Analyzing economic sanctions from international law perspective: with emphasis on human rights instruments

Following the ban on the principle of non-use of force, governments turned their attention to sanctions - economic coercive measures - as the main means of achieving their foreign policy goals. The desirability of the use of unilateral sanctions by countries now stems from the idea that it is a middle ground between diplomacy and the use of force, and is also a simple and peaceful tool for changing the behavior of governments The method of this research is descriptive and analytical and the method of collecting library and documentary information. The purpose of this research is to investigate economic sanctions with emphasis on its legitimacy from the aspect of human rights. The question is, what is the status of unilateral economic sanctions in terms of human rights documents? According to the investigations of this research, its findings show: (1) Unilateral sanctions are a violation of treaty, customary international law, as well as a violation of the rule of ius cogens. (2) Although in some cases the doctrine of international law in retaliation is invoked for the legitimacy of unilateral sanctions, these sanctions cannot be considered reciprocal action under the theory of international responsibility of the state. It must therefore be argued that unilateral sanctions are completely contrary to international law especially the fundamental documents of human rights.