The United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada have imposed new sanctions on Belarus after its military diverted a Ryanair passenger jet to Minsk in May in order to arrest a journalist. The new sanctions came as U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the government of President Alexander Lukashenko was guilty of torture and other abuses.

Michelle Bachelet: “The situation in Belarus also continues to deteriorate, with severe restrictions on civic space, including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association; raids against civil society and independent media; and the judicial persecution of human rights activists and journalists. We continue to receive numerous allegations of arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill treatment.”