EU sanctions 4 Chinese officials for mass detention of Uyghur Muslims
22 March 2021
European Union officials have approved sanctions against four Chinese officials and one Chinese entity for the "large-scale arbitrary detentions" of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, the European Council confirmed Monday.
Why it matters: The measures are part of a sweeping EU sanctions regime, modeled after the Global Magnitsky Act, designed to reflect the bloc's "determination to stand up for human rights and to take tangible action against those responsible for violations and abuses," the Council said in a statement.
- This marks the first time the EU has sanctioned China for human rights abuses since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to the Wall Sreet Journal reports.
- The U.S. State Department and various legislative bodies, including the Dutch Parliament, have recognized Beijing's sweeping campaign of surveillance, detention, forced labor and forced sterilization of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities as a "genocide."
Details: The effects of the sanctions include asset freezes and a travel ban to the EU, as well as a prohibition on persons or entities within the union from making funds available to those listed. Officials in North Korea, Libya, Russia, South Sudan and Eritrea were also sanctioned for human rights abuses.
The sanctions target violations that include:
- The "large-scale arbitrary detentions" of Uighurs in China
- Repression in North Korea
- Extrajudicial killings and "enforced disappearances" in Libya
- Russia's torture and repression of political opponents and LGBTQ people in Chechnya
- Tortures and executions in South Sudan and Eritrea.
The big picture: The U.S. sanctioned two of the same officials — Communist Party official Zhu Hailun and Xinjiang Public Security Bureau director Wang Mingshan — in July. The U.K. is expected to announce action against China for its abuses in Xinjiang on Monday.
Go deeper: The Official Journal of the EU details the sanctions.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.