European Union approves sanctions regime for human rights violations

The EU Foreign Affairs Council has given the green light to the EU sanctions regime in the field of human rights violations, and will be applied throughout the world, reports Radio Free Europe journalist Rikard Jozwiak.

According to him, sanctions will also be applied to state and non-state actors.

“The mechanism will come into force on December 10, but no names and organizations have been submitted yet,” Jozwiak said.

This legislation was prepared a long time ago and media given it the code name “European Magnitsky Act” by analogy with the US law. However, the EU said that the practice of lawmaking does not imply the assignment of specific names to legislative acts, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

The new framework document on sanctions for gross violations of human rights targets individuals and organizations, both state and non-state. Unlike the already existing EU sanctions regimes in relation to specific countries, it will be “thematic”, not “geographical”. This will provide the EU with the flexibility to target its identified human rights violators worldwide, regardless of nationality and location. Proposals for inclusion in the sanctions lists with their justifications will come from the EU member states. They will be approved by a unanimous decision of the EU Council.