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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is placing 15 individuals and 10 entities under Magnitsky sanctions for their connection to human rights abuses in several countries around the world, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announces. Those sanctioned include the former Xinjiang governor Shohrat Zakir and the current governor Erkin Tuniyaz.
Shohrat Zakir served as the Chairman of the ‘Xinjiang’ Uyghur Autonomous Region from 2018 until 2021. Erken Tuniyaz now serves as the acting Chairman of the the Autonomous Region and had earlier served as the Vice Chairman since 2008.
During their service period, more than one million Uyghurs and members of other ethnic groups have been detained in ‘Xinjiang’. On July 9, 2020, OFAC designated the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB), a constituent department of the ‘XUAR’, for its role in the serious human rights abuses that have occurred in ‘Xinjiang’ since at least late 2016.
Zakir and Tuniyaz are designated under ‘E.O. 13818’ for being foreign persons who are or have been a leader or official of an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, serious human rights abuse relating to their tenure.
Today, the U.S. Department of State announced visa restrictions under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2021 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act on Zakir and Tuniyaz due to their involvement in gross violations of human rights, making them ineligible for entry into the United States.
Source: The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office website
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