Human Rights and Unilateral Coercive Measures

A/HRC/RES/9/4View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, published in 2008.

What else is in this group?

42 documents · 1997–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/209	Human rights and unilateral coercive measures	3,078	–
2024	A/RES/79/167	Human rights and unilateral coercive measures	3,310	–
2023	A/RES/78/202	Human rights and unilateral coercive measures	3,401	–
2023	A/HRC/RES/54/15	Human rights and unilateral coercive measures	1,512	–
2023	A/RES/77/214	Human rights and unilateral coercive measures	3,320	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2009

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2009	A/HRC/12/30	Human rights and unilateral coercive measures report of the Secretary-General		A/HRC/RES/9/4

What’s in this document?

16 operative paragraphs

Urges all States to stop adopting or implementing unilateral coercive measures not in accordance with international law, international humanitarian law, the Charter of the United Nations and the norms and principles governing peaceful relations among States, in particular those of a coercive nature with extraterritorial effects, which create obstacles to trade relations among States, thus impeding the full realization of the rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments, in particular the right of individuals and peoples to development;

Strongly objects to the extraterritorial nature of those measures which, in addition, threaten the sovereignty of States and, in this context, calls upon all Member States neither to recognize these measures nor apply them, and to take effective administrative or legislative measures, as appropriate, to counteract the extraterritorial application or effects of unilateral coercive measures;

Condemns the continued unilateral application and enforcement by certain powers of such measures as tools of political or economic pressure against any country, particularly against developing countries, with a view to preventing these countries from exercising their right to decide, of their own free will, their own political, economic and social systems;

Reiterates its call upon Member States that have initiated such measures to abide by the principles of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, the declarations of the United Nations and world conferences and relevant resolutions and to commit themselves to their obligations and responsibilities arising from the international human rights instruments to which they are parties by putting an immediate end to such measures;

Reaffirms, in this context, the right of all peoples to self-determination, by virtue of which they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development;

Recalls that, according to the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, contained in the annex to General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970, and according to the relevant principles and provisions contained in the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States proclaimed by the Assembly in its resolution 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974, in particular article 32, no State may use or

encourage the use of economic, political or any other type of measure to coerce another State in order to obtain from it the subordination of the exercise of its sovereign rights and to secure from it advantages of any kind;

Reaffirms that essential goods, such as food and medicines, should not be used as tools for political coercion and that under no circumstances should people be deprived of their own means of subsistence and development;

Underlines the fact that unilateral coercive measures are one of the major obstacles to the implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development and, in this regard, calls upon all States to avoid the unilateral imposition of economic coercive measures and the extraterritorial application of domestic laws that run counter to the principles of free trade and hamper the development of developing countries, as recognized by the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on the Right to Development in its report on its second session (E/CN.4/1998/29);

Rejects all attempts to introduce unilateral coercive measures, as well as the increasing trend in this direction, including through the enactment of laws with extraterritorial application which are not in conformity with international law;

Recognizes that the Declaration of Principles adopted at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, held in Geneva in December 2003, strongly urged States to avoid and refrain from any unilateral measure in building the information society;

Invites all special rapporteurs and existing thematic mechanisms of the Council in the field of economic, social and cultural rights to pay due attention, within the scope of their respective mandates, to the negative impact and consequences of unilateral coercive measures;

Decides to give due consideration to the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures in its task concerning the implementation of the right to development;

Requests:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in discharging her functions in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights, to pay due attention and give urgent consideration to the present resolution;

The Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all States Members of the United Nations and to seek their views and information on the implications and negative effects of unilateral coercive measures on their populations, and to submit a report thereon to the Council at its twelfth session;

Decides to examine this question, on a priority basis, as appropriate, in accordance with its annual programme of work under the same agenda item.

Human Rights and Unilateral Coercive Measures

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