UN rights expert warns states about unilateral sanctions against Sudan News
UN rights expert warns states about unilateral sanctions against Sudan

[JURIST] A UN human rights expert on Monday urged [press release] states to reexamine their unilateral coercive measures (UCMs) imposed on Sudan, which impact innocents instead of political elites. Idriss Jazairy, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and international sanctions, asserted that UCMs adversely impact the enjoyment of human rights. He maintained that there was a lack of detailed surveys and studies to indicate the causal relationship between UCMs and their “specific purposes” and that the product of such an absence created a contradiction with their “proclaimed” objectives. For example, Sudan’s financial sector has undergone a crippling de facto blockade [Sudan Tribune report] since 2013 when three European banks were fined for doing business with Sudanese. The report concluded [MEM report] that UCMs fail to affect elites and officials and that they contribute to “social stratification, inter-regional disparities, broadening of the black market [and] loss of control over financial transfers”. Jazairy, proposed a gradual removal of various restrictions imposed on financial transfers between Sudanese in and outside of the country and insisted that UN agencies in Sudan need to develop and design “parameters” [UN News Centre report] to complete an evaluation of the relationship between UCMs and human rights.

The human rights situation in Sudan has drawn global condemnation of Sudan’s political leaders. In October the International Criminal Court (ICC) urged [JURIST report] India to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [ICC charges] during his visit to the country that month for alleged genocide and other crimes against humanity. The office of Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda urged all states to comply [Reuters report] because although India is not an ICC signatory, the UN Security Council (UNSC) lifted Bashir’s immunity. In September, the ICC requested [JURIST report] that South Africa provide [order, PDF] an explanation for the country’s failure to arrest Bashir. South Africa was required to arrest Bashir on his two-day stay in June because the country is a signatory to the ICC. In March, the ICC requested [JURIST report] assistance [press release] from the UNSC in the forced extradition of Bashir or else the investigation into Bashir [NYT backgrounder] would “never achieve its ultimate goal.”

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