NEW PROCESS ON UN SANCTIONS SET TO LAUNCH

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000301 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC PREL EFIN KTFN PTER UNSC SUBJECT: NEW PROCESS ON UN SANCTIONS SET TO LAUNCH REF: USUN 28 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On March 20, the Canadian Mission to the UN convened diplomats, academics and UN Secretariat personnel to discuss a new process to address challenges facing UN sanctions. Although not an official UN endeavor, this process will lead to the establishment in the coming weeks of informal working groups to consider systematically these challenges, including concerns about fairness in the application of sanctions, the degree to which sanctions are integrated into broader conflict-resolution strategies and weak domestic capacity to implement sanctions. Within a year or so, the process will conclude with a final conference in Athens and the publication of recommendations to enhance the legitimacy and effectiveness of UN sanctions. A number of currently funded sanctions research projects -- such as initiatives to study enhanced due process safeguards and the effectiveness of "targeted" UN sanctions -- will be folded into this process. Similar informal initiatives in the past have proved influential to the development of the sanctions tools available to the Security Council. END SUMMARY. NEW SANCTIONS "PROCESS" LURCHES FORWARD -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On March 20, the Canadian mission to the UN brought together academics, diplomats and UN Secretariat officials to discuss a new international process to address challenges facing UN sanctions. (NOTE: Canada hosted a similar meeting in December 2008 to brainstorm ways to address these challenges (reftel); the previous meeting was in response to a growing perception that UN sanctions are at a "low ebb" and facing serious threats to their efficacy and legitimacy. END NOTE.) Canada invited representatives from countries with a history of interest in UN sanctions, including Switzerland, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Finland. Also in attendance were Professors David Cortright and George Lopez, academics with the Kroc Institution for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame who are known internationally for their study on the design and implementation of UN sanctions. The United States was invited, although no other P-5 representatives attended. ¶3. (SBU) Cortright updated the group on recent proposals for a "sanctions process," which would be modeled on informal conferences a decade ago that studied the UN Security Council's imposition of asset freezes, travel bans and arms embargoes. This "process" would not be an official UN-mandated endeavor, but rather a loose collection of academics, experts and diplomats who seek to harmonize their collective efforts. In the coming weeks, he said, a series of working groups would be formed consisting of interested academics, experts and diplomats. These groups would look systematically at the future of UN sanctions in priority areas, namely: -- fair and clear procedures in listing and delisting individuals and entities for targeted sanctions; -- coordination on sanctions issues within the UN Secretariat and among the Security Council's sanctions committees; -- information sharing among UN sanctions expert monitoring panels; -- improving domestic capacity to implement sanctions; and, -- public diplomacy outreach on sanctions issues. At the conclusion of the year-long process, he said, the government of Greece intends to host in Athens an international conference where the working groups will present their findings. In a final stage, recommendations will be published for enhancing the effectiveness and legitimacy of UN sanctions. ¶4. (SBU) Canadian Political Affairs Counselor Alan Bowman noted that Canada is already funding a number of sanctions-related projects and intends to support this proposed process. Swiss Deputy Perm Rep Heidi Grau also expressed support for the initiative and noted that Switzerland was also already funding a number of sanctions research efforts. The Finnish, Swedish and Greek participants concurred that such a process would be useful. EXISTING PROJECTS TO BE DOVETAILED INTO PROCESS -------------- -- ¶5. (SBU) Cortright explained that a number of sanctions projects currently underway will be folded into this proposed process. Various presenters briefed the group on four such projects: -- IMPROVED SANCTIONS COORDINATION: Professor Lopez explained he has begun a research project focusing on the issue of coordination of sanctions policy, particularly how UN Security Council sanctions committees coordinate with outside actors and how the UN Secretariat coordinates internally on sanctions issues. His project, he said, would focus on how sanctions policy is integrated into broader strategies for conflict resolution. Lopez also intends to address the often-troubled relationship between UN sanctions expert monitoring panels and UN peacekeeping missions in the field. -- INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR UN SANCTIONS EXPERT PANELS: UN Secretariat officer Jay Sutterlin briefed on a Canadian-funded project to standardize and streamline the archiving of information uncovered by UN sanctions expert panels. Sutterlin noted that these panels, which are mandated to document sanctions violations, collect massive amounts of information that might be relevant to other expert panels. He added that turnover among panel personnel has made it difficult to keep track of information of possibly long-term value. Sutterlin explained that the new computerized system will simplify the way these panels collect, store and cross-reference information. The Sudan and Liberia UN sanctions expert panels, he explained, have already begun using this system. -- FAIR AND CLEAR PROCEDURES: Thomas Biersteker, professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, said he was overseeing a project to update a 2006 report titled "Strengthening UN Targeted Sanctions through Fair and Clear Procedures." He noted that this influential report, sponsored by the Watson Institute at Brown University, contained a number of recommendations that had since been incorporated into Security Council resolutions 1735 and 1822 (both of which updated the 1267 al-Qaeda/Taliban sanctions regime). Biersteker said this new project will update the 2006 recommendations, review recent progress in addressing due process issues and focus on what he called "toxic designations," i.e., UN designations made in the immediate wake of the 9/11 attacks that were based on weak information and have since undermined the integrity of the 1267 sanctions regime. -- EVALUATING TARGETED SANCTIONS: Biersteker said he had also procured funding for a project to evaluate the "effects and effectiveness" of UN targeted sanctions. He pointed out that most studies on the utility of UN sanctions focused on a 1990s model of comprehensive goods embargoes, such as was imposed on Iraq and Yugoslavia. Biersteker said his new study would assess more recent case involving "targeted sanctions," i.e., the imposition of measures only upon select political leaders or those most culpable for bad behavior. ¶6. (U) These four projects, Cortright said, will help inform the working groups and focus their work on the most pressing challenges facing UN targeted sanctions. He emphasized that these studies and projects aimed to develop recommendations that were relevant to policymakers. The Canadian mission offered to host future informal discussions in New York as this initiative proceeds. ¶7. (U) COMMENT: On balance, this focused attention on UN sanctions -- and the new funding for projects intended to enhance their effectiveness -- is a welcome development. While not official UN endeavors, similar informal initiatives in the past have been influential in developing the sanctions tools that the Security Council uses to respond to threats to peace. USUN will continue to urge leading participants to ensure their recommendations are relevant and grounded in political reality. To this end, USUN has recommended that the U.S. academics involved in this initiative meet with Washington policymakers at an early stage. END COMMENT. Wolff