ased on nothing but lies and disinformation鈥� as it issued its own retaliatory measures.
The ministry announced sanctions against 10 individuals and four institutions, saying that they and their family members would be barred from entering mainland China, Hong Kong or Macao and cut off from financial dealings with those areas.
Among those targeted was Adrian Zenz, a U.S.-based German scholar who has publicized abuses against minority groups in China鈥檚 regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. China has said companies and individuals have petitioned to sue Zenz, but it wasn鈥檛 clear who the plaintiffs were or how they would pursue legal action across borders.
Others targeted for sanctions include five members of the European Parliament: Reinhard Butikofer, Michael Gahler, Raphael Glucksmann, Ilhan Kyuchyuk and Miriam Lexmann.
The ministry did not say what measures would be taken against the organizations. They were listed as the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union, where the 27 national envoys decide foreign and security policy; the EU Parliament鈥檚 Subcommittee on Human Rights; the German-based Mercator Institute for China Studies; and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation in Denmark.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who chaired the meeting of foreign ministers, expressed dismay at China's reaction and said the EU's sanctions respect the 鈥渉ighest standards of rule of law.鈥�
鈥淩ather than change its policies and address our legitimate concerns, China has again turned a blind eye, and these measures are regrettable and unacceptable," Borrell said.
鈥淭here will be no change in European Union determination to defend human rights and to respond to serious violations and abuses,鈥� he added, and described the
The new EU sanction system is similar to the Magnitsky Act 鈥� Obama-era legislation that authorizes the U.S. government to sanction those it sees as human rights offenders, freeze their assets and ban them from entering the United States.
As part of Monday's move, the EU also imposed sanctions over repression in North Korea, 鈥渆xtrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Libya, torture and repression against LGBTI people and political opponents in Chechnya in Russia, and torture, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings in South Sudan and Eritrea," a statement said.
Those targeted in Libya were Mohammed Khalifa al-Kani, leader of Libya鈥檚 notorious al-Kaniyat militia, and his brother Abderrahim al-Kani, a member of the same militia. Both are accused of committing extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances between 2015 and June 2020 in the town of Tarhuna, which they had controlled for years.
Since their escape from Tarhuna last summer following a military defeat, dozens of mass graves have been discovered and attributed to al-Kaniyat militiamen. Last year, the U.S Treasury targeted al-Kaniyat and its leader over the same alleged crimes.
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Christopher Bodeen in Beijing, and Noha ElHennawy in Cairo, Egypt, contributed to this report.
Lorne Cook, The Associated Press
