Switzerland submits new proposals to UN Security Council on strengthening human rights within the UN sanctions system
Bern, 13.11.2015 - On the initiative of Switzerland, 11 states have called once again upon the UN Security Council to improve due process within the UN sanctions system. In particular, they are requesting that the authority of the Ombudsperson be strengthened and extended to other sanctions regimes.
Switzerland supports international efforts to maintain peace and security, and implements the sanctions imposed by the Security Council. At the same time, it firmly believes that better mechanisms to ensure the respect of due process rights would render the UN sanctions system more efficient. Along with a group of like-minded states (Germany, Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria and Sweden), Switzerland played a major part in establishing the Office of the Ombudsperson to which persons targeted by Al-Qaïda sanctions can turn.
In recent years, a number of individuals and entities have brought appeals before national or regional courts against sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council under the Al-Qaïda sanctions regime and other, state-specific, sanctions regimes. On 12 November 2015, Switzerland and the group of like-minded states submitted a letter to the UN Security Council based on the requirements for human rights compliance that these courts had placed upon states, and in the light of the revision of the Al Qaida sanctions regime that is scheduled for December 2015. The letter calls upon the Security Council to improve due process within all UN sanctions regimes. Persons targeted by sanctions should have an effective right of appeal to a UN body.
Specifically, the letter appeals to the UN Security Council to enable the Ombudsperson to take effective decisions on removing individuals and entities from the Al-Qaïda sanctions list (delisting). It also requests to ensure the Ombudsperson’s independence, and to make the rights of sanctioned individuals and entities with regard to the delisting procedure more transparent. In the interests of a more sustainable solution for all sanctions regimes, Switzerland and the like-minded states are requesting that the Ombudsperson's mandate be extended to all UN Security Council sanctions regimes. Similar initiatives launched in the past by the group founded in 2005 have brought visible improvements.
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