E/C.12/1997/8
page 2
3.
While the impact of sanctions varies from one case to another, the
Committee is aware that they almost always have a dramatic impact on the
rights recognized in the Covenant. Thus, for example, they often cause
significant disruption in the distribution of food, pharmaceuticals and
sanitation supplies, jeopardize the quality of food and the availability of
clean drinking water, severely interfere with the functioning of basic health
and education systems, and undermine the right to work. In addition, their
unintended consequences can include reinforcement of the power of oppressive
élites, the emergence, almost invariably, of a black market and the generation
of huge windfall profits for the privileged élites which manage it,
enhancement of the control of the governing élites over the population at
large, and restriction of opportunities to seek asylum or to manifest
political opposition. While the phenomena mentioned in the preceding sentence
are essentially political in nature, they also have a major additional impact
on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.
4.
In considering sanctions, it is essential to distinguish between the
basic objective of applying political and economic pressure upon the governing
élite of the country to persuade them to conform to international law, and the
collateral infliction of suffering upon the most vulnerable groups within the
targeted country. For that reason, the sanctions regimes established by the
Security Council now include humanitarian exemptions designed to permit the
flow of essential goods and services destined for humanitarian purposes. It
is commonly assumed that these exemptions ensure basic respect for economic,
social and cultural rights within the targeted country.
5.
However, a number of recent United Nations and other studies which have
analysed the impact of sanctions have concluded that these exemptions do not
have this effect. Moreover, the exemptions are very limited in scope. They
do not address, for example, the question of access to primary education, nor
do they provide for repairs to infrastructures which are essential to provide
clean water, adequate health care, etc. The Secretary-General suggested in
1995 that there was a need to assess the potential impact of sanctions before
they are imposed and to enhance arrangements for the provision of humanitarian
assistance to vulnerable groups. 1/ In the following year, a major study,
prepared for the General Assembly by Ms. Graça Machel on the impact of armed
conflict on children, stated that “humanitarian exemptions tend to be
ambiguous and are interpreted arbitrarily and inconsistently.... Delays,
confusion and the denial of requests to import essential humanitarian goods
cause resource shortages.... [Their effects] inevitably fall most heavily on
the poor”. 2/ Most recently, an October 1997 United Nations report concluded
that the review procedures established under the various sanctions committees
established by the Security Council “remain cumbersome and aid agencies still
encounter difficulties in obtaining approval for exempted supplies. ...
[The] committees neglect larger problems of commercial and governmental
violations in the form of black-marketing, illicit trade, and corruption.” 3/
6.
It is thus clear, on the basis of an impressive array of both countryspecific and general studies, that insufficient attention is being paid to the
impact of sanctions on vulnerable groups. Nevertheless, for various reasons,
these studies have not examined specifically the nefarious consequences that
ensue for the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, per se. It
is in fact apparent that in most, if not all, cases, those consequences have