US Sanctions N. Korean Officials For Rights Abuses

WASHINGTON, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jan, 2017 ) - US authorities on Wednesday announced sanctions against North Korean government agencies and senior officials -- among them leader Kim Jong-Un's sister -- in response to Pyongyang's "serious" human rights abuses and censorship activities.

The latest action, which sees another seven individuals added to America's growing list of sanctioned North Koreans, targets security and prison officials accused of rights abuses. Those blacklisted include Kim Won Hong, who heads the Ministry of State Security (MSS).

"The MSS engages in torture and inhumane treatment of detainees during interrogation and in the country's network of political prison camps," the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement.

"This inhumane treatment includes beatings, forced starvation, sexual assault, forced abortions, and infanticide." The Treasury announcement came as the US State Department released a report on rights abuses in North Korea, which it said are among the worst in the world.