Revisiting the Causal Links between Economic Sanctions and Human Rights Violations

Published date01 December 2021
DOI10.1177/1065912920941596
Date01 December 2021
Subject MatterArticles
2021, Vol. 74(4) 808 –821
https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912920941596
Political Research Quarterly
© 2020 University of Utah
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DOI: 10.1177/1065912920941596
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Introduction
In a 2018 report following his mission to Ecuador and
Venezuela, the UN Independent Expert on the Promotion
of a Democratic and Equitable International Order, Alfred-
Maurice de Zayas reported that economic “sanctions kill”
(A/HRC/39/47/Add.1; United Nations 2018, 15). Likening
sanctions to “medieval sieges of towns” that cause “many
deaths,” Mr. de Zayas remarked that “sanctions contra-
vene the human rights obligations of the countries impos-
ing them” (United Nations 2018, 13–14). These bold
statements are consistent with much prior academic work:
sanctions lead to a reduction in a country’s human rights
performance, as well as causing overall harm to human
security (Adam and Tsarsitalidou 2019; Carneiro and
Apolinário 2016; Peksen 2009; Peksen and Drury 2009;
Wood 2008). Although sanctions may be a more humane
form of coercion than military interventions or war, the
use of economic statecraft is not without causalities (Allen
and Lektzian 2013; Peksen 2011).
The growing academic consensus on the negative
effects of economic sanctions is in stark contrast to the
rights-promoting rhetoric and policy expectations that
often accompany the frequent use of economic sanctions
in the landscape of global politics. According to this rhet-
oric, foreign economic pressure should diminish a repres-
sive leader’s circle of support, ultimately leading to a
lessening of human rights abuses, a change in policy, and
political freedoms. How do we make sense of this discon-
nect between the rhetoric and academic findings? How
exactly do economic sanctions induce more repression in
target countries? In this paper, we shed light on the causal
processes connecting economic sanctions to possible
adverse human rights outcomes.1
Previous research finds that sanctions are negatively
associated with government respect for human rights
(Adam and Tsarsitalidou 2019; Carneiro and Apolinário
2016; Peksen 2009; Peksen and Drury 2009; Wood
2008). Yet, the causal mechanisms running from sanc-
tions to deteriorating human rights are still unclear.
Existing research suggests a few potential mediators,
941596
PRQXXX10.1177/1065912920941596Political Research QuarterlyLiou et al.
research-article2020
1The University of Georgia, Athens, USA
2The University of Memphis, TN, USA
Corresponding Author:
Ryan Yu-Lin Liou, The University of Georgia, 202 Herty Drive,
Athens, GA 30602-1492, USA.
Email: ryanliou@uga.edu
Revisiting the Causal Links between
Economic Sanctions and Human
Rights Violations
Ryan Yu-Lin Liou1, Amanda Murdie1, and Dursun Peksen2
Abstract
There is some consensus in the literature that economic sanctions might prompt more human rights abuses in
target countries. Yet, the causal mechanisms underlining the sanctions–repression nexus remain little understood.
Using causal mediation analysis, we examine the processes through which sanctions might deteriorate human rights
conditions. We specifically propose two indirect mechanisms driving human rights violations: increased domestic
dissent and reduced government capacity. Sanctions are likely to trigger domestic dissent, and this instability would
further induce the government to employ repression. Reduced government capacity caused by sanctions will harm
the government’s ability to screen and oversee its security agents, which would subsequently lead to increased
human rights abuses. Results from a time-series, cross-national data analysis indicate that sanctions-induced dissent,
particularly violent dissent, plays a significant mediating role in the sanctions–repression link. Likewise, we find strong
evidence that diminished fiscal capacity triggered by sanctions is likely to result in more repression. There is also some
modest evidence that corruption as a proxy for poor governance mediates the sanctions–repression relationship.
Keywords
economic sanctions, human rights, dissent, government capacity, mediation analysis
Article

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