A/HRC/45/7 18. On 28 May, the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the President of the Human Rights Council expressing her deep concern about the fact that there was no reference in the current text of the President’s statement on the human rights implications of the COVID-19 pandemic to the need to lift or at least suspend any sanctions impeding trade in or delivery of essential humanitarian goods and commodities, such as medicines, antiviral medication, medical equipment, its component parts and relevant software, personal protective equipment and food. Such an omission undermined, inter alia, the ability of sanctioned States to accomplish their responsibility to protect rights of their people. 19. On 2 June, the Special Rapporteur participated, as panellist, in a webinar on the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the global fight against COVID-19 while upholding the Charter of the United Nations, promoting international cooperation and ensuring that no one is left behind in times of pandemics. 20. On 4 June, the Special Rapporteur wrote a letter to the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism to propose cooperation with the Office of Counter-Terrorism. She noted that sanctions implemented to combat terrorism in support of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy might undermine certain goals of the Strategy by contributing to conditions that were conducive to the spread of terrorism and had a negative impact on human rights. 21. On 17 June, the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the Chair of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization, who is also the Chair of the Special Committee’s Working Group of the Whole, to propose cooperation in areas of mutual interest. These include the impact of sanctions regimes on third countries and the overall transparency of sanctions regimes. 22. On 18 June, the Government of Qatar confirmed its invitation to the Special Rapporteur to undertake an official country visit. The visit is planned to take place from 1 to 12 November 2020. 23. On 23 June, the Special Rapporteur attended an online supplementary human dimension meeting organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on freedom of expression, the media and information. She gave a presentation on unilateral sanctions and access to information in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 24. On 25 June, the Special Rapporteur held an online meeting with the UnderSecretary-General for Counter-Terrorism. They discussed cooperation and the Special Rapporteur’s role in implementing the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. III. Contemporary problems and developments in the use of unilateral sanctions 25. The Special Rapporteur pays tribute to the work of her predecessor, Idriss Jazairy. She will build upon his commitment to protect and promote the human rights of those affected by unilateral coercive measures. 26. The illegal nature of unilateral coercive measures has been repeatedly affirmed in numerous resolutions of the Human Rights Council (resolutions 15/24, paras. 1–3; 19/32, paras. 1–3; 24/14, paras. 1–3; 27/21, paras. 1–3; 30/2, paras. 1–2 and 4; and 34/13, paras. 1–2 and 4) and the General Assembly (resolutions 69/180, paras. 5–6; 70/151 paras. 5–6 and 71/193, paras. 5–6). The Council and the Assembly have also affirmed that people should not be deprived of their own means of subsistence, especially as concerns food and medicine and that the extraterritorial application of law, affecting international humanitarian and human rights law, is inadmissible. Moreover, it has been acknowledged that unilateral coercive measures have prevented humanitarian organizations from making financial transfers to States. 27. The Special Rapporteur stresses that not every unfriendly act or means of applying pressure by a State can be qualified as a unilateral coercive measure. At the same time, States are free to choose their partners in trade, economic or other types of international relations. Customary international law provides for the possibility of unfriendly acts that do 4