EU sanctions: a new human rights tool? : the case of Belarus

Abstract

The thesis focuses on the use of EU sanctions to promote respect for human rights in third countries. Targeted or ‘smart’ sanctions have been widely used in recent years by the European Union in pursue of its foreign policy objectives. Their purpose it is not punitive but to bring about a behavioural or policy change. This work reveals to what extent sanctions have become a ‘normative tool’ to promote ‘normative aims’. On the other hand sanctions may conflict with other fundamental principles of international law, namely the principle of non-intervention or with respect for fundamental right of the targets. This work claims that the EU sanctions can effectively contribute to decrease human rights violations in third states. However, the effectiveness of these measures depends on a higher level of consistency among member states at the decision-making and implementation level. Based on the research outlined above the case study on Belarus illustrates the function of sanctions in a wider strategy to promote and protect human rights, however, the existence of the above mentioned inconsistencies have led to failure of this policy.