Article 1

1

This Decision establishes a framework for targeted restrictive measures to address serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide. It applies to:

a

genocide;

b

crimes against humanity;

c

the following serious human rights violations or abuses:

  1. (i)

    torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,

  2. (ii)

    slavery,

  3. (iii)

    extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings,

  4. (iv)

    enforced disappearance of persons,

  5. (v)

    arbitrary arrests or detentions;

d

other human rights violations or abuses, including but not limited to the following, in so far as those violations or abuses are widespread, systematic or are otherwise of serious concern as regards the objectives of the common foreign and security policy set out in Article 21 TEU:

  1. (i)

    trafficking in human beings, as well as abuses of human rights by migrant smugglers as referred to in this Article,

  2. (ii)

    sexual and gender-based violence,

  3. (iii)

    violations or abuses of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association,

  4. (iv)

    violations or abuses of freedom of opinion and expression,

  5. (v)

    violations or abuses of freedom of religion or belief.

2

For the purpose of applying paragraph 1, regard should be had to customary international law and widely accepted instruments of international law, such as:

a

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

b

the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

c

the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;

d

the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

e

the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;

f

the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;

g

the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

h

the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances;

i

the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;

j

the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;

k

the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

l

the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

3

For the purposes of this Decision, natural or legal persons, entities or bodies may include:

a

State actors;

b

other actors exercising effective control or authority over a territory;

c

other non-State actors.

4

When establishing or amending the list set out in the Annex with regard to other non-State actors under point (c) of paragraph 3, the Council shall take into account in particular the following specific elements:

a

the objectives of the common foreign and security policy as set out in Article 21 TEU; and

b

the gravity and/or impact of the abuses.