Global Policy Forum

By Evelyn Leopold

U.N. sanctions against al Qaeda and Taliban figures threaten to undermine the rule of law because of a lack of due process, Denmark's foreign minister and others told the Security Council on Thursday. The difficulty of removing names or correcting mistaken identities on the sanctions list has long disturbed Europeans, who have submitted a variety of proposals that have been discussed at a glacial pace over the past four years. Now for the first time, even the United States, which has submitted most of the names, has contemplated reforms in a council sanctions committee that compiles the roster.

The Security Council imposed sanctions against the Taliban in November 1999 for harboring Osama bin Laden after the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. All 191 U.N. members are obliged to follow the sanctions. The sanctions, which include a freeze of assets and an arms and travel embargo, were broadened to include groups and individuals related to al Qaeda after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, presiding over a meeting on international law, said sanctions should be targeted "to reduce the risk of innocent third parties becoming victims of such measures."

"The fight against terrorism must be conducted in accordance with human rights standards," Moeller said. "We must improve due process guarantees in our sanctions regimes, inter alia, by introducing adequate mechanisms for delisting."

The committee imposing the terrorism sanctions, comprising all 15 council members, compiled a roster of some 142 individuals associated with the Taliban and 212 people and 122 businesses or groups linked to al Qaeda. But dead people are still on the list and Taliban figures who have switched sides and joined the Afghan government are also fingered, council members noted.

'Fair and Clear'

The Security Council adopted a statement drawn up by Denmark, its current president, that committed it "to ensuring that fair and clear procedures exist for placing individuals and entities on sanctions list and for removing them."

But various council members have expressed different ideas on what such procedures should be.Germany, Sweden and Switzerland had ordered a study that concluded an independent body should determine the removal of names from the list, but there is little chance the United States and others would allow an outside review.

The United States proposed in a paper to expand criteria for countries eligible to submit petitions to the council rather than just the country of residence. France said a complaining individual should be able to approach someone in the U.N. secretariat, who would guarantee his or her petition reached the Security Council.

But several countries told the council the way a complaint reached the council was less important than how it was reviewed, citing a letter by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan said a person targeted for sanctions had to be informed of the complaint, should have a right to respond in writing and have the case heard "by an effective review mechanism."

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