SWEDEN: A new handbook calling for more effective UN sanctions says there must be actions "between words and wars".
The Stockholm Process, the name given to a year-long initiative supported by the Swedish government, sees targeted sanctions as providing such an option.
So called "smart sanctions", these are directed at the most powerful political leaders and members of regimes whose actions constitute a threat. Resources perceived as essential to their rule are targeted, such as freezing foreign bank accounts and assets, restricting travel - and even banning education abroad for their children.
The handbook will be presented to the UN Security Council today.
Iraq is one of the clearest examples of where conventional sanctions have failed. After over a decade, Saddam Hussein remains a threat while the majority of his people have suffered the brunt of sanctions against him.
Based on proposals presented by Switzerland and Germany in what has been called the Bonn/Berlin Process, the Stockholm Process booklet is the third in an international series of initiatives dealing with targeted sanctions. Earlier efforts focused on drawing up models for financial sanctions, arms embargoes and sanctions related to travel and aviation.
Implementation is the key word in the Swedish initiative. Supported by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the main aim has been to enhance the prospect of sanctions achieving their stated objectives while minimising unintended consequences. The study involved some 120 experts from 35 countries and was led by Prof Peter Wallensteen, at the department of peace and conflict research at Uppsala University.
"The overall purpose," says Hans Dahlgren, Sweden's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs "has been in how to produce practical guidelines and ideas on how to strengthen the implementation of targeted sanctions and to present possible ways of action."
The report says that to make targeted sanctions effective they have to be implemented through a chain of actions involving all levels of decision-making, from the Security Council right down to non-governmental organisations.
"Particularly important is that the measures hit the defined targeted actors. This requires that the council action can be adapted to the evasive strategies that will be used by the targets," the report says.
Three working groups dealt with such issues. They examined the various tactics politicians and regimes use to hide money, smuggle weapons or escape. Compliance with the sanctions requires accuracy of targeting and correct identification in the first place.
While the report is non-binding, it has resulted in a host of recommendations. These include designing sanctions with implementation in mind, reporting, monitoring and maintaining international support for the sanctions regime.
The report also says that much can be learned from the UN's counter-terrorism committee, which "suggests novel ways to conduct sanctions implementation".