Brussels, Syria – The European Union on Monday announced new sanctions targeting five individuals connected to Syria’s former regime, accusing them of supporting crimes against humanity and contributing to sectarian violence.
In a statement published on its official website, the EU said the sanctions include asset freezes and entry bans into EU member states.
According to the statement, the five sanctioned individuals are implicated in supporting atrocities, including the use of chemical weapons against civilians and fueling sectarian conflict.
The sanctions list includes three former senior military figures from the Republican Guard and the Syrian army: Miqdad Fatiha, Ghiath Dalla, and Suhayl al-Hassan. The EU accused these individuals of playing key roles in violent crackdowns in Syria’s coastal region in March, which were marked by severe human rights violations, including torture and extrajudicial killings.
The EU also sanctioned two Syrian businessmen, Mudalal Khoury and Imad Khoury, for allegedly facilitating financial operations that supported the former regime’s activities. The statement said the two were instrumental in managing the regime’s financial and commercial interests in Russia.
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The European Union stressed its continued commitment to monitoring developments in Syria and warned of additional restrictive measures against those who violate human rights or contribute to instability in the country.
This latest round of sanctions follows similar measures imposed in late May, which targeted individuals and groups involved in human rights abuses in Syria’s Tartous and Latakia provinces. Those sanctions included designations against militia leaders Mohamed Hussein Al-Jassem, known as “Abu Amsha,” and Saif Boulad, known as “Abu Bakr,” along with three Turkey-backed military factions: the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade, the Hamza Division, and the Sultan Murad Division.
The EU emphasized that the sanctions aim to hold accountable those responsible for serious human rights abuses, regardless of affiliation.
