Alena Douhan
Alena Douhan () of Belarus is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, as 25 March 2020. When appointed, she was a professor of International Law at the Belarusian State University and the Director of the Peace Research Center. Douhan earned a PhD at the Belarusian State University in 2005 and a Dr. hab. in International Law and European Law in 2015. Special Rapporteur. According to the "National Review", the role of Special Rapporteur was created by a 2014 resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council  introduced by Iran on behalf of the non-aligned movement, and Douhan is the second to occupy the role. The role is unpaid and its holder is not a member of the UN staff. Qatar. Douhan was in Qatar for twelve days in November 2020 to assess the impact of sanctions imposed by neighbouring countries. She was due to report at the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council, to be held in September 2021, but made a preliminary statement critical of the sanctions. Syria. In December 2020, Douhan made a statement against US sanctions against Syria's government , saying they "may inhibit rebuilding of Syria’s civilian infrastructure” destroyed by the conflict, and may “violate the human rights of the Syrian people.” Her comments were welcomed by the government of Bashar al-Assad, while the US Special Envoy for Syria rejected her findings. Venezuela. Douhan was due to visit Venezuela in August 2020 to investigate the impact of international sanctions. Before her visit, 66 Venezuelan NGOs (including PROVEA) asked Douhan in an open letter to consider the harmful impact of sanctions in the context of years of repression, corruption and economic mismanagement that predate the sanctions, and requested  she meet independent press and civil society researchers. She arrived on 31 January, and was welcomed on arrival by a government minister and the Venezuelan ambassador to the UN. She declared on her preliminary findings as she left on 12 February: that sanctions against Venezuela have had a "devastating" noticeable impact in both the economy and the population. She said "the increasing number of unilateral sanctions imposed by United States, the European Union and other countries have exacerbated the economic and humanitarian calamities in Venezuela" but that Venezuela's economic decline "began in 2014 with the fall in oil prices  and that mismanagement and corruption had also contributed." The government welcomed the report, while the opposition accused her of "playing into the hands of the regime" of Nicolás Maduro. Douhan was harshly criticized by the Venezuelan civil society, and several non-governmental organizations pronounced themselves in social media with the hashtag ""#Lacrisisfueprimero"" (The crisis came first).