UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : HRC - Press Conference: Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures

Good afternoon, everyone.

Welcome to the press conference of the UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral cohesive measures and human rights.

The full name of the mandate is a Special Rapporteur on negative impact of unilateral cohesive measures.

So in the enjoyment of human rights, the topic of today's press conference is on sanctions monitoring and impact assessment.

And this was the topic of the thematic report presenting by the Special Rapporteur, Professor Alan Duhan on Friday 13 September to the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The press conference will start with around 12 minute introductory statement by the Special reporter outlining the main messages of this press conference followed by Q&A session.

I would kindly ask those who have kindly joined this press conference online also to identify themselves And without further ado, I will give the floor to the special reporter.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

I would like to thank all of you for coming or joining me at this press conference, which will indeed focus on the findings of the research which has been done by the mandate since the last two years.

And focusing on the possibility to develop as well as the options of the development of the monitoring system to provide for the systematic, comprehensive and adequate assessment of the negative humanitarian impact of unilateral sanctions means of the enforcement as well as the resulting of the all the above over compliance.

Let me make a brief overview of the recent sanctions development.

First, the use of unilateral sanctions has been expanding dramatically during the past few years, causing negative impact on human rights, not only in sanctioning country, in sanctioned countries, but also across the border to the neighbouring countries, in the regions, in other parts of the world, quite often in the far away regions and even in sanctioning countries themselves.

The harm produced by the imposition of unilateral sanctions extends to human rights of various groups of specific individuals, groups of individuals and sometimes entire populations, usually affecting the most vulnerable groups such as children, women, persons with disability or elderly population.

The sanctioning states are currently using different means of enforcement of unilateral sanctions including secondary sanctions, civil, criminal and administrative penalties for circumvention of sanctions regime.

The multiplicity and uncertainty of sanctions regimes, the higher risk of penalties for the circumvention, reputational risks and uncertain and contradictory interpretation result in the growing de risk in policy and over compliance by states, businesses, individuals and unfortunately even the UN institutions.

That is why measuring the impact of unilateral sanctions on human rights is essential to alleviate the situation for all affected individuals.

I have to admit that today, the efforts to monitor negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights are not systematic at all.

The UN agencies and organs do not include it in the agenda and do not assess the impact of Ucms on indicators they monitor within the scope of their mandates, although the necessary information is often collected at the national level by the country teams and the role of Ucms and the additional extraterritorial factor is undeniable.

The only attempt to develop a sanctions assessment methodology was done in 2004 by OCHA and IYESK to assess the humanitarian impact of UN Security Council resolutions on Iraq.

In 2021, OCHA and Dias have developed guidance on the impact of sanctions on and counterterrorism measures on humanitarian operations, which identify main indicators for assessment of impact on humanitarian actors and on humanitarian operations only, but didn't assess the impact on human rights of affected people.

The national efforts to monitor and assess negative impact of unilateral sanctions are mostly limited to the collection of statistical data by relevant ministries with primary economic rather than humanitarian assessment.

Sanctions related databases prepared by private sectors and universities are mostly limited in scope, developed with limited participation of the interested stakeholders and often are aimed to ensure compliance rather than to monitor humanitarian impact in a specific country.

Auto put pressure on the specific companies with access provided on the paid basis, so it's not available for the majority of people.

Although all states are under obligation of due diligence and humanitarian precaution to ensure that the activity as well as activity under their jurisdiction and control do not affect human rights.

And despite 3 calls for contribution sent by me for the development of the methodology, establishment of the monitoring tool and collection of information, no evidence have been ever received that sanctioning states monitor and assess humanitarian impact of measures they are applying.

Ladies and gentlemen, development of the monitoring methodology arise a number of serious problems and concerns.

And as concerned the indicators, sources of information, they need to differentiate between the impact of sanctions and of other factors like military conflicts, existence of part of territory beyond the control of the government, pandemics, draughts or other reasons.

To distinguish between the impact of different types of sanctions and that of over compliance.

Means of calculation and assessment of the results to ensure accuracy.

I shall admit that it's not possible, for example, to assess impact of separate types of unilateral sanctions or sanctions of a specific country or unilateral sanctions only.

But at the same time, it's possible instead to identify the comprehensive impact of all types of unilateral sanctions, means of the enforcement and over compliance, which is vital for the promotion and protection of human rights.

