The protection of human rights in the application of international economic sanctions as a tool of coercive diplomacy : exemplified by the Sanction Regime imposed on Libya from 1992 to 1999

Abstract

With the end of the Cold War and the newly gained capability to act, the Security Council of the United Nations has imposed numerous economic sanction regimes, which advanced to become the most utilized collective coercive measure. Soon, the big expectations that were laid in the sanctions were disappointed. One of the biggest flaws of economic sanctions is their often disastrous impact on the civil population. Critics go as far as to accuse the Security Council of human rights violations and disregard for the plight of the people. But how can the conflict between task of the Security Council, the protection of international peace and security, and the protection of human rights be avoided, let alone solved? The UN sanctions imposed against Libya from 1992 to their suspension in 1999 take a special place in the UN' s sanctions record. Their imposition is by someone deemed as illegal, their humanitarian side effects are widely accepted to have been minimal, and there objectives were met. Does this sanctions regime, witch its balanced embargoes and financial measures, constitute a prototype of a new kind of more effect full sanction? The responsibility of the Security Council to respect human rights is broadly accepted, and so is the need for a coercive measure short of war. The appreciation of these two points is crucial for the protection of the civil population in the target country.