UK sanctions Pakistan cleric 'Mian Mithoo' for forced conversion

A Muslim cleric from Pakistan who is accused of being responsible for forced conversions and marriages of girls and women from religious minorities, including Hindus, is among 30 human rights violators, corrupt officials and entities to be sanctioned by the UK. Mian Abdul Haq of the Bharchundi Sharif shrine in Ghotki, Sindh, is named on the new list of sanctions announced by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Friday to mark International Anti-Corruption Day and Human Rights Day. The package includes individuals and entities involved in a wide range of grievous activities – including the torture of prisoners, the mobilisation of troops to rape civilians, and systematic atrocities. “It is our duty to promote free and open societies around the world,” said Cleverly. 

The UK is committed to defending the human rights of everyone, everywhere.

Ahead of #HumanRightsDay, we are imposing new sanctions on those violating human rights around the globe

→ https://t.co/rfJ7XLxUm1 pic.twitter.com/wL5zXXpsk9

— Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) December 9, 2022

Andrey Tishenin, a member of the Russian Federal Security Service in Crimea, and Artur Shambazov, a senior detective in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, have been sanctioned for the torture of Ukrainian Oleksandr Kostenko in 2015. Valentin Oparin, Major of Justice for the Russian Federation, and Oleg Tkachenko, Head of Public Prosecutions for the Rostov region, for use of torture. Sanctions impose an asset freeze and travel ban on individuals and entities and prevent any UK citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by the designated person. Other countries covered in the latest wave of sanctions include Russia, Uganda, Myanmar and Iran.