For the purpose of consistency of the UN efforts to promote and protect human rights affected by sanctions, the methodology developed by OCHA and E Ask in 2004 has been used as a starting point during the preparation of the report and development of the methodology.

It is not fully fitting the purposes of the current situation as it is limited in this scope was specific for Iraq only one country only and it doesn't provide for the possibility to assist impact of measures taken to enforce primary sanctions and of over compliance.

Moreover, it doesn't take due account of the multiplicity of sanctioning actors.

Therefore, we could only keep main principles and approaches of the methodology for the assessment of impact of UCMS and over compliance due to the politicisation of the issue and political discrepancy among states.

Adequacy of monitoring and assessment can only be achieved at the UN level through collecting information based on specific criteria and indicators from all relevant sources, including UN agencies and organs, states, national human rights institution, international and national humanitarian actors, research institutions, individual academics and other stakeholders based on the principles of comprehensiveness, impartiality, transparency and verification.

Such tool shall collect and reflect information on an annual or biennial basis under the leadership of the mandate on unilateral cursive measures and with the active engagement of the Office of Higher Commissioner on Human Rights to ensure its sustainability and long term operation.

Another problem was the mechanism of collecting information for the database, which has never existed before.

As a result, in particular, UN agencies and organs, as well as the UN country team have not been able much responsive to the calls for contribution for the development of the monitoring tool, although they collect and assess data relevant to many of indicators, presumably as the issue of the humanitarian impact of unilateral sanctions have not been included into the official agenda.

At the same time, statistical indicators are already included to the reports or databases of UN organs and entities, but some are that were developed for the purposes of UCM impact assessment, and they shall be provided by relevant stakeholders.

Ladies and gentlemen, the tool for monitoring and assessment of the impact of unilateral sanctions has been finally developed by the mandate on the base of information received from the web pages of the UN organs and agencies, information from States and other stakeholders, as well as during several expert consultations.

Naturally, it's on the first step for establishment A comprehensive and consistent monitoring instrument.

The current instrument exists in the form of online applications.

It's supposed to establish the inclusive, comprehensive, systematic, transparent and evidence based system of monitoring and assessment of the comprehensive impact of unilateral sanctions, means of the enforcement and over compliance.

Reference to the tool is already placed to the web page of the mandate and it's possible to assess the impact over some of the countries.

The monitoring and impact assessment tool has several unique features.

It allows to collect and process the data to effectively, timely, fully and systematically assess negative effect of unilateral sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights through the mechanisms of collection, verification and presenting visualised information.

The application collects information from documents and reports received from the UN agencies and specialised of specialised agencies and entities, international human rights mechanism, other international organisations and institutions, non governmental organisations, governments, national human rights institutions.

They work on all the country visit of the Special Rapporteur as well as submissions received through the monitoring tool.

Questionnaire submissions are open for all actors via online survey of the application.

So basically any interested stakeholder can share information it the information this survey, it can be filled confidentially to make sure that principles of comprehensiveness and partiality and verification are fully observed.

Due to the broad scope of indicators used to identify the negative humanitarian impact of Ucms, the survey is built in the user layer friendly form providing for the possibility to select necessary spheres like for example health, food, education, impact on vulnerable groups or even impact on humanitarian work.

Survey is in no way a yes or no check box.

It provides for the possibility to give examples or identify the main impediments for protection of specific human rights of a delivery of necessary goods or functioning of humanitarian operation.

The structure of the application ensures that no confidential data appear publicly online.

The tool will allow the collection, storage and processing of confidential information through a database with adequate level of data security protection.

Collected information is assessed and verified by the personnel of the mandate in the internal database, providing for the possibility of detailed assessment to identify maintenances and challenges.

The last part is an independent web interface allowing any interested stakeholder access to country specific or human rights specific statistics on the negative impact of unilateral sanctions, means of the enforcement or over compliance on the enjoyment of human rights in an interactive form such as a world map, diagrams and table with statistical data showing adverse effect of UCMS and over compliance on the sanction States and 3rd states.

The tool will be maintained permanently and updated on the regular basis.

It will provide for the possibility to observe how various humanitarian indicators have been changing from yearly comparing to the data before unilateral sanctions were imposed, with special attention paid to the years when the sanctions pressure has been increasing or decreasing.

Results of the monitoring and impact assessment carried out within the tool pursue only a humanitarian purpose and cover the moment only states directly affected by unilateral sanctions.

