A/HRC/42/46/Add.1 9. In situations where unilateral coercive measures inflict undue sufferings/have an egregious human rights impact, on the population of a targeted State, whatever legal motive is invoked, they become clearly illegal and their source countries should be called to account. This applies in particular to comprehensive embargoes coupled with secondary sanctions aimed at the economic isolation of the target country, the effects of which may be comparable with those of a wartime blockade. 10. Such call for the removal of unilateral coercive measures applies to comprehensive measures as well as to targeted measures and to economic as well as to financial measures. 11. As a consequence, the basic principle should be that States and groups of States should commit themselves to refraining from imposing unilateral coercive measures, as well as remove such measures as are in force, and shall commit to using other means of peaceful settlement of international disputes and differences. 12. The present Declaration is without prejudice to the procedural and substantive requirements arising from the legal regime of countermeasures in the sense of the International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on the Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts.1 13. When comprehensive embargoes coupled with secondary sanctions aimed at the economic isolation of the target country produce effects comparable with those of a wartime blockade, the relevant rules of international humanitarian law applicable to blockade, as well as the general requirements of necessity, proportionality and discrimination and the prohibitions of starvation and collective punishment, should become applicable mutatis mutandis. C. Mitigation: Universally/Generally accepted rules of behaviour 14. Pending the total removal and termination of all existing unilateral coercive measures and renunciation to their use, all efforts should be made to mitigate the adverse effect of unilateral sanctions on human rights; 15. The transitional period preceding the total removal and termination of all existing unilateral coercive measures and renunciation to their use should be shortened to the greatest extent possible. 16. During the transitional period, the following universally accepted rules of behaviour shall be asserted to mitigate the adverse impacts of unilateral sanctions: (a) The parties considering the implementation of unilateral sanctions are under an obligation to conduct a transparent human rights impact assessment (HRIA) of the measures envisaged, before sanctions are applied, and to monitor on a regular basis, as long as sanctions remain in force, the effects of implementation of the measures, including as regards their adverse effects on human rights; there should be effective mechanisms in place at national level to ensure that State authorities in charge of sanctions programmes adjust or change the sanctions regime with a view to preventing human rights violations identified through HRIAs; HRIAs should allow for the effective public participation of the populations affected by sanctions, and ensure that information gathered be made publicly (and widely) available. NGOs and international organizations may also conduct HRIAs of sanctions programmes, especially in cases where the State enacting sanctions fails to conduct such assessment. HRIAs should also be conducted in cases of sanctions imposed by groups of States or regional organizations. (b) The parties implementing unilateral sanctions are under an obligation to ensure effective humanitarian exemptions mechanisms whose effectiveness can be gauged by target country institutions, both governmental and non-governmental, for satisfying basic human rights and essential humanitarian needs; there should be no exception to the principle 1 A/56/10. 3