Presented by Aage Borchgrevink, Senior Advisor at The Norwegian Helsinki Committee during SITE 2023 Development Day conference.

1. Aage Borchgrevink
Senior Adviser

2. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
The Russia sanctions as a human rights instrument:
Violations of export controls regarding war-critical
goods to Russia
Stockholm School of Economics, 5 December 2023

3. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
The Russia sanctions as a human rights instrument:
Violations of export controls regarding war-relevant
goods to Russia
Oleksandra Matvichuk, Head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2022
• “Sanctions are a key front in the
ongoing war. The support Ukraine gets
to fight for its freedom is important. But
it is also important what Russia doesn’t
get, as its military industry and armed
forces remain dependent on Western
technology … The Russia sanctions
are at the bottom a human rights
instrument, intended to defend
international law. …”.

4. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
Monitoring Sanction
Compliance using OSINT
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• The Report: A joint effort by NHC,
Corisk, Wikborg Rein and Rud
Pedersen
• Method, limitations
• Aim
• Advocacy levels

5. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
Sanctions as a human rights
instrument: Implications
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• Russia’s attack on Ukraine:
Breakdown of international
protection system
• Tranformative character of human
rights (Magnitsky type) sanctions
• Russia sanctions, in essence, a
human rights instrument
• Implications for stakeholders

6. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
Some jurisdictions with Magnitsky-legislation:
- The US (2012 and 2016)
- Estonia (2016)
- Canada (2017)
- The UK (2017/2018)
- Gibraltar (2018)
- Latvia (2018)
- Jersey (2018/2019)
- Kosovo (2020)
- The EU (2020)
- Lithuania (2017)
- Norway (2021)
- Australia (2021)
- The Czech Republic (2022)

7. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
7
Western exports to Russia’s neighbours are excessive since June 2022
Data: National trade statistics retrieved monthly from UN ComTrade, national statistics offices,
and central bank of Belgium. Customs authorities of China, Japan, USA, Russia, Kazakhstan.<

8. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
8
But total Western exports to Russia have declined since November 2022
Data: National trade statistics retrieved monthly from UN ComTrade, national statistics offices, and central bank of Belgium. Customs authorities of China,
Japan, USA, Russia, Kazakhstan. Adjustments: September data have been set to recent levels for Austria, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Spain, and Sweden.

9. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
9
Germany is behind 20 % of Western indirect exports to Russia*
Data: National trade statistics retrieved monthly from UN ComTrade, national statistics offices, and central bank of Belgium. Customs authorities of China, Japan, USA,
Russia, Kazakhstan. Western shares of Turkey channeling has calibrated to match Turkey exports to Russia (UN ComTrade) minus Turkey origin exports (Russia Customs).
* Germany’s share weighed down to allow for later inclusion of Western shadow exports from Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and 9 smaller EU countries.

10. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
10
Kazakhstan channels 40 % of Western indirect exports to Russia*
Data: National trade statistics retrieved monthly from UN ComTrade, national statistics offices, and central bank of Belgium. Customs authorities of China, Japan, USA,
Russia, Kazakhstan. Turkey channeling of Western goods is calibrated as total Turkey exports to Russia (UN ComTrade), minus Turkey origin exports (Russia Customs).
* Kazakhstan’s share weighed down to allow for later inclusion of Western shadow exports via United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.

11. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
Digital
components
11
Examples of 10 war-critical goods that are being supplied to Russia
Ball
bearings
Lubricating oils,
engine oils
Paints (anti-corrosion)
Drones
Polyamides
(materials)
Trucks
1 2 3
6
8
9
Source: Corisk
10
Communication
Optics 7
Avionics
5
Navigation
4

12. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
12
Supplies of 27 out of 40 Critical List goods, plus 6 other war-critical goods
8806
8456
8704
8716
3208
3209
3403
3098
Drones
Special machines (CNC, laser, photon)
Trucks, trailers
Paints
Special oils
Polyamides
List of Common High Priority Items (Version of September 2023)

13. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
13
Total supplies of war-relevant goods have declined since December 2022
Trucks

14. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
14
China increase export of war-relevant goods, Western states slowly decrease
China
Europe

15. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
15
Are Western supplies of war-relevant goods finally declining?
China
Europe

16. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
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17. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
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18. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
EU Enforcement in
legislation and practice
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• Best practice in the AC: UK
• Key enforcement tool: Negligence
provision
• Proposed EU Directive «on the
definition of criminal offences and
penalties for the violation of Union
restrictive measures»
• 12th sanctions package

19. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
Recommendations
SSE, 5 December, AAB
• EU should criminalize violations of
sanctions when committed with negligence
• Close the Belarus gap (trucks, SUVs)
• Plugging the EU hole
• Remove the intermediaries
• Create incentives
• Extend export licensing regimes
• Update laws and tools
• Increase transparency

20. Norwegian
Helsinki
Committee
SSE, 5 December, AAB