Ladies and gentlemen, the current version of the Monitoring Impact Assessment tool, as I have already said is only a starting point and the application with necessary undergo a series of the updates in the future.

The goals for future development of the tool within the short term perspective include elaboration of the methodology to assess negative impact of Ucms and over compliance on different groups of human rights, for example cultural or social.

To ensure migration of the verified and non confidential data from the database for internal use to the web page of the tool with the possibility for any user to search data on specific parameter and to retrieve the reports on them.

With the long term perspective, the tool will assess the impact of Ucms and over compliance on all states, not only those which are directly affected, and shall include the assessment of the impact of Ucms and over compliance on the states under sanctions, States affected by secondary sanctions or other means of sanctions enforcement states which impose sanctions as well as any other state.

It shall also include the, I said, the impact of microeconomic indicators and consequent impact on human rights.

It shall possibly cover the broader range of human rights affecting, including the right, for example, to justice, as well as different categories of cultural rights.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to stress that the monitoring and impact assessment tool should not be seen in any way as an acceptance of the legality of unilateral measures, but rather as a means of reducing the politicisation of the issue.

Encouraging the impact.

Encouraging the impact assessment work of all relevant actors.

Establishing factual humanitarian impact for all possible purposes, including periodic and systematic monitoring, fostering advocacy in favour of lifting unilateral corrosive measures, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance and providing for accountability, responsibility and redress to the affected actors.

At the same time, to achieve this purpose, it's not sufficient to establish the monitoring tool, it's necessary to make it functionable and I believe it can only be done by joint efforts of all stakeholders.

In particular, states affected by unilateral sanctions should take all measures necessary to establish national mechanism for the comprehensive and consistent monitoring and assessment of the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on humanitarian situation and enjoyment of human rights under their jurisdiction.

They shall provide information for the monitoring tool in accordance with the methodology developed by the Special Rapporteur to ensure the accuracy, reliability and trust worthfulness of the results.

They shall also open the way for all non governmental organisations and research institutions about the possibility to submit information to the monitoring tool to encourage diverse engagement and provide for the verification of such information.

States which impose sanctions, first of all shall lead, suspend or minimise all unilateral measures not in conformity with the international obligation or the illegality of which cannot be excluded from the mechanism of countermeasures on the ground of countermeasures in accordance with the standards of the law of international responsibility.

At the same time, for the time being, they shall stop to ignore the examples and evidences of the negative and often devastating humanitarian impact of Ucms and to start monitoring and assessing the possible humanitarian impact of any unilateral measures before and during the process of such measures being applied.

In accordance with the obligations of humanitarian precaution, all States should support the inclusion of the issue of the humanitarian impact of unilateral sanctions and means of the enforcement and over compliance in their genders of relevant United Nations organs, agencies and institutions.

UN specialised agencies, organs or entities shall add UC miss means of the enforcement and over compliance as an additional factor to be taken into account in any assessment within the scope of the respected mandates.

Non governmental actors including humanitarian organisations and scholars are welcome to submit information for the monitoring through the online system.

It's only by drawing efforts it will be possible to make sure that information collected is systematic, comprehensive, verified and adequate to pave the way for the access, access to remedy human rights, protection in sanctions, environment, accountability, responsibility and redress.

I thank you for your attention and I'm open for your questions.

We're now opening the floor of questions from journalists online or in the room.

And I give first the floor to Yuriya Prelev from RIA Novosti.

Yes, thank you for taking my question and thank you, special reporter, for this briefing.

I have in fact, three questions.

The first one is how do Western countries respond to your request to monitor the impact of sanctions on human rights?

When do you think that your tool will be effective?

Do you reserve help from many countries or UN agencies on that?

And my second question is related to that, can we talk about thousands of victims of sanctions around the world due to the lack of funding, medicines, infrastructure?

Do we have an idea of how many people maybe died from the past 1220 or 30 years because of the sanctions?

[Other language spoken]

I give a follow to the special Porter to answer the questions.

Thank you very much for the questions.

Responding to the first one, I need to know that the situation of receiving responses from the countries which impose sanctions is very problematic.

As I have already mentioned, I sent 3 calls for contributions and invited everyone to participate in the development of the tool.

However, at the moment I didn't receive information coming from the country imposing sanctions, although from the purpose of impartial impartiality I need to say that in general many institutions might probably be interested, and I'm talking about the UN institutions to respond.

At the same time, they never did it because the mechanism never existed.

