US Imposes Syria-Related Sanctions On 8 Individuals, 10 Entities - Treasury

The United States has unveiled a number of fresh Syria-related sanctions targeting prisons and individuals involved in alleged rights abuses, the US Treasury Department said on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2021) The United States has unveiled a number of fresh Syria-related sanctions targeting prisons and individuals involved in alleged rights abuses, the US Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

This is the first time the Biden administration imposes sanctions on Syria, the Treasury Department said.

Eight individuals and 10 entities, including branches of the Syrian general and military intelligence, have been blacklisted by the Treasury, according to a notice on the Treasury Department's website.

"The individuals and entities we are designating today have been [involved in] gross violations of human rights, including supervising the torture and killing of detainees," Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control Director Andrea Gacki said.

Gacki said more than 3,500 detains had died in one prison in Syria as per information supplied by a defector defector from the Syrian military,

The Treasury Department also sanctioned two armed groups that robbed Syrian civilians, Gacki added.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed the Treasury Department's statement and accused the Syrian government of human rights violations.

"The world must renew its shared resolve to promote the dignity and human rights of all Syrians. We urge the international community to join our calls for a nationwide ceasefire, the immediate release of those arbitrarily detained, and for information about the fate of the missing," Blinken said.