U.S. imposes sanctions on Chechen leader over human rights violations

The U.S. Department of State on Monday imposed sanctions on the leader of Russia’s southern region of Chechnya, barring him from traveling to the United States over accusations of gross violations of human rights, including torture. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement he was concerned that Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was using the novel coronavirus outbreak as an excuse to inflict further human rights abuses on people in the region.

The U.S. Department of State on Monday imposed sanctions on the leader of Russia's southern region of Chechnya, barring him from traveling to the United States over accusations of gross violations of human rights, including torture.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement he was concerned that Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was using the novel coronavirus outbreak as an excuse to inflict further human rights abuses on people in the region. "The Department has extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and extrajudicial killings," Pompeo said.

Kadyrov responded to Monday's announcement on his Telegram channel with a photo of him smiling and standing in what appears to be an armory filled with weapons, holding light machine guns with tripods. "Pompeo, we accept the fight. This will get interesting," he said.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, wrote on Facebook in response to the sanctions: "It will be difficult to respond tit-for-tat, but we will think of something." Washington has previously blacklisted Kadyrov, including under a 2012 law known as the Magnitsky Act, which imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials linked to the death in prison of Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old Russian auditor and whistleblower.