A/HRC/27/32
determination and the right to development, and some supported the call for the creation of
a new special procedure on the human rights impact of unilateral coercive measures.
24.
Responding to a question about the determination of responsibility for the human
rights impacts of unilateral coercive measures, Mr. Tzanakopoulos explained that such a
determination depended on showing causality, but that both the State imposing coercive
measures and the State targeted could be legally responsible for violations where causality
was established. Regarding the creation of an international mechanism to determine the
legality of unilateral coercive measures, Mr. Tzanakopoulos reiterated that it was unrealistic
due to differing views among Member States. He noted that a strategy of division might not
have a useful outcome, and could lead to an unstable and politicized mechanism. Ms. Kühn
highlighted the role of civil society and the media in holding international organizations to
account and, in response to a point made by the Chair, noted that the legitimacy of the G-20
to impose targeted sanctions was questionable. Mr. Okafor agreed with one speaker that the
dominant media had not fulfilled their role of informing the public about the action of
Governments on sanctions. He noted that many mechanisms became “instruments of the
powerful”, and that of the five permanent members of the Security Council, only the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland currently accepted the compulsory
jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
VI.
Session III. Contemporary unilateral coercive measures:
learning lessons from the past to develop basic principles
to redress adverse impacts
25.
The panellists were Ingrid Macdonald, Geneva Director of the Norwegian Refugee
Council, Denis Halliday, former United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, and
Sarah Zaidi, consultant, former Executive Director of the International Treatment
Preparedness Coalition and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Social Rights.
26.
Ms. Macdonald discussed the impact of counter-terrorism policies, including
sanction regimes, on the operation of humanitarian organizations, referring to the 2013
Study on the Impact of Donor Counter-Terrorism Measures on Principled Humanitarian
Action commissioned by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She noted that Member States were the architects of
international law, and that the Geneva Conventions and a number of Security Council and
General Assembly resolutions acknowledged the primacy and principles of humanitarian
action. However, there was often a contradiction between those principles and the
application of counter-terrorism measures, including sanctions. Some States prohibited
support to anyone associated with terrorists, but it was beyond the mandate of humanitarian
organizations to determine whether individuals were, for example, family members or
neighbours of terrorists. Such organizations might also need to engage with terrorist
organizations to ensure their own security. Another contradiction was that, in accordance
with Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), the protection of children should be
enhanced, but organizations that provided training on the non-recruitment of child soldiers
might be criminally liable under “zero tolerance” counter-terrorism policies.
27.
Ms. Macdonald further noted that unilateral coercive measures might prevent
humanitarian organizations from making financial transfers to States where they work,
citing the examples of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Somalia and the Sudan. Exemptions
often took too long to obtain in circumstances of urgent humanitarian need, and banks were
increasingly unwilling to take the risk of allowing any transfer to States targeted by
coercive measures. That also affected the ability of individuals to transfer remittances,
which often provided a vital lifeline for vulnerable populations.
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