The United States unveiled a raft of new rights-abuse sanctions Friday on senior officials and entities in eight countries, with targets ranging from a Chinese firm specializing in facial recognition technology to a giant cartoon studio in North Korea.

Timed for International Human Rights Day and supported in part by Britain and Canada, the sanctions took aim at officials accused of abetting the crackdown on anti-coup protestors in Myanmar, the oppression of Muslim Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region and political violence in Bangladesh under the guise of a war on drugs.

"Our actions today, particularly those in partnership with the United Kingdom and Canada, send a message that democracies around the world will act against those who abuse the power of the state to inflict suffering and repression," the US Treasury Department said.

The US placed sanctions on Shohrat Zakir, the former chairman of the government in Chinas Xinjiang region.
The US placed sanctions on Shohrat Zakir, the former chairman of the government in Chinas Xinjiang region. AFP / GREG BAKER

It said China's artificial intelligence company SenseTime, and two ethnic Uyghur political leaders in Xinjiang, Shohrat Zakir and Erken Tuniyaz, took part in sweeping oppression of Uyghurs.

Zakir was the chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China from at least 2018 to 2021, and Tuniyaz is current acting chairman.

A high-security facility near what is believed to be a re-education camp where Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, on the outskirts of Hotan in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.
A high-security facility near what is believed to be a re-education camp where Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, on the outskirts of Hotan in China's northwestern Xinjiang region. AFP / GREG BAKER

Zakir has defended the prison camps as "education centers" that teach people Mandarin and "the true meaning of religion."

But international rights organizations have called them a central tool in the Chinese government's "genocidal" policies towards Uyghurs.

"The mass detention of Uyghurs is part of an effort by (Chinese) authorities to use detentions and data-driven surveillance to create a police state in the Xinjiang region," the Treasury said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un: the administration of US President Joe Biden has announced its first sanctions on North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un: the administration of US President Joe Biden has announced its first sanctions on North Korea KCNA VIA KNS via AFP / STR

The Treasury said SenseTime's facial recognition programs were designed in part to be used in Xinjiang against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities, more than one million of whom have been incarcerated in prison camps.

The move put new pressure on SenseTime, which was preparing to list its shares in the coming week on Hong Kong's stock market in an initial public offering.

The company, which Washington says is part of China's "military-industrial complex," had already been placed on the US Department of Commerce's blacklist in 2019 because its technology had been used for mass surveillance in Xinjiang.

US sanctions target Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which has been accused of involvement in hundreds of disappearances and nearly 600 extrajudicial killings since 2018
US sanctions target Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which has been accused of involvement in hundreds of disappearances and nearly 600 extrajudicial killings since 2018 AFP / STRINGER

The Treasury also announced the first new US sanctions to target North Korea since President Joe Biden took office, a move that comes after months of attempting to engage Pyongyang in talks on its nuclear program.

The Treasury accused North Korea's government-run animation firm, SEK Studio, and companies and individuals related to it, of exploiting North Korean workers to earn much-needed foreign exchange and avoid sanctions on the country.

SEK Studio has an international reputation and has contributed work to big-budget animated features including Disney's "Pocahontas" and "The Lion King."

Also hit with sanctions was North Korean Minister of People's Armed Forces, Ri Yong Gil.

The sanctions and blacklisting can prevent individuals from obtaining visas to the United States, block assets under US jurisdiction, and block the targets from doing business with US individuals or entities, effectively locking them out of the US banking system.

In additional actions to mark Human Rights Day 2021, the Treasury added four Myanmar state and regional chief ministers to its sanctions blacklist, accusing them of participating in "brutal crackdowns" against the Myanmar people.

A Bangladesh internal security unit, the Rapid Action Battalion, which is accused of involvement in hundreds of disappearances and nearly 600 extrajudicial killings since 2018, was also included.

Six current or former officials of the Rapid Action Battalion were also sanctioned.

In a parallel move, the US State Department announced Friday the blacklisting of 12 officials from China, Uganda, Belarus, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Mexico "for their involvement in gross violations of human rights."

"We are determined to put human rights at the center of our foreign policy, and we reaffirm this commitment by using appropriate tools and authorities to draw attention to and promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.