A/HRC/45/7 not violate international law and of proportionate countermeasures in response to the violation of international obligations, as long as they abide by the limitations set out in the draft articles on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts. 7 28. As a result, in carrying out the mandate, the Special Rapporteur must be mindful of: the enormous discrepancies between sanctioning and sanctioned States, even in relation to defining what is a legal or illegal activity, what unilateral activity (sanction) without or beyond the authorization of the Security Council could or should qualify as a unilateral coercive measure; the legality of unilateral action from the standpoint of the Charter of the United Nations, international humanitarian law, international human rights law and other areas of law; and the humanitarian impact on the enjoyment of human rights, the adequacy of the humanitarian exemptions and the insufficiency of mechanisms of delisting, control, reparation and compensation. The Special Rapporteur underscores that any progress on these matters can only be achieved through consensus and the development of an appropriate legal framework that reflects the legitimate concerns of those affected and that fills the gaps in the promotion of human rights and the protection from mass gross violations of human rights. The term “unilateral sanctions” is used in the present report without any prejudice as to the legality or illegality of such sanctions and to refer to any means of pressure applied by States or international organizations without or beyond the authorization of the Security Council. 29. The Special Rapporteur notes that the specific forms of pressure applied by individual States or groups of States have already changed and are still changing today. States apply various forms of unilateral sanctions in pursuit of a common good, thereby transforming exceptions in international relations into the ordinary practice of many States. 30. The Special Rapporteur also notes that, given the absence of a definition of unilateral coercive measures and their presumably illegal character, States prefer to present their unilateral activities as not constituting unilateral coercive measures and to use therefore other terms, like “sanctions”, “restrictive measures”8 and “unilateral measures not in accordance with international law”.9 States involved are also identified in various ways, including as sanctioning/sanctioned, targeting/targeted or sender/source States. 10 31. The Special Rapporteur takes note of the proliferation of new types of sanctions. The United Nations has traditionally viewed sanctions as a means of compliance but, even when applied following a decision of the Security Council, they have led to enormous humanitarian costs. The Special Rapporteur here aligns herself with the position expressed by the Secretary-General in 2000 that “the existence of a sanctions regime almost inevitably transforms an entire society for the worse”.11 Targeted or smart sanctions imposed by the Security Council have been intended to minimize the negative humanitarian effect of sanctions introduced against States, with the aim being to “punish the guilty” 12 for committing international crimes, or have been a reaction to threats to and breaches of international peace and security. International practice, however, has included an expanded application of targeted sanctions to individuals and legal entities by States and international organizations, quite often without or beyond the authorization of the Security Council. The legality of such targeted sanctions is rather disputable. 32. Another development relates to the emergence of so-called “sectoral” sanctions, which apply non-selectively to individuals and organizations acting in a particular sphere of the economy without any identifiable reason or violation from their side that differs significantly from those that have prompted traditional targeted sanctions. In particular, the 7 8 9 10 11 12 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 10 and corrigendum (A/56/10 and Corr.1), Chap. IV. Council of the European Union, “Guidelines on the implementation and evaluation of restrictive measures (sanctions) in the framework of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy”, 4 May 2018, doc No. 5664/18. General Assembly resolutions 70/151, para. 1, and 71/193, para. 2. See, e.g., A/HRC/36/44. See www.un.org/press/en/2000/20001115.sgsm7625.doc.html. Ibid. 5