Canada welcomes US sanctions on Saudis, weighs similar action
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland welcomed US Treasury sanctions on 17 Saudi officials for their role in the killing last month of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and said Canada was weighing similar action.
By : migrator
Update: 2018-11-16 03:43 GMT
“Canada welcomes the US action,” Freeland told reporters after touring a factory in Port Colborne, Ontario, adding that Canada will be “actively considering” similar sanctions in coming days.
Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, and the US Treasury on Thursday announced sanctions targeting Saudi nationals, not the Riyadh government. The sanctions limit access to the US financial system and freeze the individuals’ assets.
Freeland said Canada is considering the same kind of targeted sanctions implemented under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuses and corruption.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised there would be “consequences” for the murder, and he has said Ottawa is reviewing export permits to Saudi Arabia.
Opposition critics and human rights groups say that if Trudeau is serious about standing up for human rights, he should cancel a $13 billion (£10.1 billion) contract for armoured vehicles built in Canada by US-based General Dynamics.
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