UN sanctions on al Qaeda said to be deficient

United Nations, June 23 : U N sanctions against al Qaeda and Taliban figures threaten to undermine the rule of law because of lack of due process, Denmark's foreign minister and others told the Security Council today.

The difficulty of removing names or correcting mistaken identities on the sanctions list has long disturbed European, who have submitted a variety of proposals that have been considered at a glacial pace over the past year.

Now even United States, which has submitted most of the names, for the first time has contemplated reforms in a council sanctions committee that compiles the roster.

The Security Council imposed sanctions against the Taliban in November 1999 for harboring Osama bin Laden after the 1998 bombings of U S Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Those sanctions, which include a freeze of assets, an arms and a travel embargo, were broadened to include groups and individuals related to al Qaeda after the September 11 attacks.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, presiding over a council meeting on international law, said sanctions should be targeted ''to reduce the risk of innocent third parties becoming victims of such measures.

''The fight against terrorism must be conducted in accordance with human rights standards,'' Moeller said. ''We must improve due process guarantees in our sanctions regimes, inter alia, by introducing adequate mechanisms for delisting.'' The main actions are taken in a committee, comprised of all 15 council members. It compiled a roster of some 142 individuals associated with the Taliban and 212 people and 122 businesses or groups linked to al Qaeda.

A total of eight individuals and 11 groups have been removed from the roster, some after years of legal hassles with the country that put the names on the list.

U N Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a letter to the council that a person targeted for sanctions had to be informed of the complaint, should have a right to respond in writing and have the case heard ''by an effective review mechanism.'' Germany, Sweden and Switzerland ordered a study that concluded an independent body should decide on applications for taking names off the list, but the there is little chance the United States and others would allow an outside review.

Washington proposed in a paper to the committee that expanding countries eligible to submit petitions to the council rather than just the country of residence. But the country that lodged the complaint would still make a final decision.

France also submitted a paper saying a complaining individual should be able to approach someone in the U.N.

secretariat, who would guarantee that his or her petition reaches the Security Council.

Reuters