The Trump administration set in motion new sanctions powers to target kleptocrats and human rights abusers across the globe, and non-profits want them to quickly take advantage of the new authority.

Late last week, The White House gave the U.S. State and Treasury Departments the authority to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act, which was signed into law last December after passing Congress as part of an annual defense authorization bill. The original Magnitksy Act, which only targeted Russian human rights abusers, was signed into law in 2012, and it has led to the blacklisting of dozens of officials.

The globalized law authorizes visa bans and a block on the U.S. assets of government officials anywhere in the world found violating human rights, committing—or assisting in—“significant” corruption. President Donald Trump said in April in a letter to Congress that his administration intends on enforcing the new law, and that it is "actively identifying persons and entities to whom the [law] may apply" and is "collecting the evidence necessary to apply it." Though now empowered to use the law, the departments didn't immediately target anyone. A group of more than 20 organizations, brought together by Human Rights First, want the authority put to quick use. They sent a letter to the U.S. secretaries of Treasury and State, asking the agencies they lead to impose sanctions on more than a dozen people and entities the groups alleged as having engaged in torture, murder, sexual assault, extortion and bribery. Human Rights First on Wednesday called the global law "the most comprehensive human rights and anti-corruption sanctions tool in U.S. history," and said it could deter abuses everywhere if used to its potential. "This law puts the U.S. in the driver’s seat concerning international efforts to protect human rights defenders and combat impunity—but only if it’s used," said Rob Berschinski, senior vice president of Human Rights First, in a statement. Write to Samuel Rubenfeld at Samuel.Rubenfeld@wsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @srubenfeld.

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8