Posts by Leo Wang
Domestic Implementations of the UN’s Financial Sanctions against the Libyan Regime
On February 26, 2011, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1970, which authorized, among other measures, an asset freeze against Muammar Gaddafi, his family, and certain members of the Libyan regime.
The Security Council passed the Resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows the Security Council to issue binding decisions to maintain or restore international peace and security. Thus, member states are obliged to take domestic measures to implement the Resolution’s sanctions against the Libyan regime. This post provides a brief overview and comparison of the specific domestic initiatives that Canada, the UK, and the US have taken to implement UNSCR 1970 at a domestic level.
Canada
On February 27, one day after the passage of UNSCR 1970, Canada adopted Regulations Implementing the United Nations Resolution on Libya and Taking Special Economic Measures. The Governor General made these regulations under the authority granted by the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA). The Special Economic Measures Act grants the Governor General the authority to make regulations to impose sanctions against a foreign state when Canada is obliged to through its membership in an international organization or when there is a threat to international peace and security.
United States
On February 25, one day prior to the passage of UNSCR 1970, Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13556 Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya. Although the sanctions…
10 Years Later — UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security
On October 31, 2001, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1325 (CSR 1325), a groundbreaking statement emphasizing the disproportionate affect of armed conflict on women and urging the incorporation of a “gender perspective” in conflict prevention and resolution. The resolution was a culmination of years of effort on the part of NGOs, activists, scholars, and bodies within the UN.
While this document is laudable in its recognition of the special needs of women during hostilities and the role they must play in levels of the peace process, the resolution is conspicuous in its lack of concrete plans or benchmarks against which progress can be measured, either by governments, NGOs, or the UN itself.
10 years after the adoption of what might be characterized as a largely aspirational resolution, how far has the world community come? To what extent has the UN itself taken to heart the very language and ideas it advances?
On many fronts, there is cause for optimism. Since November 2000, 100% of Security Council resolutions on Darfur, over 60% of resolutions on Chad and the Central African Republic, and half of resolutions on Sudan contain language consistent with the spirit and language of SCR 1325.[1] In Rwanda, 56% of MPs are women, far surpassing the 30% quota mandated in its post-genocide constitution.[2] This is heartening, especially given that sexual violence and conflict on the…
