2024 in Focus: Securing Financial Accountability for Human Rights Abuses
By Natalia Kubesch, Legal Officer
Despite efforts to hold individuals accused of human rights abuses accountable, many high-profile perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity. The UK, in particular, has gained an unsavoury reputation for being vulnerable to the flow of corrupt money—even from those linked to potential human rights violations, including torture.
Some of the world’s most notorious human rights abusers, including in Iran, Nigeria, Sudan, China, or Egypt, have not been sanctioned by the UK. Where sanctions have been issued, they have rarely been used to benefit victims. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, over £22 billion in Russian assets in the UK have been frozen. While these funds could transform the lives of millions of survivors in Ukraine, current UK law is not equipped to confiscate even a portion of these assets.
REDRESS is pursuing legal and advocacy avenues to challenge this financial impunity. Our approach focuses on strengthening targeted sanctions as a tool for international accountability and pushing for the confiscation of sanctioned assets. Where possible, perpetrators’ assets should be repurposed to provide reparations to their victims.
In our report Evaluating Targeted Sanctions, we set out recommendations for the effective use of sanctions. These include deploying sanctions fairly and consistently against perpetrators and adopting a robust enforcement policy so that those targeted cannot exploit loopholes by seeking refuge in other jurisdictions. We also stress the need to improve States’ coordination in the implementation of sanctions, as well as engaging with civil society and victims.
REDRESS has advocated for legal and policy reforms that would enable the UK Government to lawfully repurpose profits derived from violations of human rights and humanitarian law as reparations for victims. Our recommendations show that innovative avenues are available to produce significant funds that would have a transformative impact on the lives of victims.
For example, the proceeds of the £2.5 billion sale of Chelsea FC were originally pledged to help victims of the conflict in Ukraine, but the funds have yet to be disbursed. In February, REDRESS launched a campaign calling on then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to unblock the impasse in an open letter, which was signed by over 60 Ukrainian and international civil society organisations.
Photo: © Commission Air/Alamy Stock Photo. REDRESS has urged the UK government to unblock the stalemate over the use of £2.5 billion from the sale of Chelsea FC for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.