LONDON: Dozens of alleged human rights abusers around the world face new sanctions Friday under a coordinated action by the United States, Britain and Canada to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The long list of targets ranges from human traffickers in Southeast Asia involved with “scam farm” operations, Taliban officials responsible for rights abuses in Afghanistan and leaders of gangs ravaging Haiti’s population.
London said it was hitting 46 individuals and entities with asset freezes and travel bans ahead of the December 10 landmark, recognized annually as International Human Rights Day.
The United States for its part targeted 37 people in 13 countries, while Canada imposed sanctions on seven people as part of the joint action.
“We will not tolerate criminals and repressive regimes trampling on the fundamental rights and freedoms of ordinary people around the world,” said UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
“I am clear that 75 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UK and our allies will continue to relentlessly pursue those who would deny people their freedom.”
The landmark 30-article document, which outlines fundamental rights and freedoms for all of humanity, was adopted on December 10, 1948 during the early days of the United Nations.
The UK’s list of targets include 17 members of the Belarusian judiciary, including prosecutors in charge of politically motivated cases against activists, journalists and rights defenders.
Five individuals in Iran face curbs for imposing and enforcing the country’s mandatory hijab law, while nine people were targeted for trafficking people in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to work for online “scam farms.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “with today’s actions, the United States is addressing some of the most challenging and harmful forms of human rights abuses in the world, including those involving conflict-related sexual violence, forced labor, and transnational repression.”
Among those facing US sanctions are a senior Taliban official who participated in the decision-making to ban women and girls from school after the group’s 2021 takeover of Afghanistan.
Blinken said that in addition to the US sanctions imposed Friday, Washington would recommend UN Security Council designations for four Haitian gang leaders and five armed group chiefs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Canada for its part included in its list four Russians responsible for LGBTQ rights violations in Chechnya as well as the leader of the junta in Myanmar.
“Our actions to promote respect for human rights are stronger and more durable when done in concert with allies committed to the international rules-based order,” Blinken said of the coordinated action with Ottawa and London.
US, UK, Canada sanction dozens on human rights anniversary
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US, UK, Canada sanction dozens on human rights anniversary
- The United States for its part targeted 37 people in 13 countries, while Canada imposed sanctions on seven people as part of the joint action
- Five individuals in Iran face curbs for imposing and enforcing the country's mandatory hijab law
‘A den of bandits’: Rwanda closes thousands of evangelical churches
- A 2018 law introduced new rules on health, safety, and financial disclosures, and requires all preachers to have theological training
- Observers say the real reason for the closures comes down to control, noting that even those who complied with the law had been shut down
- President Kagame has described the church as a relic of the colonial period, a chapter of its history with which the country is still grappling
KIGALI: Grace Room Ministries once filled giant stadiums in Rwanda three times a week before the evangelical organization was shut down in May.
It is one of the 10,000 churches reportedly closed by the government for failing to comply with a 2018 law designed to regulate places of worship.
The law introduced new rules on health, safety, and financial disclosures, and requires all preachers to have theological training.
President Paul Kagame has been vocal in his criticisms of the evangelical churches that have sprouted across the small country in Africa’s Great Lakes region.
“If it were up to me I wouldn’t even reopen a single church,” Kagame told a news briefing last month.
“In all the development challenges we are dealing with, the wars... our country’s survival — what is the role of these churches? Are they also providing jobs? Many are just thieving... some churches are just a den of bandits,” he said.
The vast majority of Rwandans are Christian according to a 2024 census, with many now traveling long and costly distances to find places to pray.
Observers say the real reason for the closures comes down to control.
Kagame’s government is saying “there’s no rival in terms of influence,” Louis Gitinywa, a lawyer and political analyst based in Kigali, told AFP.
The ruling party “bristles when an organization or individual gains influence,” he said, a view also expressed to AFP by an anonymous government official.
‘Deceived’
The 2018 law requires churches to submit annual action plans stating how they align with “national values.” All donations must be channelled through registered accounts.
Pastor Sam Rugira, whose two church branches were shut down last year for failing to meet fire safety regulations, said the rules mostly affected new evangelical churches that have “mushroomed” in recent years.
But Kagame has described the church as a relic of the colonial period, a chapter of its history with which the country is still grappling.
“You have been deceived by the colonizers and you let yourself be deceived,” he said in November.
The closure of Grace Room Ministries came as a shock to many across the country.
Pastor Julienne Kabanda, had been drawing massive crowds to the shiny new BK Arena in Kigali when the church’s license was revoked.
The government had cited unauthorized evangelical activities and a failure to submit “annual activity and financial reports.”
AFP was unable to reach Kabanda for comment.
‘Open disdain, disgust’
A church leader in Kigali, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the president’s “open disdain and disgust” for churches “spells tough times ahead.”
“It is unfair that even those that fulfilled all requirements are still closed,” he added.
But some say the clampdown on places of worship is linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which around 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered.
Ismael Buchanan a political science lecturer at the National University of Rwanda, told AFP the church could sometimes act as “a conduit of recruitment” for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Hutu militia formed in exile in DR Congo by those who committed the genocide.
“I agree religion and faith have played a key role in healing Rwandans from the emotional and psychological wounds after the genocide, but it also makes no sense to have a church every two kilometers instead of hospitals and schools,” he said.
Pastor Rugira meanwhile suggested the government is “regulating what it doesn’t understand.”
It should instead work with churches to weed out “bad apples” and help them meet requirements, especially when it comes to the donations they rely on to survive, he said.
