نشریه پژوهش نامه حقوق بشری
پیاپی 27 (بهار 1401)

After the Cold War, the Security Council has widely used the tool of sanctions, referring to the Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The imposition of such sanctions in terms of violation of articles 1, 24 and 55 of the Charter and other human rights treaties is considered a violation of the jurisdiction and legal authority of this council and is invalid; and in terms of violation; The Security Council failed to fulfill its international obligations in the field of human rights, the causes of the international responsibility of this council and consequently of the United Nations will be realized. The study of the consequences of imposing sanctions in the target countries shows that the most suffering and damage of these restrictions was inflicted on ordinary people and human rights standards have been widely violated as a result of sanctions. In this article, using the descriptive-analytical method, we seek to investigate the effects of human rights violations of sanctions that have been unilaterally imposed on Iran.

Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there have been significant changes in the direction of the development of basic human rights. However, despite the great progress, there are still countless gaps and defects, and there are disagreements among international actors for its implementation. One of the most important of them is the Imposing of unilateral economic sanctions. This type of sanctions is inherently a violation of human rights and a tool of negative imposition against the target country and brings irreparable consequences for innocent civilians in the target country. In addition, it leads to restrictions on access to food, disrupts the vital infrastructure of health and life, disrupts the national economy, and it will cause women and children to be deprived of their daily necessities. One of the most important effects of sanctions on countries that are under the pressure of all kinds of sanctions is the reduction of the right to enjoy living standards, that the main victims of this right are women, children and the elderly of every society, as a vulnerable group. In this research, the researchers will examine the behavior of the American government during the Obama and Trump presidency in imposing sanctions that violate the human rights of women and children, and will examine and study its effects on women, children, and the target society.

Our current world is a world of intertwined economies; So that the continuation of economic life of countries depends on international cooperation. According to the United Nations Charter (1945) and the two Covenants (1966), the states are committed to strengthen world peace, expand international relations and strengthen respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms; While imposing unilateral sanctions is in clear contradiction with these commitments. The present article with a comprehensive review of the concept of sanctions and its types; It seeks to understand the position of unilateral sanctions in international law, as well as the reactions and capacities of the international community to face such coercive measures. Unilateral sanctions, especially primary and secondary economic sanctions(extra-territorial), which are carried out outside the provisions of the United Nations Charter, are used as tools of political pressure in the hands of powerful countries to impose their intentions on the target governments of such actions (including the unilateral coercive sanctions of the United States against Iran). Unilateral sanctions by violating the principles of “legal equality of states”, “international cooperation”, “non-intervention” and “non-use of force” violate the standards of international law, especially in the field of fundamental human rights. In recent years, there have been many reactions in the form of offering proposals, issuing statements and resolutions in opposition to unilateral coercive sanctions and continues. Despite the fact that the international community has many political capacities (enlightenment of public opinion, issuing announcements and statements) and legal (provisions of the United Nations Charter and covenants, specific treaty obligations, judicial references, etc.) in order to prevent or reduce the effects of unilateral sanctions; However, due to obstacles such as “veto” power in the hands of the sanctioners and the actual dependence of most countries on their Political-Economic Hegemony, it has not been very successful. It seems that, in addition to the mentioned mechanisms, until a global consensus is formed against these unilateral coercive measures, achieving the appropriate result will be far from mind.

The challenges facing the rule of law in the face of unilateralism in international law, which are expressed in this research in a descriptiveanalytical method and using library resources and documents, constitute one of the important issues of relations and international law, and it intends to answer the basic question that what are the challenges of the unilateral US sanctions against countries, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran, with international law? and are these unilateral Imposing valid and legitimate from the point of view of international law? The data shows that since 2002, the issue of sanctions against Iran and the unilateral implementation of US sanctions, without the prior permission of the Security Council and outside of the collective security system charter, it has caused the legality of these measures to be questionable in terms of their compliance with international legal standards and also contradict the principle of the rule of law at the international level.