BRUSSELS—As the Council of the European Union today adopted a new framework for sanctioning human rights violators around the world, the International Campaign for Tibet called on the EU and its Member States to use this new mechanism to target Chinese officials responsible for grave human rights violations in Tibet.
The EU Global Human Rights Sanction Regime targets individuals, entities and bodies responsible for, involved in or associated with serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide.
Under this new mechanism—which represents an important tool for the EU to promote its value of respect for human rights through its external actions—perpetrators of grave human rights abuses will face travel bans and asset freezes. In addition, people and entities in the EU will be forbidden from making funds available to those targeted, either directly or indirectly.
Member States and the high representative for foreign policy can recommend placing individuals or entities on the list of sanctions targets. The list must receive unanimous approval from the Council. Individual Member States will then carry out the implementation of the sanctions with the support of the European External Action Service.
Human rights violations in Tibet
ICT has extensively documented over the years how the Chinese government and its leaders have violated the fundamental rights of Tibetans. Several UN human rights experts and bodies have also denounced human rights violations and abuses perpetrated in Tibet.
Learn more about human rights violations in Tibet.
The Council Regulations concerning the new EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
ICT quote
Vincent Metten, EU policy director at ICT, said:
“ICT welcomes the adoption of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. In Tibet, there is strong evidence that several Chinese leaders and bodies at the local, provincial and national levels are responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses. In particular, acts of torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests or detentions have become widespread and systematic in Tibet.
“These examples clearly fall under the framework of this new sanctions regime, and we therefore urge competent authorities in EU Member States and the European Commission to identify and sanction Chinese leaders responsible for these acts. The EU should also take into consideration sanctioning those individuals in the Chinese state and Communist Party apparatus who are responsible for closing off Tibet from the outside world, thereby deliberately making it impossible to investigate and sanction human rights violations.”