Economic sanctions as human rights violations: Violations: Reconciling political and public health imperatives

The impact of economic sanctions on civilians has frequently been studied b y public health specialists and specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). This commentary explores some of the difficulties of the claim that s anctions constitute violations of human rights. The deprivation suffered by civilian populations under sanctions regimes of ten are violations of economic, social, and cultural human rights; however, the attribution of responsibility for those violations to the "senders" of sanctions (the UN Security Council or the US government? for example) is d ifficult to sustain, particularly in light of the efforts made by these ent ities to provide for humanitarian exemptions and humanitarian aid. A more productive approach to avoiding civilian harm is to prefer, as a mat ter of policy, arms embargoes, severing of communications, and internationa l criminal prosecutions over trade embargoes. Promising recommendations hav e been formulated legariiing "smart sanctions," which target regimes rather than people, and "positive sanctions" in the form of incentives. Health an d human rights professionals have specific and important tasks in implement ing such a restructured approach to sanctions.