Dominic Raab unveils UK's new human rights abuse sanctions regime

Dominic Raab warns dictators with ‘blood on their hands’ they will no longer be able to ‘Waltz into this country to buy property on the King’s Road’, go shopping in Knightsbridge or ‘siphon dirty money through UK banks’ as he unveils new sanctions regime

  • Before Brexit UK usually imposed sanctions alongside European Union or the UN
  • But after leaving the EU the Government has set up its own autonomous regime
  • New system will target people responsible for ‘very worst human rights abuses’ 
  • Dominic Raab said ministers will be able to impose travel bans and freeze assets

Dominic Raab today warned despots, dictators and their henchmen they will no longer be able to buy property in the UK or ‘siphon dirty money through British banks’ as he unveiled the Government’s new sanctions regime. 

Before Brexit the UK usually acted alongside the European Union or the United Nations when imposing sanctions on individuals accused of human rights abuses. 

But the Government has decided to establish its own system following Britain’s split from Brussels. 

The Foreign Secretary said this afternoon the new sanctions regime will target people responsible for the ‘very worst human rights abuses around the world’. 

It will enable ministers to impose travel bans and to freeze the assets of both state officials and non-state actors.

Mr Raab told MPs the UK’s first sanctions for human rights abuses will cover those involved in the deaths of the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the systemic killings of the Rohingya population in Myanmar and the North Korean gulags. 

Dominic Raab, pictured in the House of Commons this afternoon, has unveiled the UK’s new ‘autonomous’ sanctions regime to target people responsible for human rights abuses

How will the UK’s new sanctions regime work and who will be targeted?

Dominic Raab today set out the UK’s first ‘autonomous’ sanctions regime to target people guilty of international human rights abuses.  

Below are the key points made by the Foreign Secretary as he addressed MPs in the House of Commons this afternoon. 

On who will be targeted: 

‘In 2019, it was in the Conservative Party manifesto as a clear commitment. So, today, I am proud that under this Prime Minister and this Government we make good on that pledge bringing into force the UK’s first autonomous human rights sanctions regime, which gives us the power to impose sanctions on those involved in the very worst of human rights abuses around the world.’

On the powers which can be used: 

‘The Regulations will enable us to impose travel bans and asset freezes against those involved in serious human rights violations.’

On the UK’s message to perpetrators: 

‘Today 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, or the henchmen of dictators, won’t be free to Waltz into this country to buy up property on the Kings Road, or do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge, or frankly to siphon dirty money through British banks or financial institutions.’

On how the regime could be extended:

‘We are already considering how a corruption regime could be added to the armoury of legal weapons that we have.’ 

On how long sanctions could apply: 

‘In practice, those people designated will be able to request that a Minister review the decision. They will be able to challenge the decision in court. And as a matter of due diligence, the Government will review all designations at least once every three years.’ 

The new powers unveiled by Mr Raab will: 

  • Allow ministers to impose travel bans on perpetrators and to freeze any assets they may hold in the UK. 
  • Mr Raab said that will mean the end of dictators and their henchmen being able to ‘Waltz into this country to buy up property on the Kings Road, or do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge’.
  • See the UK able to act unilaterally in targeting people guilty of human rights abuses, having previously usually acted alongside the EU or UN. 
  • Fulfil a pledge made by the Conservative Party in its 2019 general election manifesto to take targeted action against ‘human rights violators’. 
  • See all designations reviewed at least once every three years to make sure they should still apply.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Raab said the new measures will ‘hold to account the perpetrators of the worst human rights abuses’ as he described them as a ‘forensic tool… to target perpetrators’.  

‘Today 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 henchman 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. 

He added: ‘We have deliberately focused on the worst crimes so we have the clearest basis to make sure we can operate the new system as effectively as we possibly can.

‘That said we will continue to explore expanding this regime to include other human rights and I can tell the House that we are already considering how a corruption regime could be added to the armoury of legal weapons that we have.’

Mr Raab paid tribute to Sergei Magnitsky and said his family were watching the Commons proceedings from the Foreign Office.

The Russian lawyer uncovered large-scale tax fraud in his home country and died in prison after giving evidence against corrupt officials. He lends his name to the US Magnitsky Act which imposes sanctions on human rights abusers.

Mr Raab told MPs: ‘I hope that today in this House we show our solidarity with the family that Sergei Magnitsky left behind, his wife Natalya, his son Nikita and I can tell the House they will be watching from the Foreign Office in my office as we speak.’

Setting out the first set of designations under the new regime, Mr Raab said: ‘We are imposing sanctions on individuals involved in some of the most notorious human rights violations in recent years.

‘The first designations will cover those individuals involved in the torture and murder of Sergei Magnitsky, the lawyer who disclosed the biggest known tax fraud in Russian history.

‘The designations will also include those responsible for the brutal murder of the writer and journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

‘They will include those who perpetrated the systemic and brutal violence against the Rohingya population in Myanmar and they also include two organisations bearing responsibility for the enslavement, torture and murder that takes place in North Korea’s wretched gulags in which it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of prisoners have perished over the last 50 years.’ 

But Tom Tugendhat, the Tory chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said there has been a ‘remarkable silence on human rights violations in China’. 

Mr Tugendhat told MPs: ‘There is no, as yet, announcement on any sanctions of those who are either exploiting or abusing the Uighur minorities in Xinjiang or repressing democracy activists in Hong Kong.

‘And I wonder whether that is merely because this is the first stage of the sanctions and it’s just perhaps that the Foreign Office hasn’t quite yet caught up with that, or whether that is a policy change?’

Tom Tugendhat, the Tory chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, asked Mr Raab why no action had been taken over human rights violations in China

Mr Raab said the Government will consider future sanctions ‘very carefully based on the evidence’ as he declined to ‘pre-empt what the next wave of designations will be’.   

Tobias Ellwood, the Tory chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee, also pressured Mr Raab on China. 

He asked: ‘Can we have an announcement on China not just on tactical issues to do with human rights, but the wider foreign policy stance given China’s trajectory?’

Mr Raab replied: ‘We have taken these measures. He’s heard what we’ve said on Hong Kong. 

‘He’ll know that Huawei is going through the review in the context of US trade sanctions. 

‘We have got the integrated review coming forward, that will be completed by the autumn. I think that is the right opportunity in parallel with the CSR to make sure we’ve got the right strategy and the resources to back it up.’ 

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘The regime will allow the UK to target individuals and organisations around the world unlike conventional geographic sanctions regime, which only target a country.

‘Future targets of the regime may include those who commit unlawful killings perpetrated against journalists and media workers, or activity motivated on the grounds of religion or belief.’

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