By Patrick Worsnip
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Thursday improved recourse for people and firms who say they are wrongly included on its sanctions list for alleged links with terrorism, in a bid to head off legal challenges.
A council resolution updating procedures for maintaining a blacklist of those said to be associated with al Qaeda and the Taliban ordered an independent "Ombudsperson" to be appointed to examine complaints of wrongful inclusion.
The list, first set up in 1999 and kept by a committee of all 15 Security Council nations, holds some 500 names, but more than 30 of the individuals are believed dead, the committee chairman, Austrian Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, said.
In addition, there are about 30 court cases pending around the world, filed by people who say they are unfairly targeted by the sanctions, which include assets freezes, travel bans and an arms embargo, Austria's U.N. mission said.
Last year, the European Court of Justice annulled a European Union regulation that had frozen the assets within the 27-nation bloc of Sweden-based Al Barakaat International Foundation in response to its inclusion on the U.N. list.
The court found that Al Barakaat's right to defend itself against inclusion had not been respected. The foundation was taken off the sanctions list two months ago.
Thursday's U.S.-drafted resolution requires U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon to appoint "an eminent individual of high moral character" who would "neither seek nor receive instructions from any government" as Ombudsperson.
The Ombudsperson could not remove any person or firm from the blacklist, but, assisted by a monitoring team, could research a petitioner's case and present it to the sanctions committee for a decision. But the Ombudsperson cannot make any specific recommendations regarding listings and delistings.
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If, at the end of the process, the committee decides not to delist the person or individual, the Ombudsperson must provide reasons to the complainant, the resolution says. Previously, delistings could be denied without explanation.
Mayr-Harting told the Security Council the resolution "represents a significant step forward in improving the fairness and transparency of the ... sanctions regime, thus enhancing both its effectiveness and legitimacy."
The Ombudsperson's office will also press U.N. member states to provide more information on those included on the sanctions list, some of whose entries are so scanty as to be virtually useless.
One-third of the current entries lack basic details such as full names and dates of birth, making it difficult for police, border guards and financial institutions to freeze funds or ban travel. All the entries are currently being reviewed by the sanctions committee.
The U.N. ambassadors of the United States and Britain argued that the resolution, which also reaffirms the sanctions provisions, would strengthen rather than weaken the measures, despite apparently easing the delisting process.
U.S. envoy Susan Rice told reporters it would "reinvigorate the global coalition against the threat from al Qaeda and the Taliban" and "facilitate active participation and ownership by member states in sanctions listing and delisting."
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said, "We hope that this new regime ... will satisfy the courts that the process is entirely defensible, fair and transparent."
Rights group Amnesty International called the resolution "a welcome first step," but said it "still falls far short of an independent and effective review mechanism" as the Ombudsperson could not lift sanctions or make recommendations to the committee.
(Editing by Stacey Joyce)
