Foreign officials hit with U.S. sanctions

WASHINGTON — The U.S. issued financial sanctions and visa bans on former and current government officials and entities in nine countries Friday — including China, Burma and Russia — as part of coordinated actions with Canada and the U.K. to coincide with International Human Rights Day.

For Burma, it’s the latest in a series of measures aimed at freezing the country’s military authorities out of the global finance system in response to the overthrow of the democratically elected government and the violent crackdown on the opposition.

U.S. authorities simultaneously issued sanctions and visa bans on a broad array of officials and entities from the throughout the world, including Chinese authorities involved in the repression of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities and a Russian university that helps North Korea raise money with an abusive overseas labor program.

“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, no matter where they occur,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

The State Department action makes 12 current and former officials from six countries — Uganda, China, Belarus, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Mexico — ineligible to enter the U.S. under a law that authorizes banning people implicated in a “gross violation of human rights or significant corruption.”

A coordinated set of actions by the Treasury Department imposed sanctions and other restrictions on 15 people and 10 entities in China, Burma, Russia, North Korea and Bangladesh.

(AP) A man rides a motorbike on an empty street Friday in Mandalay, Burma, as people participate in a “silent strike” to mark International Human Rights Day.