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Thursday, November 26, 1998 Humanitarian Aspects of Sanctions Should Be Weighed UNITED NATIONS (Agencies) -- The UN Security Council should consider the humanitarian aspect of sanctions before imposing an embargo, according to a report by the chairmen of UN sanctions committees. The Security Council is due to discuss a report by the chairmen of committees responsible for monitoring the implementation of sanctions in eight countries. The report notably says that "the Security Council should, prior to imposing a new sanctions regime, consider the humanitarian aspect of sanctions." It also says that the experience of recent years confirms that in many situations "it is preferable to use the approach of a targeted and 'flexible response' as opposed to 'massive retaliation.'" "Given that all the United Nations sanctions currently in operation, with the exception of those imposed on Iraq, are targeted sanctions, it would be useful to take stock of the experience gained and to formulate general guidelines," the study said. Targeted sanctions, such as arms embargoes, flight bans, travel bans, and freezing of financial assets are adopted to achieve certain political objectives "without inflicting unnecessary hardship on the general population," the report said. It suggested that the 15-member council should be able to adjust sanctions regimes to "certain legitimate needs" such as the humanitarian situation in a given country and the legitimate needs of neighboring states. UN sanctions committees comprise the 15 UN Security Council members. UN sanctions are currently in force in Angola, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan. An arms embargo remains in force against Rwandan ex-government forces. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To be removed/added, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk, NOT the whole list. Archived at http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/~saw27/casi/discuss.html