US imposes sanctions on four Iraqis over human rights
The United States imposed sanctions on two Iraqi militia
leaders and two former Iraqi provincial governors it accused of human rights
abuses and corruption, the US Treasury Department said on Thursday.
The sanctions target militia leaders Rayan al-Kildani and
Waad Qado, and former governors Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan and Ahmed al-Jubouri,
the Treasury said in a statement.
"We will continue to hold accountable persons
associated with serious human rights abuse, including persecution of religious
minorities, and corrupt officials who exploit their positions of public trust
to line their pockets and hoard power at the expense of their citizens,"
Sigal Mandelker, Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial
intelligence, said.
The Treasury said many of the actions that prompted the
sanctions occurred in "areas where persecuted religious communities are
struggling to recover from the horrors inflicted on them" by ISIS, the militant group that controlled parts of Iraq for several years.
The Treasury said Kildani is the leader of the 50th Brigade
militia and is shown cutting off the ear of a handcuffed detainee in a video
circulating in Iraq last year.
It said Qado is the leader of the 30th Brigade militia which
engaged in extortion, illegal arrests, and kidnappings.
Sultan and Jubouri were designated for being engaged in
corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, and other misdeeds,
the Treasury said.
Iraq in March issued a warrant for the arrest of Sultan, the
former governor of Nineveh province, on corruption charges after at least 90
people were killed in a ferry accident in the provincial capital Mosul.
As a result of the designation, any property the four
persons hold in the United States would be blocked and US persons are barred
from business dealings with them.