US directly sanctions North Korea and Kim Jong-un for the first time
For the first time, the US government imposes unilateral sanctions on the Stalinist regime and its dictator for inflicting “intolerable cruelty” on their own people. Such sanctions were imposed in the past on Gaddafi, Mugabe, Assad and Saddam Hussein.
Washington (AsiaNews/Agencies) – For the first time, the US government has imposed direct economic and diplomatic sanctions against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un for “abuses of human rights”.
The decision to blacklist the North Korean dictator comes after a long investigation by the Treasury Department. Congress had already enacted the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act to sanction Pyongyang.
In the past, sanctions were also directed at Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.
For the first time, officials responsible for forced labour camps, extrajudicial executions, torture, violence and persecution, have been identified.
The removal of the veil of anonymity from the perpetrators of abuse will have a major impact. It is a message to middle-level officials who now know that their identity will be exposed if they commit abuses. Human rights and civil society groups helped in preparing the black list.
For the US, Kim Jong-un is directly responsible for human rights abuses. Under his rule, “North Korea continues to inflict intolerable cruelty and hardship on millions of its own people, including extrajudicial killings, forced labor, and torture," said Adam J. Szubin, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
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12/03/2008
