One third of humanity lives in countries subjected to unilateral coercive measures, UN rights expert says

NEW YORK (26 October 2015) – United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and international sanctions, Idriss Jazairy, today called on all UN Member States to start negotiations on the use of unilateral coercive measures (UCMs) in international relations -as opposed to the clearly legal multilateral sanctions taken by the UN Security Council- “with the ultimate objective of reducing the sufferings of the most vulnerable segments of the population of targeted countries.”

In presenting his first report* to the UN General Assembly, Mr. Jazairy drew attention of the UN and the international community to the high costs in terms of human rights of the widespread use of UCMs, emphasizing that “one third of humanity lives in countries that are currently targeted in one way or another.”

Referring to the ongoing debate on the legality of specific UCMs under international law, he said that such debate will ultimately be superseded by findings on human rights impacts. “If UCMs inflict undue sufferings on the population of a targeted State, then, whatever the legal justification may be, they become clearly illegal and their source countries should be called to account,” he added.

Mr. Jazairy focused in his report on basic rights such as the right to life, the right to self-determination and the right to development, as well as on the right to a fair trial which may be affected by the practice of listing of ‘persons of concern’.

“The international community should refrain from recreating virtual Guantanamos at world level,” the expert said. “Source countries should examine the possibility of introducing in the review of listings of persons ‘of concern’, to comply with international legal standards.”

Stressing the need to restore transparency in this field, he called for the creation by the UN of a ‘consolidated central register’ recapitulating all UCMs in force at any particular time, that would be maintained by the Secretary-General according to agreed standards, drawing on the example of the UN register for conventional arms.

Mr. Jazairy also suggested the setting up of a group of experts to define assessment parameters for an objective evaluation of the adverse human rights impact of UCMs.
“This is particularly crucial in complex crises with different source countries targeting simultaneously the same country, possibly on top of Security Council sanctions, making it difficult to distinguish causality from correlation between such a multiplicity of measures,” he observed.

The Special Rapporteur called on countries which are source of sanctions “to follow the Security Council policy in renouncing to resort to comprehensive UCMs,” to consult in advance with third countries likely to suffer unintended damage from UCMs, and to exempt humanitarian articles from the scope of UCMs. Multilateral consultations should be engaged in appropriate fora to overcome divergences on claims to extraterritorial application of UCM legislation made by some UN member States.

Mr. Jazairy also urged the Security Council to make clear in its resolutions targeting a State’s specific activities “whether they call for implementation as such by UN member States or whether they are compatible with complementary autonomous measures.” On a related note, he suggested that “if a regional group of allied countries decides on UCMs targeting a given country, its member States should consider refraining from adding supplementary constraints of their own.”

The expert stressed that his mandate “involves calling also developed States to account for action they take through UCMs which have an adverse human rights impact on people of other nations.”

Recalling that all States have shown under the Universal Periodic Review in the Council, that they accept to be held to account by the Council for the fulfilment of their human rights obligations, he concluded with an appeal to all “that we carry the same spirit of dialogue and consensus-building into discussions on UCMs for the sake of the poorest and most vulnerable.”

 (*) Check the Independent Expert’s report (A/70/345), http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/70/345
as well as his previously released report to the UN Human Rights Council (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 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 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.

For more information and media requests, please contact Michelle Erazo (+41 22 917 9449 / merazo@ohchr.org) or write to ucm@ohchr.org

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