UK

Sanctions for 'worst human rights abusers' set out by Home Secretary Dominic Raab

Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside a Saudi diplomatic mission in Turkey in 2018
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside a Saudi diplomatic mission in Turkey in 2018 Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside a Saudi diplomatic mission in Turkey in 2018

Individuals linked to the killings of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky will be among the first to face UK sanctions for human rights abuses, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has announced.

In a Commons statement, Mr Raab said that two senior Burmese generals involved in the brutal suppression of the minority Rohingya population and two organisations linked with North Korea's gulags will also be subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

The measures - imposed under the provisions of the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations - mark the first time the UK has imposed its own sanctions since leaving the European Union at the end of last year.

The initial list includes:

- A total of 20 Saudi nationals linked to the brutal killing and dismemberment of Mr Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

- 25 Russian nationals linked to the mistreatment of Mr Magnitsky - who died in police custody in 2009 after exposing allegations of widespread corruption.

- The commander in chief of the Burmese armed forces Min Aung Hlaing and his deputy Soe Win, who were responsible for military operations against the Rohingya in Rakhine state between 2017 and 2019.

- North Korea's Ministry of State Security Bureau 7 and the Ministry of People's Security Correctional Bureau, which run prison camps linked to numerous violations including murder, torture and enslavement.

Mr Raab told MPs that sanctions were aimed at the perpetrators of the "worst human rights abuses".

"This government and this House sends a very clear message on behalf of the British people that those with blood on their hands, the thugs of despots, the henchmen of dictators will not be free to waltz into this country to buy up property on the King's Road, to do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge or frankly to siphon dirty money through British banks or other financial institutions," he said.