Syria: US imposes sanctions on Syrian prisons

The US Treasury Department said on Wednesday it had imposed sanctions on eight Syrian prisons run by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's intelligence apparatus and five senior officials who control the sites, where human rights abuses have taken place.

The Treasury Department also put sanctions on Syrian armed group Ahrar al-Sharqiya, which operates in northern Syria, for abuses against civilians, as well as on two of the group’s leaders, it said in a statement. “Today’s designations promote accountability for abuses commiitted against the Syrian people and deny rogue actors access to the international financial system” said Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Director Andrea Gacki.

“This action demonstrates the United States’ strong commitment to targeting human rights abuses in Syria, regardless of the perpetrator“

The prison “have been sites of human rights abuses againts political prisoners and other detainees” the statement said. It accused Ahrar al-Sharqiya of numerous crimes against civilians, especially Syrian Kurds, “including unlawful killings, abducations, torture, and seizures of private property”.

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