High time to assess and mitigate human rights impact of
unilateral sanctions – New UN expert
GENEVA (17 September 2015) – United Nations expert on human
rights and international sanctions
Idriss Jazairy today drew attention to a large increase in unilateral coercive
measures (UCMs) imposed since the 1990s – departing from clearly legal
multilateral sanctions taken by the UN Security Council- and warned about their possible negative
impact on the human rights of the civilian population targeted.
“It is high time for the UN and the international community
to assess and mitigate the adverse effects of unilateral sanctions,” said the
first independent expert tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with monitoring,
reporting and advising on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive
measures on the enjoyment of human rights worldwide.
During the presentation of his first report to the Council,
Mr. Jazairy stressed that “while analysing motivations of UCMs is a political
exercise, drawing attention to the possible adverse human rights impact of UCMs
and to ways of mitigating such impact and of seeking redress for victims is
not.”
“One full third of humanity lives in countries affected by
sanctions”, he underlined.
“37 sanction targets for the European Union, 32 for the
United States, over 20 for Canada and Australia, and the list goes on. Several
overlapping the 16 targets of sanctions currently applied by the Security
Council, and current indicators do not point to a reversal of this trend,” he
noted.
The Special Rapporteur acknowledged that qualitative
improvements in UCMs have occurred in response to human rights concerns from
the international community, and in parallel to progress in the sanctions
practice of the Security Council.
However, he questioned the claim that the pain caused by
UCMs is justified by the improvement of the human rights situation alleged to
result in the targeted country. “It remains to be seen whether human rights
lend themselves to this kind of calculus,” he said, highlighting the fact that
a very wide range of human rights might be affected by coercive measures.
Addressing the evolution of the practice of sanctions, he
welcomed the positive steps taken by some countries which have been moving away
from the imposition of comprehensive UCMs and towards sector-based measures
mirroring the improvements made at Security Council level.
“In complex crisis situations, it becomes difficult to draw
a distinction between comprehensive coercive measures and an accumulation of
so-called targeted measures,” the expert added.
He further emphasized as a positive evolution the
introduction of legal rules designed to enhance due process when implementing
UCMs and to gauge their impact on human rights. However, he deplored the
superimposition of targeted UCMs over and above Security Council sanctions
which distort the purpose of the latter.
“There is need in the UN system, for a clearing house or
public register of on-going UCMs”, he said. “There is a need for transparency
from all countries to elaborate and sustain a global and coherent record of
UCMs.”
In order to better evaluate adverse human rights impacts of
UCMs on targeted countries, Mr. Jazairy called for the cooperation of the
international community and all interested stakeholders to contribute to the
elaboration of draft guidelines to prevent, minimize and redress the adverse
impact of UCMs on human rights, one of the core tasks of this mandate. This
exercise would be entered into pragmatically and without prejudice to the legal
status of the UCMs under consideration.
“There is a need for an inter-agency task-force with OHCHR,
UNDP, UNICEF and the World Bank in particular to elaborate appropriate
assessment parameters in order to determine objectively the extent of the
adverse impact of UCMs on human rights he noted.
The expert further noted that he would review existing
independent mechanisms set up to assess the adverse impacts of UCMs and
available fora or mechanisms for redress or reparations in favour of aggrieved
parties. “I will seek to identify best practices and next practices, having in
view the necessity to promote the accountability and to distinguish correlation
from causality in impact assessment,” he said.
“This is a particularly auspicious time to turn what many
considered a vicious circle into a truly virtuous one,” the Special Rapporteur
underscored, recalling recent significant developments in the international
arena, where the removal of long-standing UCMs is in the making.
(*) Check the Independent Expert’s report (A/HRC/30/45):
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session30/Pages/ListReports.aspx
ENDS
Mr. Idriss Jazairy was appointed by the Human Rights Council
as the first Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral
coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. He took office on 1 May
2015. Mr. Jazairy has extensive experience in the fields of international
relations and human rights with the Algerian Foreign Ministry, the UN human
rights system and international NGOs. He holds a M.A.(Oxford) in Philosophy,
Politics and Economics, and an M.P.A. (Harvard). He also graduated from the
Ecole nationale d’Administration (France). Mr. Jazairy is the author of books
and of a large number of articles in the international press on development,
human rights and current affairs. Learn more, log on to:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/UCM/Pages/SRCoerciveMeasures.aspx
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest
body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name
of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that
address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of
the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not
UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from
any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
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Michelle Erazo (+41 22 917 9449 / merazo@ohchr.org) or write to ucm@ohchr.org
For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 /
xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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