Gharibabadi: Unilateral sanctions violate human rights access to justice for victims remains the missing link

Gharibabadi: Unilateral sanctions violate human rights access to justice for victims remains the missing link

 

 

Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy Minister for Legal and International Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, met with Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, on the sidelines of the International Conference on Unilateral Sanctions held in Tehran. The two exchanged views on the consequences of unilateral sanctions.

 

During the meeting, Gharibabadi emphasized that such sanctions are in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the fundamental principles of international law. He stated: “States imposing unilateral sanctions are responsible for violating the human rights of sanctioned nations through these unlawful measures and must be held accountable.”

 

He added that in recent years, the Special Rapporteur has made considerable efforts to amplify the voices of victims of unilateral sanctions, thereby drawing greater international attention to the inhumane dimensions of such measures. “Nonetheless,” Gharibabadi continued, “the missing link in all these efforts has been the realization of access to justice for the victims — a gap that the Tehran conference aims to help bridge.”

 

Gharibabadi further underscored that unilateral sanctions are being implemented in a deliberate, systematic, and targeted manner that not only gravely infringes upon the human rights of present generations, but also undermines sustainable development in sanctioned countries — thereby violating the rights of future generations as well.

 

Douhan, for her part, thanked the Islamic Republic of Iran for hosting this important conference and reiterated the illegality of unilateral coercive measures and their long-lasting impact on human rights and national development. She also affirmed that access to justice is a fundamental necessity in this context.

 

The International Conference on Unilateral Sanctions: Access to Justice at the National, Regional, and International Levels commenced this Tuesday, May 20, at the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of Iranian and international experts and scholars in the field of international law