In the framework of permanent cooperation with United Nations bodies and agencies, our Association communicated with the UN Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt, Professor Attiya Waris, for the preparation of her annual thematic report to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.
That report aims to provide a nuanced understanding of how financial resources are mobilized, managed, and directed in conflict to fuel it and also deliberately away from peace processes.
ARC’s submission, published at UN web-sources this July, reminded to international institutions that Russia’s intervention, aggression and attempted annexation of the Crimea and Ukraine’s mainland regions, caused now the unilateral sanctions, including financial ones, imposed by the Ukraine, by European Union and by some third states, including Japan, Switzerland, United States etc.
ARC’s submission reminded the UN again of illegal activities of Russian financial infrastructure in the Russia-occupied territories, including criminal activities of banks and “post operators,” which commit funding via its network Russian war crimes, genocidal attempts, repressions, and terrorism.
ARC’s submission stressed the duty of impartiality in key international bodies, like UN structures and some specialized agencies like OSCE and regional bodies, acting on relevant monitoring policy in the area of financial sanctions and producing analyses on those issues, where the Russian special services’ attempts to make illegal influence and interference were noticed.
ARC’s submission pointed out to the UN again that the methodology of issuing the recommendations regarding sanction policy and producing analyses on those issues must include the issues of the fight against the international crimes and other key violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, committed by the government, that is the object of unilateral financial sanctions in conditions of interstate conflict.
ARC’s submission added that reflection of such issues in the UN must include the estimation of level of violations committed by sanctioned structures in conflict zones against the rights of indigenous peoples, ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities and groups, as well as the right to life and other fundamental rights, as well as the diagnosis of the level of tortures, illegal arrests, and enforced disappearances in researched state or in the territory of interstate conflict.
