UN human rights experts on Thursday condemned the recent actions of threats and coercion by the United States against Cuba, asking the Security Council and the General Assembly to discuss these matters urgently. Stressing its contravention of Article 2 of the UN Charter, the experts called out the international community for its lack of action, stating that Cuba is running the risk of being a “silent Gaza.”
The present-day sanctions target five Cuban entities and eight individuals and have created issues with fuel imports, even for humanitarian purposes. The immediate consequence of such targeted sanctions affected several aspects in Cuba, with reports of uncollected waste piling up in Havana, and growing food insecurity and shortages of medicines and basic supplies due to the increasing grid failures. The independent experts emphasized, “Food must never be used as an instrument of political pressure.”
In January, the Trump-led government imposed a nationwide emergency that disrupted the shipment of fuel to Cuba. This was made on the ground that the country is aligning itself with “numerous hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors adverse to the United States, including the Government of the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, the Government of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.” Similarly, in May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed several sector-wise restrictions, including restriction in transaction for sectors of Cuba as determined by the secretary of the treasury and the secretary of state, among others. The imposition of both sanctions consecutively has increased the blackouts.
Last month, the US State Department released a report titled “Cuba: The Capital of 21st-Century Communism,” stating that the country was a “multifaceted” threat for the US. The experts observed that the report offers no concrete evidence that Cuba supports terrorism or subversive activity, and expressed concern that only political and ideological considerations appear to justify the continuation of coercive measures.
In an effort to change the constitutional order of the country, the UN has previously expressed concern over the US’ use of threats, coercive measures, and deployment of judicial weaponisation. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk also warned that escalating sanctions by the US would cause widespread harm, calling for the sanctions to be lifted immediately. Türk cautioned that the measures are incompatible with the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, asking private companies to disengage and avoid compliance with the sanctions.
The seven-decade embargo, as discussed at the General Assembly, highlights the ripple effects entrenched across all sectors of Cuba’s economy, stating that the differences between the two states cannot be used to justify the collective punishment faced by a group of people.
