Today, in commemoration of International Human Rights Day and as part of our continued efforts to promote accountability for North Korean officials, we are releasing our report, which identifies three individuals and three groups as responsible for serious human rights abuses or censorship. In conjunction with the report, the Department of the Treasury has added three North Korean persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list.

We believe that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is an essential foundation of stable, secure, and prosperous societies. Standing up for such rights and freedoms is a foreign policy priority that represents the best traditions of the United States.

Human rights abuses in North Korea remain among the worst in the world and include extrajudicial killings, forced labor, torture, prolonged arbitrary detention, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence.

This report focuses primarily on the regime’s efforts to suppress independent media and freedom of expression. Independent media cannot operate legally in North Korea. All media is strictly censored by government authorities who conduct pre-publication screenings to ensure there is no deviation from the official line. Authorities take steps to jam foreign radio broadcasts, and interagency task forces conduct warrantless searches for foreign media. Individuals accused of viewing foreign films are reportedly subject to imprisonment or even execution.

The report represents a continuation of U.S. government efforts to name those responsible for or associated with the worst aspects of the North Korean government’s repression. Both the State Department report and actions by the Treasury Department are consistent with the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016, signed by the President into law on February 18, 2016.

A link to the full report can be found here.

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Today, the U.S. Department of State and the Government of Kenya launched the first SPEAR Quick Response Force (QRF) Summit Challenge, a tactical training and competition event in Nairobi for U.S.-trained Special Program for Embassy Augmentation and Response (SPEAR) teams.

The training and competition is being held in Nairobi from December 10-14, 2018.

The SPEAR program provides training to specially selected law enforcement officers in participating host-nations to enable their affiliated units to respond within minutes to emergencies involving U.S. diplomatic facilities or personnel. Currently, SPEAR teams support U.S. diplomatic missions in Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Iraq, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, and Tunisia.

Participants from SPEAR teams from Mali, Tunisia, Niger, and Kenya will be competing in the QRF Summit Challenge along with a crisis response unit from the Kenyan National Police Service and a team from the U.S. Embassy’s Regional Security Office.

The five days of training and competition will include firearms proficiency, tactical medicine, explosive incident identification and response, personnel recovery and evacuation, and physical fitness.

For more information regarding the program, please click here. For questions, please email DS-Press@state.gov.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

On behalf of the United States, I congratulate Senegal on the signing of its Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact. The $550 million Senegal Power Compact will modernize and strengthen Senegal’s power sector to increase economic growth and reduce poverty through improved access to electricity. The Government of Senegal will contribute an additional $50 million to the compact, bringing the total program to $600 million. The United States is committed to spurring economic growth in Africa through partnerships, such as this one. Senegal’s hard work in meeting MCC strict eligibility criteria is paying off in the form of a rare second MCC compact. American partnerships – seen through assistance projects like this one – are an essential part of our diplomacy.

In addition, the compact will complement the ‘Power Africa’ initiative implemented by USAID and other U.S. government agencies. This initiative is accelerating improvements across Sub-Saharan Africa’s power sector.

The United States celebrates this momentous occasion, the signing of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Senegal Power Compact, and remains committed to a strong bilateral and economic partnership with Senegal.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

The Department is publicly designating former president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, under the terms of Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2018, due to his involvement in significant corruption. Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that foreign government officials have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.

The law requires the Secretary of State to publicly or privately designate such officials and their immediate family members. In addition to the designation of Yahya Jammeh, the Department is also publicly designating Jammeh’s spouse, Zineb Yahya Jammeh, his daughter, Mariam Jammeh, and his son, Muhammad Yahya Jammeh.

The United States is committed to combating corruption, increasing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and promoting good governance globally. The United States stands with the government of The Gambia, its people, and civil society in support of The Gambia’s transition towards greater transparency, accountability, and democratic governance, for the benefit of all Gambians.

For more information, please contact INL-PAPD@state.gov.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Seventy years ago, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Emerging from a world war that shocked humanity with its cruelty, the sovereign nations of the world united to specify those rights that are inherent to all persons, and committed to their promotion and protection henceforth.

The Declaration’s fundamental principles remain as relevant today as they were seventy years ago. Still, governments impede the freedoms of religion or belief and expression. Citizens’ rights to participate in free, fair, and genuine elections remain precarious. Authorities continue to subject prisoners to torture and inhumane treatment. Global recognition of the inalienable rights belonging to all individuals must be continually encouraged and reaffirmed.

U.S. foreign policy is rooted in the understanding that governments that respect individual rights and fundamental freedoms remain the best vehicles for prosperity, stability, and peace. On this International Human Rights Day, the United States underscores its commitment to promoting human freedom at home and around the world.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.