LegalizeCouncil Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1499 of 20 July 2023 implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1998 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses
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| 20.7.2023 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | LI 183/30 |
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1998 of 7 December 2020 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses 1, and in particular Article 14(1) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
Whereas:
- (1) On 7 December 2020, the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2020/1998.
- (2) On 8 December 2020, in the Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union regarding the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, the Union and its Member States reaffirmed their strong commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights around the world. The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime underscores the Union’s determination to enhance its role in addressing serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide. Realising the effective enjoyment of human rights by everyone is a strategic goal of the Union. Respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights are fundamental values of the Union and its common foreign and security policy.
- (3) In its conclusions of 14 November 2022, the Council expressed concern about the disproportionate effect that armed conflicts continue to have on women and girls worldwide, as well as the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, offline and online. It committed to enhanced efforts to prevent and counter such violence in order to ensure full accountability and to combat impunity. Furthermore, in its conclusions of 5 and 6 June 2014, the Council stressed that combating and eliminating all forms of violence against women requires coordinated policies at all relevant levels and a comprehensive approach targeting the key issues of prevention, under-reporting, protection, victim support and the prosecution of perpetrators, as well as other measures. The strategic use of restrictive measures reinforces that approach by increasing pressure to prevent further violations and abuses, and, in coordination with other Union instruments in the human rights toolbox, draws attention to such violations and abuses and those responsible.
- (4) In this context, six persons should be included in the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2020/1998.
- (5) Regulation (EU) 2020/1998 should therefore be amended accordingly,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2020/1998 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 20 July 2023.
For the Council
The President
J. BORRELL FONTELLES
ANNEX
In Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2020/1998, the following entries are added to the list of natural persons set out in section A (‘Natural persons’):
| Names (Transliteration into Latin script) | Names | Identifying information | Reasons for listing | Date of listing | |
| ‘57. | Habibullah AGHA a.k.a. Mawlawi, Maulvi, Hadith, Sheikh | حبیب الله اغا (Pashto spelling) | Position(s): Acting Taliban Minister of Education DOB: 1954 or 1955 POB: Vach Bakhto, Shah Wali Kot, Kandahar province, Afghanistan Nationality: Afghan Gender: male | Habibullah Agha was appointed acting Taliban Minister of Education in September 2022. In this capacity, Habibullah Agha has implemented the Taliban policy of denying girls access to secondary education by extending the ban on female students participating in secondary education beyond the sixth grade. Moreover, Habibullah Agha has personally aggravated existing gender-discriminating policies of the Taliban by ordering the closure of private and NGO-run education centres that had previously served as a place of education for girls. Therefore, he bears personal responsibility for human rights violations in Afghanistan, in particular the imposition of systematic gender-based repression in the education sector. He is personally responsible for the continued violation of Afghan girls’ fundamental right to secondary education and the right to equal treatment between boys and girls in the field of secondary education, thereby further excluding girls from society. In his capacity as acting Taliban Minister of Education, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, in particular the violation of girls’ and women’s right to education and the right to equal treatment between men and women. | 20.7.2023 |
| 58. | Abdul Hakim HAQQANI a.k.a. Mawlawi Sheikh Abdul Hakim Haqqani Ishaqzai; “Shaikhul Hadis” Maulvi Abdul Hakim “Haqqani” | شیخ الحدیث مولوي عبدالحکیم حقاني لقضات شیخ عبدالحکیم حقاني (Pashto spelling) | Position(s): Acting Taliban Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan Qazi al-Quzzat (Supreme Judge) DOB: 1967 POB: Panjwayi, Kandahar province, Afghanistan Nationality: Afghan Gender: male | Abdul Hakim Haqqani is the current acting Taliban Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, appointed by the Taliban leadership in 2021. In this capacity, he has effectively used the legal system to implement gender-based repression against women by excluding female judges from the Afghan court system and systematically restricting women’s access to justice, thereby violating the principle of equal treatment between men and women. Beyond his role as acting Taliban Chief Justice, Abdul Hakim Haqqani functions as an ideological leader within the Taliban. Through his personal access to Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, he has exercised political influence in order to shape the Taliban’s ideology with regard to gender repression, in particular by issuing guidance for the systematic exclusion of women and girls from public life in Afghanistan. In his capacity as acting Taliban Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, in particular the violation of women’s right to access to justice and the right to equal treatment between men and women. | 20.7.2023 |
| 59. | Abdul-Hakim SHAREI a.k.a. Sharae; Sharie; Shara’i | عبدالحکیم شریری (Pashto spelling) | Position(s): Acting Taliban Minister of Justice Title: Shaikh-al-Hadith Mawlawi DOB: 1961 POB: Ayub Khil, Khost province, Afghanistan Nationality: Afghan Gender: male | Following the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan, Abdul-Hakim Sharei, in his capacity as acting Taliban Minister of Justice, has initiated a concerted effort to turn the national justice system against Afghan women. He has effectively obstructed the licensing of female lawyers and women’s ability to receive legal representation, and removed women from positions within the justice system. His instruction to review the entire legal framework of Afghanistan has also ended the application of the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women. These policies constitute a concerted effort to employ the denial of justice as an effective tool to foster a system of gender-based repression by exposing women and girls to a state of lawlessness and impunity, for which Abdul-Hakim Sharei is directly and personally responsible. In his capacity as acting Taliban Minister of Justice, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, in particular the violation of women’s right to access to justice and the right to equal treatment between men and women. | 20.7.2023 |
| 60. | James Mark NANDO | Position(s): Major General, South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) POB: Ezo, Ezo County, Western Equatoria, South Sudan Address: Juba, South Sudan Nationality: South Sudanese Gender: male | James Nando is a senior officer in the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), holding the rank of Major General. He commands forces in the South Sudan state of Western Equatoria that committed widespread attacks against the civilian population. His forces systematically employed sexual and gender-based violence as a means to terrorise the population. In his capacity as Major General, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in South Sudan, including sexual and gender-based violence. | 20.7.2023 | |
| 61. | Mahamat SALLEH Adoum Kette a.k.a. Mahamet Salleh | Position(s): General, Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central African Republic (FPRC) Nationality: Central African Republic POB: Haute-Kotto Prefecture, Central African Republic Gender: male | In his capacity as a leading figure in the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central African Republic (FPRC), Mahamat Salleh has commanded forces in the Central African Republic that have carried out widespread attacks against the civilian population. For years, Salleh and the forces under his command have repeatedly committed crimes related to sexual and gender-based violence on a massive scale as a means to terrorise the civilian population. In his capacity as General in the FPRC, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in the Central African Republic, including sexual and gender-based violence. | 20.7.2023 | |
| 62. | Igor Leonidovich KOLEDA | Iгор Леонiдович КОЛЕДА (Ukrainian spelling) Игорь Леонидович КОЛЕДА (Russian spelling) | Position(s): Commander of the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade Rank: Colonel DOB: 11.12.1973 Nationality: Russian Gender: male Armed forces identification number: 540530367155 | Igor Leonidovich Koleda is commander in the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces and holds the rank of Colonel. The brigade under his command took part in Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. In early 2022, Members of the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade employed acts of sexual and gender-based violence against the Ukrainian civilian population, including against at least one minor. The Ukrainian authorities have identified one member of the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade as being suspected of sexual violence against women. The scale and severity of acts of sexual violence taking place in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine suggest that systematic planning has been carried out and that Russian commanders are aware of sexual violence by military personnel in Ukraine and in some cases encourage or even order it. In his capacity as commander of the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade, Igor Koleda is therefore responsible for human rights violations in Ukraine, including sexual and gender-based violence. | 20.7.2023’ |
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