Unilateral Coercive Measures And Human Rights: Advancing Towards A UN Declaration.pdf

The 42nd regular session of the Human Rights Council held a biennial panel discussion on unilateral coercive measures and human rights on 12 September 2019. The theme was the way forward to a United Nations declaration on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to development. The panel discussion aimed to increase awareness among stakeholders of the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights in targeted and non-targeted countries.

The panel was chaired by H.E. Mr. Coly Seck, President of the Human Rights Council, and featured opening statements by Ms. Peggy Hicks, Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and H.E. Mr. Jorge Arreaza, Minister of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The panelists included Ms. Alena Douhan, Professor of International Law, Belarusian State University, Mr. Rahmat Mohamad, Professor and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Industry, Community, Alumni and Entrepreneurship Network), Universiti Teknologi MARA, and Mr. Jean Ziegler, Member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.

The discussion was followed by an interactive session, where speakers were encouraged to focus their interventions on the themes of the panellists, either by asking questions or formulating suggestions on the draft declaration. The list of speakers was established at the beginning of the panel, with a maximum of one hour reserved for two slots of interventions from the floor, for States and observers, national human rights institutions, and non-governmental organizations.

The Human Rights Council had previously requested the Special Rapporteur to prepare a report on the panel discussion and to identify a set of elements to be considered in the preparation of a draft United Nations declaration on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. The Council had also welcomed the report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights and requested the Special Rapporteur to identify a set of elements to be considered in the preparation of a draft United Nations declaration.