The United States decided to blacklist Libya’s Kaniyat militia and its leader after Russia blocked the United Nations Security Council’s proposed sanctions on the group for its human rights abuses.
The sanctions were imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act and allow the U.S. to freeze the assets of international human rights violators and prohibit Americans from doing business with them.
An asset freeze and travel ban were proposed to the council by Germany and the U.S. earlier this month. The decision required a consensus, and Russia would not OK the move without more evidence of the alleged abuse.
“Mohamed al Kani and the Kaniyat militia have tortured and killed civilians during a cruel campaign of oppression in Libya,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement.
The Kaniyat militia fights with the Libya National Army, the side of the nation’s war that Russia has aligned itself with. The Government of National Accord, or the GNA, is the side recognized by the majority of the international community. A civil war has ravaged the country since 2014.
