UN human rights expert welcomes the end of EU unilateral sanctions on Belarus

GENEVA (19 February 2016) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and unilateral sanctions, Idriss Jazairy, welcomed today the decision of the European Union to lift most sanctions against Belarus as “an opportunity for the EU-Belarus relations to develop in a positive environment and walk towards progress through dialogue.”

Earlier this week, the EU announced the end of asset freezes and travel bans against 170 individuals including the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko. Sanctions were also lifted against three defence companies whose listings were suspended in October 2015. The EU imposed its first sanctions against Belarus in 2004, and have extended them to affect more individuals and organisations over the years.

“I am pleased to see that there seems to be new dynamics in international relations whereby different solutions to disagreements, such as negotiation, are being considered and materialising,” the independent expert noted.

Mr. Jazairy alluded to the fact that the European Council, which had indeed already agreed in October 2015 on a four-month suspension of most of the restrictive measures, finally recognized in a statement issued on 15 February 2016 that ‘progress in a variety of fields can better be achieved through enhanced channels of communication’. For the expert, “this is clearly a demonstration of the benefits that can be achieved through negotiation rather than resorting to unilateral coercive measures.”

The restrictive measures imposed on Belarus by the EU had been adopted as ‘autonomous’ measures, that is outside of the UN Charter framework which provides for the authority of the UN Security Council to impose sanctions in situations found to endanger international peace and security.

“I would like to congratulate the EU in following through with the courageous initiative started with the lifting of sanctions against Iran,” Mr. Jazairy said. “There is still a long way to go as one third of humanity lives in countries affected by unilateral coercive measures.”

“We need to strive to broaden the area of consensus between sources and targets of coercive measures, to contribute to a climate of international peace and cooperation,” the expert stated. “I hope this initiative of lifting sanctions is replicated and leading to a review of comprehensive sanctions which are the most damaging to human rights.”

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.

UN Human Rights, Country Page – Belarus: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/ENACARegion/Pages/BYIndex.aspx

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