Fair Weather Justice?

Swiss Senator and Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty said sanctions on individuals or groups are generally better than against entire countries, but current blacklisting procedures often violate basic human rights.

"Targeted sanctions against individuals or specific groups are, in principle, preferable to general sanctions imposed on states. General sanctions often have dire consequences for vulnerable population groups in the countries concerned, and generally not for their leadership," Marty said in a report released Sunday, Nov. 11.

Lost credibility

But, Marty said, individual suspects placed on the lists did not have the right to reply and found it virtually impossible to clear their names.

"The present system of blacklists flouts the fundamental principles which are the basis of human rights," he said in the report, which is due to be presented to the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe on Monday.

The UN Security Council first established a list of al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects in 1999. It contains the names of 368 individuals and 124 entities.

The United Nations said its members must freeze the assets, and prevent the entry into their territories, of anyone on the lists. Also, it must prevent the sale and transfer of arms to them. The European Union has set up its own blacklist.

Marty said both organizations must respect "minimal norms of procedure and juridical safeguards" before imposing restrictions. These norms included giving suspects the right to appeal to an independent and impartial organization and the right to compensation in the case of any miscarriage of justice.

Attacks on CIA practices

He said the Council of Europe's 47 member states should make sure such guarantees were offered.

In the past, the Swiss senator has attacked the US practice of "extraordinary rendition" of terror suspects and secret CIA prisons in countries with little regard for human rights.

While blacklisting "may be a useful instrument in certain circumstances and, in any event, for a limited period of time," Marty said it is unacceptable that no clear procedure is foreseen for getting off the blacklist.

"If one adds to this picture the practice of abductions ["extraordinary renditions"], secret detention centers and the trivialization of torture, this provides a worrying, devastating message: principles that are as fundamental as the rule of law and the protection of human rights are optional accessories applicable only in fair weather."

Marty highlighted the case of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, which forms part of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and is on an EU blacklist despite a European Court ruling in 2006 saying it should be removed from the list.

"Despite recent procedural improvements it remains almost impossible, in practice, to be removed from the blacklist -- a situation that is illegal and unacceptable," Marty wrote.

In another example, Yussef Nada, an Italian businessman of Egyptian origin living in Switzerland for three decades, was placed on such a blacklist in 2001 on suspicion of having financed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

His assets were seized and his freedom of movement was severely restricted. He was not informed and was unable to appeal the decision, he has said.

Six years later, the 78-year-old remains blacklisted despite law enforcement agencies in two countries "not finding a shred of evidence of any wrongdoing," Marty said.