EU needs greater focus on human rights impact of
sanctions – UN expert
BRUSSELS / GENEVA (23 June 2017) - The European Union has
made progress in ensuring its sanctions allow for legal challenges and don’t
harm human rights, but more work remains to be done, a UN rights expert has
concluded after his first official visit to Brussels.
“If sanctions are ever to be used, they should only
address direct security threats or internationally recognized human rights
violations,” Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy said.
The expert said he had held “open and extensive”
discussions with officials during his four-day visit, which was undertaken to
assess the impact of EU sanctions on human rights, including the right to life
and the right to development.
Mr. Jazairy praised EU institutions for making progress
in ensuring that sanctions did not have a negative impact on human rights, and
for allowing the targeted parties to seek judicial review. He also welcomed the
consistent position of the EU not to claim and indeed to oppose
extraterritorial enforcement of domestic legislation concerning unilateral
sanctions.
“These steps, though they need to be further reinforced,
are important commitments by the EU and its members to ensure that the States
or individuals targeted by sanctions have the possibility of effective
remedies,” said Mr. Jazairy.
“EU sanctions offer a measure of due process for those
being targeted, and even though this is still insufficient, it compares
favourably to the legal remedies available in other blocs and States that
impose sanctions.”
The Special Rapporteur highlighted a sanctions
“stalemate” in the international community, with most countries agreeing that
sanctions had to be adopted by the UN Security Council in order to be
compatible with international law, while States that frequently use sanctions
believe there are exceptions to this principle.
He said common ground could be found, suggesting a
declaration on minimum standards of behaviour. It would be aimed at further
mitigating the impact on human rights until the international community could
agree on giving up on the “very blunt policy tool” of unilateral sanctions. Mr. Jazairy said it was hoped that beyond that
point, sanctions would only be enacted through the UN Security Council as
provided for under the UN Charter.
The UN expert urged the EU to clarify the practical
implications of its legal requirements and to make clear that humanitarian
exemptions from sanctions should be mandatory.
He said these exemptions should become effective and be communicated to
financial institutions and other stakeholders at the time of the enforcement of
sanctions, so as to avoid a protection gap between the start of sanctions and
decisions on humanitarian exceptions.
Mr. Jazairy also called on EU institutions to reiterate
their endorsement of the principle identified by the Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, that “when an external party takes upon itself even
partial responsibility for the situation within a country… it also unavoidably
assumes a responsibility to do all within its powers to protect the economic,
social and cultural rights of the affected population”. He stressed that this
would be in line with the EU’s commitment to uphold human rights and
international law.
During his visit, the Special Rapporteur met
representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament and European
External Action Service. He will submit
a report on his findings to the Human Rights Council in September 2018.
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 in 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 École 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.
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.
For more information on the visit please see:
For more information and media requests, please contact
Stee Asbjornsen (+41 22 917 9827 / sasbjornsen@ohchr.org ) or write to
ucm@ohchr.org
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