SRI submission to the Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures: sanctions and the right to health

In response to the Special Rapporteur’s call for input about unilateral coercive measures and the right to health, SRI made a submission examining unilateral sanctions ​​as forms of economic and racial injustice and imperial domination, and a violation of the right to development. The submission calls for a class analysis of the poverty and other violations resulting from economic sanctions, and for an intersectional and comprehensive approach to the impact of sanctions on the right to health, including health determinants, health systems, non-discrimination, and maximum available resources. Finally, it looks at maternal mortality as an example of the ways in which sexual rights and bodily autonomy are severely impacted by sanctions. 

The Special Rapporteur’s report on this topic will be presented to the 54th Session of the Human Rights Council, in September 2023.

UN Mechanism