Human rights 

UK House of Commons passes Magnitsky sanctions bill 

The UK House of Commons Tuesday passed legislation that would expand the powers of the government and courts to freeze assets of human rights violators.

The vote in the House of Commons was unanimous.

The bill needs to be adopted by the House of Lords to become law.

The Magnitsky amendment to the Criminal Finances Bill expands the definition of "unlawful conduct" to include human rights abuses. It also applies to those who profited from or materially assisted in the abuses.

The bill includes protections for whistleblowers.