A/HRC/31/82 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council held, pursuant to its resolution 27/21, its first biennial panel discussion on the issue of unilateral coercive measures and human rights, on 17 September 2015. The panel discussion had initially been scheduled to be held during the twenty-ninth session of the Council, but was postponed at the request of the sponsor States of the Non-Aligned Movement until the thirtieth session, in accordance with the Council’s programme of work. 2. The objective of the panel discussion was to increase awareness among all stakeholders, including United Nations human rights mechanisms, of the negative impact that unilateral coercive measures have on the enjoyment of human rights in targeted and non-targeted countries. The panel sought to ensure a platform for the continuing exchange of views and exchange of experiences among all stakeholders in relation to the impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights, especially of groups in a situation of vulnerability; to follow up and give an update on the recommendations made at previous workshops held in 2013 and 2014 (see A/HRC/24/20 and A/HRC/27/32) and the researchbased report of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee (A/HRC/28/74); and to build consensus on the development of basic principles and guidelines, as well as on the identification of mechanisms to assess and mitigate the adverse impact of unilateral coercive measures and to ensure accountability. 3. The panel discussion was chaired by the President of the Human Rights Council and moderated by the former Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Seyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour. The panellists were the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Aslan Abashidze (Russian Federation); Associate Professor at Suez Canal University, Mohamed Ezzeldine Abdel-Moneim (Egypt); and the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Idriss Jazairy. 4. After the opening statement, the moderator introduced the topic and defined the scope of the discussion. The panellists subsequently made their initial statements, which were followed by an interactive discussion chaired by the President of the Human Rights Council. The discussion comprised two rounds of interventions by representatives of States, observers and non-governmental organizations with comments and questions from the floor, followed by comments and replies by panellists. The discussion concluded with final responses from the panellists and concluding remarks by the moderator. II. Opening of the panel discussion 5. The President of the Human Rights Council opened the panel discussion. Welcoming remarks were then made on behalf of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), read out by the Chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch of OHCHR. 6. According to OHCHR, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action called upon States to refrain from any unilateral measure not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations and that impedes the full realization of human rights, in particular the rights of everyone to a standard of living adequate for their health and well-being, including food and medical care, housing and the necessary social services. In 1997, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had considered the issue of economic sanctions being imposed internationally, regionally and unilaterally. More attention had to be paid to the impact of these measures on vulnerable groups, particularly 2