UN Human Rights Treaties

UNITED NATIONS
E
Economic and Social
Council
Distr.
LIMITED
E/CN.4/1999/L.12
15 April 1999
Original: ENGLISH
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fiftyfifth
session
Agenda item 10
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
China and South Africa on behalf of States
Members of the United Nations that are members
of the NonAligned
Movement: draft resolution
1999/... Human Rights and unilateral coercive measures
The Commission on Human Rights,
Recalling the purposes and the principles of the Charter of the
United Nations,
Reaffirming the pertinent principles and provisions contained in the
Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States proclaimed by the
General Assembly in its resolution 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974, in
particular article 32 which declares that no State may use or encourage the
use of economic, political or any other type of measures to coerce another
State in order to obtain from it the subordination of the exercise of its
sovereign rights,
Recalling its resolution 1998/11 of 9 April 1998 and noting
General assembly resolution 53/141 of 9 December 1998,
Taking note with interest of the report of the SecretaryGeneral
on
human rights and unilateral coercive measures (E/CN.4/1999/44 and Add.12),
GE.9912137
(E)
E/CN.4/1999/L.12
page 2
Recognizing and reiterating the universal, indivisible, interdependent
and interrelated character of all human rights and, in this regard,
reaffirming the right to development as an integral part of all human rights,
Expressing its concern about the negative impact of unilateral coercive
measures in the field of international relations, trade, investment and
cooperation,
Recalling that the World Conference on Human Rights called upon States
to refrain from any unilateral measure not in accordance with international
law and the Charter of the United Nations that creates obstacles to trade
relations among States and impedes the full realization of all human rights,
Deeply concerned that, despite the recommendations adopted on this issue
by the General Assembly and United Nations conferences and contrary to general
international law and the Charter of the United Nations, unilateral coercive
measures continue to be promulgated and implemented with all their negative
implications for the socialhumanitarian
activities of developing countries,
including their extraterritorial effects, thereby creating additional
obstacles to the full enjoyment of all human rights by peoples and
individuals,
1. Urges all States to refrain from adopting or implementing
unilateral measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter
of the United Nations, in particular those of a coercive nature with
extraterritorial effects, which create obstacles to trade relations among
States, thus impeding the full realization of the rights set forth in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights
instruments, in particular the right of individuals and peoples to
development;
2. Rejects the application of such measures as tools for political or
economic pressure against any country, particularly against developing
countries, because of their negative effects on the realization of all human
rights of vast sectors of their populations, inter alia children, women, the
elderly, disabled and ill people;
3. Reaffirms, in this context, the right of all peoples to
selfdetermination,
by virtue of which they freely determine their political
status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development;
E/CN.4/1999/L.12
page 3
4. Also reaffirms that essential goods such as food and medicines
should not be used as tools for political coercion, and that under no
circumstances should people be deprived of their own means of substance and
development;
5. Underlines that unilateral coercive measures are one of the major
obstacles to the implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development
and, in this regard, calls upon all States to avoid the unilateral imposition
of economic coercive measures and the extraterritorial application of domestic
laws which run counter to the principles of free trade and hamper the
development of developing countries, as recognized by the Intergovernmental
Group of Experts on the Right to Development in its most recent report;
6. Invites the new openended
working group on the right to
development, which will meet after the fiftyfifth
session of the Commission
on Human Rights, to give due consideration to the question of human rights and
the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures;
7. Invites all Special Rapporteurs and existing thematic mechanisms
of the Commission in the field of economic, social and cultural rights to pay
due attention, within the scope of their respective mandates, to the negative
impact and consequences of unilateral coercive measures;
8. Decides to give due consideration to the negative impact of
unilateral coercive measures in its task concerning the implementation of the
right to development;
9. Requests:
(a) The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in
discharging her functions in relation to the promotion, realization and
protection of the right to development, to pay due attention and give urgent
consideration to the present resolution;
(b) The SecretaryGeneral
to bring the present resolution to the
attention of all Member States and seek their views and information on the
implications and negative effects of unilateral coercive measures on their
populations, and to submit a report thereon to the Commission on Human Rights
at its fiftysixth
session;
10. Decides to examine this question, on a priority basis, at its
fiftysixth
session under the same agenda item.