YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS COMMITTEE RECEIVES REPORT ON LESSONS LEARNED FROM SANCTIONS EXPERIENCE
Press Release
SC/6269
YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS COMMITTEE RECEIVES REPORT ON "LESSONS LEARNED" FROM SANCTIONS EXPERIENCE
19960924 The following statement was issued today by Ambassador Juan Somavía (Chile), Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 724 (1991) concerning Yugoslavia, on behalf of the members:At its 142nd meeting, on 19 September, the Committee welcomed Benny Kimberg, Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations, Frederick Racké, Sanctions Coordinator of the European Union and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as Richardt Vork, Director of the Sanctions Assistance Missions Communications Centre in Brussels. They shared with the Committee a report of the Copenhagen round table on the United Nations sanctions in the case of the former Yugoslavia, which was hosted by Denmark and held under the auspices of the OSCE on 24 and 25 June 1996. At the round table, representatives and experts from 29 countries, as well as from the Secretariat of the United Nations, humanitarian agencies, the European Union, OSCE, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Western European Union and the Danube Commission, directly involved in various aspects of the implementation of the sanctions, had expressed their views on lessons learned from the Yugoslav sanctions experience.
The report included useful information for the Security Council and national authorities, as well as for the Secretariat. Being the first of its kind, the round table had helped to identify factors for the effective application of sanctions in the case in question, as well as those areas where improvement could be sought in order to increase their effectiveness. It was observed that one of the lessons learned was the need for a concerted, uniform and coordinated effort, at national and international levels, to implement strictly mandatory measures imposed by the Security Council. An opinion was expressed that the Yugoslav experience had given birth to a new model of cooperation in sanctions implementation, under which States were able to count and rely on support and assistance of the United Nations and appropriate regional arrangements in the application of mandatory measures. The contribution of the European Union/OSCE Sanctions Coordinator, the Sanctions Assistance Missions Communications Centre and the Sanctions Assistance Missions was a vivid example of how, in the Yugoslav case, the experience, capacities and resources of the United Nations and regional organizations had been utilized in a cost-effective manner. The scope and closeness of such
interaction provided an encouraging illustration of how the United Nations and regional organizations could optimize their cooperation, with a clear division of labour and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter.
Members expressed appreciation for the report. They paid particular interest to extensive suggestions on practical ways of minimizing, if not avoiding, the humanitarian impact of sanctions on the civilian population. Attention was also paid to various ideas relating to fine-tuning the instrument of sanctions, making them more adjustable, targeted and focused, and thus increasing their effectiveness as a means of conflict management and preventive action. In that regard, a proposal was noted that the Secretariat should be ready to undertake, at the request of the Security Council and of the respective Sanctions Committee, an analysis and assessment of the effectiveness of sanctions and their humanitarian implications, as well as of the collateral effects they may have on third States.
The Committee decided to transmit the report to the President of the Security Council, to be brought to the attention of the members of the Council.
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