On June 21, the Padovan Law Firm hosted an interesting international conference on International Sanctions, Export and Investment Controls in Milan. During the conference, lecturers of different backgrounds and areas of expertise gave speeches on issues such as cyber security, international economic sanctions, export control compliance and investment control in Europe, the US and Israel.
My favorite panel was the one dedicated to International Economic Sanctions in which the speakers made a clear picture of international sanctions; the US sanctions regime and its mechanisms (primary and secondary sanctions); and existing challenges such as complexity, vague legal provisions and different interpretations of legal provisions. However, as a sustainable development expert and an individual of a nation that has experienced “unprecedented” unilateral international sanctions, I started thinking about the cross point of international sanctions and Sustainable Development Goals.
On one hand, in 2015, all states unanimously agreed on the principle of Leave-No-One-Behind and committed themselves to the realization of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/70/1. Pursuant to this obligation, they have run developmental projects and have voluntarily submitted sustainable development progress reports to the UN annually.
On the other hand, however, non-violent sanctions are being increasingly used to coerce the target states to behave in a specific way. These sanctions usually take different forms, including the seizure of property, travel bans, financial and commodity restrictions, raising of customs tariffs, the blockage of funds or goods, and boycott and arms embargo, which mean they place severe constraints on the economic development of states.
Previously the non-discriminatory impacts of sanctions were considered by the 2000 United Nations General Assembly’s Millennium Declaration where states were encouraged to minimize the adverse effects of economic sanctions on innocent populations and on third parties.
In the Seventy Second Session of the General Assembly in 2017, speakers discussed that the imposition of economic sanctions is critical to achieving SDGs. The imbalanced non-discriminatory, equitable and multilateral trading system negatively affects the socio-economic development of the target countries and weakens the contribution of target countries to international economic development. In the same session, examples such as significant economic damage, rising of external debt, mistrust in trading systems and threats to trade as a main driver for inclusive growth were enumerated as impacts of sanctions on the development of the target states.
In the era of globalization, economic development happens only through multilateral trade and international investment. This issue was mentioned in a number of legal documents such as the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO, the Doha Ministerial Declaration and the UN Framework for Climate Change.
Obviously if current trends of international sanctions continue, some states will not be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and will be deliberately pushed behind. This will be a huge failure for the international community in realizing a life of dignity and decency for all human beings.
To sum up, the development process is an autonomous matter that should not be manipulated by external states. According to the international customary rule of the sovereignty, all states must equally enjoy the application of their sovereign management over resources without inter-mediation of transnational powers.
Resources
2. https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/gaef3474.doc.htm
3. https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E
