Informal Ambassadorial-level Meeting of the Geneva Chapter with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights

The Geneva Chapter of the “Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations” held an Ambassadorial-level meeting on 09 November 2023, during which it engaged in an informal interactive dialogue with Professor Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights.

The meeting was also attended by H.E. Mr. William Castillo Bollé, Vice-Minister of Venezuela for Anti-Blockade Policies, who presented Member States of the Group of Friends an initiative launched in July 2023 by the Venezuelan Anti-Blockade Observatory, known as the “Geopolitical Map of Sanctions”, which is a tool that allows recording data on the unilateral coercive measures illegally imposed by some hegemonic countries against developing countries, which violate the Charter of the United Nations and prevent the realization of all human rights, including the right to development.

The Geopolitical Map of Sanctions is an interactive tool to quantify, systematize and analyze the wide and macabre scope of illegal so-called “sanctions” in all continents, which can be consulted on the Observatory's website: https://observatorio.gob.ve/mapa-geopolitico-sanciones/.

During the meeting, Ambassador Hector Constant Rosales, Permanent Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the UN Office in Geneva, expressed his gratitude for the attention given by the members of the Group of Friends to this important initiative that adds to the efforts promoted in the fight against unilateral coercive measures, which affect more than 30 countries around the world, encompassing over one third of humanity.

The UN Special Rapporteur, Professor Alena Douhan, for her part, provided an update, among others, on the implementation of her mandate, highlighting the recent work she has done to establish a multi-source Sanctions Research Platform, which serves as an independent reference tool for global data collection, research and analysis on “sanctions”. The Platform is freely available at: https://sanctionsplatform.ohchr.org/.