E/C.12/2016/1 acting in violation of their obligations if they were to delegate powers to IMF or to other agencies and allowed such powers to be exercised without ensuring that they do not infringe on human rights. Similarly, they would be acting in breach of their obligations if they were to exercise their voting rights within such agencies without taking human rights into account. The same duty applies to States that are not parties to the Covenant, under human rights law as part of general international law. States would not be absolved of their responsibility even where, in its capacity as a State member of an international organization, a State would be acting in full accordance with the rules of the organization. 9 Lending States 10. Debt financing can contribute to economic development and to the establishment of conditions for the realization of human rights. Moreover, States cooperating internationally by providing loans may legitimately expect and seek to ensure that the borrowing State repays the loan in good faith and complies with certain conditions that guarantee reimbursement. All States, however, whether parties to the Covenant or not, that coerce other States into violating their own obligations under either the Covenant or under other rules of international law are responsible for that act under international law. 10 Both as lenders of bilateral loans and as members of international organizations providing financial assistance, all States should ensure that they do not impose obligations on borrowing States that would lead them to adopt retrogressive measures in violation of their obligations under the Covenant. Human rights impact assessments 11. The Committee is of the view that the above-cited obligations imposed under the Covenant require both lending and borrowing States seeking loans with certain conditionalities, to carry out a human rights impact assessment prior to the provision of the loan, in order to ensure that the conditionalities do not disproportionately affect economic, social and cultural rights nor lead to discrimination. In this regard, the Committee draws the attention of States parties to the Guiding Principles on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, endorsed by the Human Rights Council in 2012, as well as the Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2012, 11 both of which call for human rights impact assessment of conditionalities attached to loans or of measures which create a foreseeable risk of impairing the enjoyment of human rights by persons living in poverty beyond their national territory. 12 9 10 11 12 4 See International Law Commission, draft articles on the responsibility of international organizations with commentaries, art. 58 (2) and commentary 5 (A/66/10, para. 88). See International Law Commission, draft articles on the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, art. 18 (A/56/10, para. 76), taken note of by the General Assembly in resolution 56/83 (see annex); see also general comment No. 8 (1997) on the relationship between economic sanctions and respect for economic, social and cultural rights. See A/HRC/20/23 and A/HRC/21/39 respectively. See A/HRC/20/23, para. 40; and A/HRC/21/39, para. 92. GE.16-12655