WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2020) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that the United States will seek additional allies to sanction individuals and entities involved in human rights violations after the United Kingdom announced it has imposed "Magnitsky sanctions."
The UK Foreign Office said earlier on Monday that it has created a new sanctions list to include Russian and Saudi citizens who will face sanctions for being involved in alleged human rights violations.
"The United States will continue to seek out additional allies and partners to jointly leverage all tools at our disposal to deny access to the United States and international financial systems to all those who engage in serious human rights abuses," Pompeo said on Monday afternoon.
Pompeo said the United States commends the United Kingdom's continued global leadership on the promotion and protection of human rights and in particular its global human rights sanctions regime.
"This sanctions regime marks the beginning of a new era for UK sanctions policy and cooperation between our two democracies. The UK global human rights sanctions regime will give the United Kingdom a powerful new economic tool to promote accountability for human rights abuse on a global scale."
The United Kingdom's list is comprised of 25 Russians, including Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin, 20 Saudi citizens, two Myanmar generals and two members of North Korea's special services.
The United Kingdom has accused the Russians on the sanctions list of being involved in the death of Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky in 2009.
The Saudi citizens included in the UK sanctions list are suspected by London of playing a role in the murder of Saudi opposition commentator Jamal Khashoggi.
Russia said it views the UK sanctions as a hostile act affecting bilateral relations.
The United Kingdom is imposing sanctions independently for the first time. In the past, London introduced restrictive measures as part of a collective action whether as a member of the European Union or the United Nations.
The individuals under sanctions are banned from entering the United Kingdom and all their assets on UK territory can be frozen.
