UN experts denounce Trump’s Executive Order imposing Cuba oil tariffs as a violation of international law.

Human Rights experts from the United Nations issued a joint statement on February, 12 condemning the Executive Order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on January 29, which authorizes the imposition of trade tariffs on countries that sell or supply -directly or indirectly- oil to Cuba, labeling the country an “unusual threat.”

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The experts described the measure as a “grave violation of international law” and an “extreme unilateral coercive measure with extraterritorial effects”, which represents a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order”, the UN experts said.

The statement denounces that the United States seeks to pressure Cuba and force other sovereign states to modify their legitimate trade relations. The experts noted that the order “directly violates the principles of sovereign equality, non-interference, and self-determination of peoples”, which are essential pillars reflected in the UN Charter.

“There is no right under international law to impose economic penalties on third States for engaging in lawful trade with another sovereign country”, affirmed.

They also rejected as lacking credibility the allegations that Cuba poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security or that it supports “transnational terrorist groups,” indicating that such accusations seek to justify an energy blockade.

The Special Rapporteurs and independent experts expressed “deep concern about the humanitarian consequences” of these measures, equating them to an act of collective punishment that violates the human rights of the Cuban people.

In this sense, UN experts urged the U.S. Government to immediately revoke the Executive Order and end the use of extraterritorial economic measures, while calling on all states not to recognize or validate these actions.

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