Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1499 of 20 July 2023 implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1998 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses

Article 1
Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2020/1998 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
ANNEX
ANNEX
In Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2020/1998, the following entries are added to the list of natural persons set out in section A (‘Natural persons’):
Names (Transliteration into Latin script)
Names
Identifying information
Reasons for listing
Date of listing
‘57.
Habibullah AGHA
a.k.a.
Mawlawi, Maulvi, Hadith, Sheikh
حبیب الله اغا
(Pashto spelling)
Position(s): Acting Taliban Minister of Education
DOB: 1954 or 1955
POB: Vach Bakhto, Shah Wali Kot, Kandahar province, Afghanistan
Nationality: Afghan
Gender: male
Habibullah Agha was appointed acting Taliban Minister of Education in September 2022. In this capacity, Habibullah Agha has implemented the Taliban policy of denying girls access to secondary education by extending the ban on female students participating in secondary education beyond the sixth grade.
Moreover, Habibullah Agha has personally aggravated existing gender-discriminating policies of the Taliban by ordering the closure of private and NGO-run education centres that had previously served as a place of education for girls. Therefore, he bears personal responsibility for human rights violations in Afghanistan, in particular the imposition of systematic gender-based repression in the education sector. He is personally responsible for the continued violation of Afghan girls’ fundamental right to secondary education and the right to equal treatment between boys and girls in the field of secondary education, thereby further excluding girls from society.
In his capacity as acting Taliban Minister of Education, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, in particular the violation of girls’ and women’s right to education and the right to equal treatment between men and women.
20.7.2023
58.
Abdul Hakim HAQQANI
a.k.a.
Mawlawi Sheikh Abdul Hakim Haqqani Ishaqzai;
“Shaikhul Hadis” Maulvi Abdul Hakim “Haqqani”
شیخ الحدیث مولوي عبدالحکیم حقاني
لقضات شیخ عبدالحکیم حقاني
(Pashto spelling)
Position(s): Acting Taliban Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan
Qazi al-Quzzat (Supreme Judge)
DOB: 1967
POB: Panjwayi, Kandahar province, Afghanistan
Nationality: Afghan
Gender: male
Abdul Hakim Haqqani is the current acting Taliban Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, appointed by the Taliban leadership in 2021. In this capacity, he has effectively used the legal system to implement gender-based repression against women by excluding female judges from the Afghan court system and systematically restricting women’s access to justice, thereby violating the principle of equal treatment between men and women.
Beyond his role as acting Taliban Chief Justice, Abdul Hakim Haqqani functions as an ideological leader within the Taliban. Through his personal access to Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, he has exercised political influence in order to shape the Taliban’s ideology with regard to gender repression, in particular by issuing guidance for the systematic exclusion of women and girls from public life in Afghanistan.
In his capacity as acting Taliban Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, in particular the violation of women’s right to access to justice and the right to equal treatment between men and women.
20.7.2023
59.
Abdul-Hakim SHAREI
a.k.a.
Sharae; Sharie; Shara’i
عبدالحکیم شریری
(Pashto spelling)
Position(s): Acting Taliban Minister of Justice
Title: Shaikh-al-Hadith Mawlawi
DOB: 1961
POB: Ayub Khil, Khost province, Afghanistan
Nationality: Afghan
Gender: male
Following the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan, Abdul-Hakim Sharei, in his capacity as acting Taliban Minister of Justice, has initiated a concerted effort to turn the national justice system against Afghan women. He has effectively obstructed the licensing of female lawyers and women’s ability to receive legal representation, and removed women from positions within the justice system. His instruction to review the entire legal framework of Afghanistan has also ended the application of the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women.
These policies constitute a concerted effort to employ the denial of justice as an effective tool to foster a system of gender-based repression by exposing women and girls to a state of lawlessness and impunity, for which Abdul-Hakim Sharei is directly and personally responsible.
In his capacity as acting Taliban Minister of Justice, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, in particular the violation of women’s right to access to justice and the right to equal treatment between men and women.
20.7.2023
60.
James Mark NANDO
Position(s): Major General, South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF)
POB: Ezo, Ezo County, Western Equatoria, South Sudan
Address: Juba, South Sudan
Nationality: South Sudanese
Gender: male
James Nando is a senior officer in the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), holding the rank of Major General. He commands forces in the South Sudan state of Western Equatoria that committed widespread attacks against the civilian population. His forces systematically employed sexual and gender-based violence as a means to terrorise the population.
In his capacity as Major General, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in South Sudan, including sexual and gender-based violence.
20.7.2023
61.
Mahamat SALLEH Adoum Kette
a.k.a.
Mahamet Salleh
Position(s): General, Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central African Republic (FPRC)
Nationality: Central African Republic
POB: Haute-Kotto Prefecture, Central African Republic
Gender: male
In his capacity as a leading figure in the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central African Republic (FPRC), Mahamat Salleh has commanded forces in the Central African Republic that have carried out widespread attacks against the civilian population. For years, Salleh and the forces under his command have repeatedly committed crimes related to sexual and gender-based violence on a massive scale as a means to terrorise the civilian population.
In his capacity as General in the FPRC, he is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in the Central African Republic, including sexual and gender-based violence.
20.7.2023
62.
Igor Leonidovich KOLEDA
Iгор Леонiдович КОЛЕДА
(Ukrainian spelling)
Игорь Леонидович
КОЛЕДА
(Russian spelling)
Position(s): Commander of the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade
Rank: Colonel
DOB: 11.12.1973
Nationality: Russian
Gender: male
Armed forces identification number: 540530367155
Igor Leonidovich Koleda is commander in the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces and holds the rank of Colonel. The brigade under his command took part in Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
In early 2022, Members of the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade employed acts of sexual and gender-based violence against the Ukrainian civilian population, including against at least one minor. The Ukrainian authorities have identified one member of the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade as being suspected of sexual violence against women.
The scale and severity of acts of sexual violence taking place in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine suggest that systematic planning has been carried out and that Russian commanders are aware of sexual violence by military personnel in Ukraine and in some cases encourage or even order it.
In his capacity as commander of the 30th Motorised Rifle Brigade, Igor Koleda is therefore responsible for human rights violations in Ukraine, including sexual and gender-based violence.
20.7.2023’
Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1499 of 20 July 2023 implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1998 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses

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