EU to impose sanctions against Russians for the first time for violating women's rights

This is the first time that the EU has imposed sanctions against those responsible for violating women's rights and sexual violence. Four Russians fell under them,

The European Union on the eve of International Women's Day imposed sanctions against nine people and three organizations that Brussels considers guilty of committing systematic and large-scale violations of women's rights. The measures are introduced under a mechanism called the Global Sanctions Regime for Human Rights Violations, approved in 2020. Brussels uses it for the first time, notes Euronews.

Four Russians appear on the sanctions list published in the EU magazine. Two of them are employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the former acting HEAD of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Brateevo metropolitan area, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Fedorinov, and policeman Ivan Ryabov. The justification for the sanctions states that they participated in the detention of participants in anti-war actions in Moscow in 2022, are responsible for “serious human rights violations, in particular for torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

RBC sent a request to the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow.

The other two Russians are military: division commander Major General Nikolai Kuznetsov and Colonel Ramil Ibatulin. Brussels said in a statement that they were involved in the fighting in Ukraine and "are responsible for serious human rights violations, including systematic sexual and gender-based violence."

Earlier, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that statements about the involvement of the Russian military in rape "go beyond reason" and are "at the level of perverted fantasy."

Other persons on the list are two ministers in the government of Afghanistan, formed by the Taliban movement (recognized as terrorist in RUSSIA and banned); Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Myanmar and representatives of law enforcement agencies of South Sudan. Sanctions also included the Karchak Women's Prison in Iran, the Syrian Republican Guard and Myanmar's military and security headquarters.

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The sanctions provide for the freezing of any assets owned by sanctioned persons, as well as a ban on entry into the EU. Local companies are also prohibited from providing services to those under the restrictions. “By introducing these measures, we are sending a clear signal to criminals that they will not get away with their crimes. <...> It is also a message to the victims: the EU will support you wherever you are," Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra was quoted as saying by REUTERS.

“We want to empower women to freely pursue their life goals. The growing oppression of women and girls around the world and attacks on their human rights are alarming,” the European Commission and European diplomat Josep Borrell said in a joint statement.