US blacklists Chechen leader for rights abuses

WASHINGTON: The US State Department placed Chechen Republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov on its blacklist of human rights violators Monday for alleged torture, extrajudicial killings and other violations it said go back more than a decade.

The department said Kadyrov, his spouse Medni Kadyrova, and his daughters Aishat Kadyrova and Karina Kadyrova, were designated under its Section 7031(c) sanctions, which bans them from travelling to the United States.

"This designation is due to Kadyrov's involvement in gross violations of human rights in the Chechen Republic," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement.