UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Seeks Humane Approach to Sanctions

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 31 1996 (IPS) - Concerned about continued suffering in Iraq, the United Nations is seeking a humane approach to the use of one of the most crippling weapons at its command: economic sanctions.

A U.N. Working Group, which describes sanctions as “the most powerful non-military tool against violators of international law,” has called for “humanitarian limits” on U.N. sanctions.

“While there is a need to maintain the effectiveness of sanctions imposed in accordance with the U.N. Charter, serious efforts should be made to minimise unintended adverse side-effects of sanctions on the most vulnerable segments of targeted countries,” the 185-member Working Group says in a report released here Tuesday.

The call for a more humane approach comes amid reports that U.N. sanctions imposed against Iraq since August 1990 have caused great privation among the population. The sanctions, which are blamed for the country’s sharply rising infant mortality rate, have also brought the country’s economy to a grinding halt.

“Sanctions can hurt the most vulnerable segments of the population and negatively affect the development capacity of target countries,” the Working Group says.

The late James Grant, former Executive Director of the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that sanctions in Iraq and Haiti had a devastating impact on women and children.

U.N. spokeswoman Sylvana Foa told reporters that the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP) has painted a very distressing picture of the food situation in Iraq.

She said a WFP official, with more than 25 years experience in the field, had recently described the situation in Iraq as “the worst he had ever seen.”

Foa said that appeals for humanitarian assistance for Iraq were “an exercise in futility.” Of the 169 million dollars sought by the United Nations for humanitarian assistance, only 65 million doLlars had been pledged, she added.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has estimated that at least 2.7 billion dollars worth of food imports would be needed in 1996 due to the huge shortage of foodstuffs in Iraq.

The United Nations is scheduled to discuss an oil-for-food formula with Iraq next week. Its embargo on Iraqi oil is expected to be eased so that Baghdad can earn money to buy food.

In a series of recommendations, the Working Group says the U.N.’s Department of Humanitarian Assistance (DHA) should be asked to provide an assessment of the social structure and the vulnerabilities of targeted countries at the moment that sanctions are imposed.

“Moreover, there is a need to ensure that humanitarian assistance will reach the most vulnerable sectors of the population in a satisfactory manner,” it adds.

The Working Group wants the concept of “humanitarian limits” to be included in specific Security Council resolutions.

Currently, all mandatory sanctions can be imposed only by the 15-member Security Council. Countries currently under some form of U.N. sanctions include Somalia, Libya, Liberia, Angola, Rwanda, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.

The United Nations believes that the Iraqi sanctions have not only caused economic hardships to unintended victims, but also harmed the economies of most neighbouring countries.

As a result of the sanctions, the once-booming Iraqi market was closed both to Third World exports and migrant labour. The total losses incurred by developing nations during the 1990-91 Gulf crisis were estimated at more than 30 billion dollars.

Affected countries included Bangladesh, Djibouti, India, Jordan, Lebanon, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Poland, Romania, Uruguay, Tunisia, Vietnam and Yemen.

The losses suffered included the cancellation of commercial contracts and the suspension of engineering projects and technical assistance.

They also included the suspension of Iraqi oil shipments as payment for outstanding Iraqi debts, higher oil prices, and lower remittances by expatriate workers.

The Working Group has recommended the creation of a separate unit in the U.N.’s Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis to deal specifically with sanctions.

The report also calls for relief measures from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions.

These measures include special credit lines for countries which are the unintended victims of sanctions, special trade preferences, and increased support from donors.

“The possibility of compensatory financing by such institutions should also be looked into,” says the Working Group.

Article 50 of the U.N. Charter says that if “preventive and enforcement measures against any state are taken by the Security Council,” these countries have a right to consult the Council to seek redress.

The Working Group says that in order for the rights to be given full expression, the United Nations should establish a Standing Committee “on the understanding that the Security Council has responsibility to provide relief.”

“Such a mechanism would be expected to carry out studies, and conceive measures to minimise the negative impact of sanctions on third countries, as well as to control and monitor compliance,” it adds.

The Group also points out that representatives of targeted states and other concerned states should be entitled to some form of participation in the Sanctions Committees on a regular basis, and their points of view should be taken into account by the Security Council.