If you are curious how exactly the administration decides how to designate human rights violators for blacklists, the screening process for this dubious honor is split between the Congress and NGOs.
The two NGOs who are taking the lead on profiling and recommending human rights abusers are Human Rights First, and Freedom House.
Recently, HRF called on the administration to utilize the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to designate culprits from 15 different countries.
It took the organization many months to come up with that package. The countries included Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mexico, Panama, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
You may note that NOT included on the list were individuals from:
Iran, Turkey, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Also did not make it on this blacklist:
Anyone from North Korea.
Interestingly, Mr. Rob Berschinski, who heads the process, was formerly, Obama Administration's Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) , and apparently did a lot of work on Iran.
If you are curious as to how the process of designation works, why it takes so long to put together a package, what factors are taken into consideration, and what happens once HRF decides to make the recommendation.... so am I.
I think all human rights activists and lawyers who are looking to help their clients in the US and abroad should be familiar with the process and best prepared to offer all appropriate cooperation to the NGO and other entities involved in the decisionmaking.
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