September 16, 2019
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Implementation of Sanctions

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Special Committee on the United Nations Charter

Topic: Implementation of Sanctions

The United Nations Charter Committee was established to consider proposals and questions to clarify the charter and improve the efficiency of the United Nations without an amendment. The Charter Committee debates such proposals and issues recommendations to the General Assembly by passing resolutions on the matter.

In 2015 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/70/117, which reiterated the mandate of the United Nations Special Committee on the Charter to consider the question of maintenance of international peace and security. A critical part of that has been the role of sanctions implemented by the United Nations Security Council. Sanctions are interpreted from Article 41 of the Charter which reads “The Security Council may decide what measures not involving the use of armed force are to be employed to give effect to its decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the United Nations to apply such measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations”. Currently, there are more than ten active sanction regimes targeting nations from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, to Haiti, to  the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to Al Qaeda. These sanction regimes target over 1,000 individuals.

Since 2004 the targeting of sanctions have become more specific, rather than entire countries, individuals, groups, and undertakings have been the focus of modern sanctions. These sanctions frequently take the form of travel bans, arms embargoes, and asset freezes with the goal of deterring “poor” behaviors such as blocking humanitarian aid, violating human rights, or breaking international peace. In order to reach the specificity necessary for such sanctions, the United Nations Security Council relies on sub-committees to establish and maintain lists of those who will be targeted by the sanctions based on the criteria laid out by the Security Council. These sub-committees will usually establish a panel of experts to help with this work and coordinate with relevant specialized organizations like the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, International Maritime Organization, IMO, and World Customs Organization, WCO.

Despite the progress made in the implementation of sanctions, there are still concerns in the implementation of sanctions and doubts about their effectiveness. On implementation, there are claims that while sanctions may be amended or removed according to the situation, some member states place egregious or impossible criteria for sanctions relief. Additionally, out of all the sanction regimes currently in place on 1,000 individuals, there is only one specialized Ombudsperson Office for removing individuals from a sanctions list and the office is only for those targeted by sanctions intended for members of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, who only account for about one quarter of all individuals under sanctions. As for the effectiveness of sanctions, a 2013 report cited by the Security Council itself found targeted sanctions to be 28% in constraining “constraining negative behavior” and only 10% effective in bringing about a “behavior change” in the target. There are additional concerns over the dysfunction of the expert panels, as their membership is managed by the Security Council and appointments can be held up by permanent members, leading to understaffed panels incapable of carrying out their duties. The delegates of the United Nations Charter Committee must therefore consider how sanctions are implemented by the United Nations today and how they may be better carried out tomorrow.

 

Focus Questions:

  • Is the current sanctions process effective in selectively targeting groups and individuals?
  • Are there aspects of the process that reduce the effectiveness of sanctions?

 

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