Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

Sanctions, in the forms prescribed by the contemporary international order, seek to correct the behaviour of the government of a country that violates the rules of peaceful and ordered international coexistence or that practises serious forms of oppression with regard to its population. The purpose of these sanctions must be clearly defined and the measures adopted must from time to time be objectively evaluated by the competent bodies of the international community as to their effectiveness and their real impact on the civilian population. The true objective of such measures is open to the way to negotiation and dialogue. Sanctions must never be used as a means for the direct punishment of an entire population: it is not licit that entire populations, and above all their most vulnerable members, be made to suffer because of such sanctions. Economic sanctions in particular are an instrument to be used with great discernment and must be subjected to strict legal and ethical criteria.^{1066Cf. John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic Corps (9 January 1995), 7: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 11 January 1995, p. 6.} An economic embargo must be of limited duration and cannot be justified when the resulting effects are indiscriminate.