So therefore, I'm talking not about the development of the methodology only, I'm talking about the Varanus rising.

And I'm using this press conference is one of the means to rise the Varanus.

And there will be a side event tomorrow when I will at 2:00 PM, when I will try to demonstrate the functionality of the tool developed.

And I hope very much that the UN agencies will start doing that because I need to admit that, for example, the UN country teams have always been extremely useful when sharing information with me concerning the negative impact of human unilateral coercive measures as well as over compliance with unilateral coercive measures in the in on human rights in the countries I visited.

Coming to the assessment of the impact of unilateral sanctions, there is no precise answer because the question asked is too broad.

I'm always trying to advocate for the evidence based approach and to be extremely specific when we refer to the negative humanitarian impact.

And that was the purpose of establishment of the monitoring tool.

The there is agenda to my report presented to the Human Rights Council last Friday, which basically reflects the humanitarian impact of unilateral sanctions on the indicators included in the survey and it reflects so far this information only.

So therefore, it's possible to identify the which areas are affected the most and what is the different difference between the countries affected by unilateral sanctions.

At the same time, I would like to repeat again that we are not talking about the impact of unilateral sanctions only.

We are talking about the humanitarian comprehensive impact of all types of unilateral sanctions imposed by all states input also the impact of the means of the enforcement in the format of secondary sanctions, criminal, civil customs or any other penalties which might be faced as well as over compliance of these sanctions.

So basically it's on the it's not possible to differentiate between the impacts.

I said the comprehensive impact.

At the same time, unfortunately, I have to admit that in some countries the imposition of unilateral sanctions is not affecting specific human rights only, but so quite often it affects the vital human rights, including the right to life.

And therefore, for example, if you people do not have access to food, the people do not have access to medicine, at the very end, they might die.

The there is not a single instrument at the moment to calculate precisely what is the number of people passing away due to the impact of sanctions.

Because always there are several reasons.

But at the same time, what we can conclude is that if people have no food, if people have no medicine, if they have no gasoline and they have to use dirty water, they got sick, they suffer and they will die at the very end.

That's why my intention is in order to be able to discuss the negative humanitarian impact and the to assess the consequences of the unilateral sanctions and over compliance, we need to be very sure that we collect and verify information from all possible sources.

So I hope that at the moment when the platform will start to function properly, I will be more precise on the point what the point, which I also need to mention that we're talking about the impact not on the countries under sanctions only today, unfortunately, in the view of the more active use of the means of enforcement of unilateral sanctions, many countries which are not under primary sanctions appear to be under secondary sanctions.

The entities of these company of these countries might face civil and criminal charges.

Moreover, there could be a trans border effect As for example in the countries like Syria or Venezuela.

The economic situation become extremely affected by unilateral sanctions and no proper infrastructure is available.

Naturally, we start to observe the migration flows.

We start to observe the attempts to get necessary medicine or food or to get job across the border, which also makes imposes severe burden and restriction on the neighbouring countries.

In some situations, when we come, we can even talk about the intercontinental effect and one of the cases which I cited in my communication is for example, the excess to fertilisers and when for example, sanctions imposed on Russian and Belarus and fertilisers prevent the excess to fertilisers for many development countries including in Africa which used to be 100% dependent on the potash fertilisers coming from these two countries.

So, the purpose is to assess impact on different group of countries and to be able to say that we have the specific evidences and can go further to identify the means of remedies of responsibility and redress.

To be able to advocate for accountability, we need to know what are the evidences.

If we have evidences on the table, we cannot deny that the impact exists as concerned the time when it will be done well, basically the very primary forward format is already online.

As I have already mentioned, I will demonstrate what we have at the moment and it's already possible to submit information via this survey as concerned the functionality, I expect that we will continue to work on the improvement of the database within the next year and a half at least.

Any other questions?

[Other language spoken]

Any some concluding observations by the special photo.

I would like to use this chance to thank all of you once again for participation in this press conference to invite all interested stakeholders to come or to join remotely tomorrow, the side event tomorrow.

And naturally I invite all stakeholders in all parts of the world, including states, research institutions, non governmental organisations, UN agencies to participate in monitoring.

It's not possible to get one figure only.

We need to be able to get information from various sources to verify this information and that the only way how by by joint efforts we will be able to establish and to proceed with evidence based approach.

I believe that knowing the facts is an important meant for solution of the problem.

Thank you very much.