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News > U.S.

UN Experts Urge the US to End Unilateral Coercive Measures

  • Many people around the world are being denied the right to development, both their countries’ improvement and their personal development, because of unilateral coercive measures, independent experts appointed by the UN HRC said today.

    Many people around the world are being denied the right to development, both their countries’ improvement and their personal development, because of unilateral coercive measures, independent experts appointed by the UN HRC said today. | Photo: Twitter @JAQuintanillaR

Published 11 August 2021
Opinion

Experts say unilateral restrictive measures hinder the provision of essential services and affect societies as a whole. They argue that they affect the right to development and violate the rule of law and human rights.

United Nations (UN) rapporteurs and independent experts asserted on Wednesday that unilateral restrictive measures violate the right to development, and demanded that the United States and other countries that use them against others cease imposing them.

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In a statement published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HR), the rapporteurs say that nations such as Venezuela, Cuba, Syria, and Iran are unable to obtain essential services.

Among them, they mention medicine, food, electricity, water, and fuel. They also recognize that the purpose of this policy is to plunge these nations into poverty.

The experts recalled that the United Nations General Assembly declared the right to development as an inalienable right.

They called on countries that impose unilateral restrictive measures to withdraw or reduce them so as not to affect the right to development, and not to violate the rule of law and human rights. In this regard, they emphasized that "the punishment of innocent civilians must be stopped.

They exemplified that "when U.S. sanctions block teleconferencing and data services in these countries and others, people are left without access to webinars and online meetings for information, exchanges, education and training, and doctors cannot consult medical databases."

They also noted that the extraterritorial application of sanctions and other pressure measures affect every individual and company in the targeted societies, as well as third-country nationals and companies, humanitarian organizations, donors, and recipients of humanitarian aid.

The statement is signed by the UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena Douhan, and the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Tlaleng Mofokeng.

The independent expert on human rights and international solidarity, Obiora Okafor, and the independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Livingstone Sewanyana, also signed it. 

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