U.S. imposes sweeping human rights sanctions on China, Myanmar and N Korea

The flags of the United States and China fly from a lamppost in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States on November 1, 2021. REUTERS / Brian Snyder

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (Reuters) – The United States on Friday blacklisted extensive human rights sanctions against dozens of people and organizations affiliated with China, Myanmar, North Korea and Bangladesh, and blacklisted Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime Group set for investment.

Canada and the United Kingdom have joined the United States in imposing sanctions related to human rights abuses in Myanmar, while Washington, under the administration of President Joe Biden, also introduced the first new sanctions against North Korea, including targeting Myanmar military units mark human rights day.

“Our actions today, particularly in partnership with the UK and Canada, send a message that democracies around the world will crack down on those who abuse state power to inflict suffering and repression,” said Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo in a statement.

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The North Korean mission to the United Nations and the Chinese, Myanmar and Bangladeshi embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Biden gathered more than 100 world leaders for a virtual summit this week, advocating strengthening democracies around the world. The U.S. Treasury Department launched a series of sanctions this week to mark the summit.

The Treasury Department on Friday added the Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime to a list of “Chinese military-industrial complex companies”, accusing it of developing facial recognition programs that can determine the ethnicity of a target, with a particular focus on identifying ethnic Uyghurs .

This means that the company falls under an investment ban for US investors. SenseTime is about to sell 1.5 billion shares in an initial public offering (IPO). Following news of Treasury Department restrictions earlier this week, the company began discussing the fate of the proposed $ 767 million offering with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

UN experts and human rights groups estimate that over a million people, mainly Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities, have been held in a huge camp system in China’s extreme western region of Xinjiang.

China denies human rights abuses in Xinjiang, but the US government and many human rights groups say Beijing is perpetrating genocide there.

The Treasury Department said it was imposing sanctions on two Myanmar military units and an organization that provides reserves for the military. The Defense Industry Directorate, one of the target units, manufactures weapons for the military and police that were used in a brutal crackdown on opponents of the February 1 military coup.

The Treasury Department also targeted four regional prime ministers, including Myo Swe Win, who heads the junta’s administration in the Bago area, where at least 82 people were killed in a single day in April, according to the Treasury Department.

Canada imposed sanctions on four units affiliated with the Myanmar military government, while the UK imposed new sanctions on the military.

Myanmar was plunged into crisis when the military overthrew leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her government on February 1, sparking daily protests in cities and fighting in border areas between the military and ethnic minority insurgents.

Junta forces attempting to crush the opposition have killed more than 1,300 people, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) surveillance group.

The Treasury Department also blacklisted North Korea’s Central Prosecutor’s Office, along with former Social Security Minister and recently appointed People’s Armed Forces Minister, Ri Yong Gil, and a Russian university to facilitate the export of workers from North Korea.

North Korea has long sought lifting of US and international sanctions imposed over its weapons programs and has denounced US criticism of its human rights record as evidence of hostile policies against the country.

The Biden government has repeatedly urged North Korea to enter into dialogue about its nuclear and missile programs, to no avail.

The US State Department also banned twelve people from entering the US on Friday, including officials in China, Belarus and Sri Lanka.

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Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Simon Lewis, David Brunnstrom, Matt Spetalnick, Alexandra Alper, Tim Ahmann and David Ljunggren Editing by Chris Sanders, Alistair Bell and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-issues-human-rights-related-sanctions-adds-sensetime-blacklist-2021-12-10/