In the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held in Geneva on Friday, September 13, China and several other developing countries from across the world denounced all forms of illegal unilateral coercive measures by the U.S. and its allies, demanding their immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
The interactive session was held to discuss the latest report submitted by Alena Douhan, the UN special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures, to the UNHRC on September 9. Representatives from various countries agreed that these unilateral sanctions, as they are commonly referred to, violate basic principles of the UN charter by interfering in other countries’ internal matters and incapacitating governments in the developing world in carrying out basic developmental work.
Douhan’s report reiterates that unilateral “sanctions” violate international law and negatively affect the rights of citizens of the subject country.
The representatives from various nations reiterated that unilateral sanctions directly undermine the political, economic and social stability of nations, and hinder the achievement of sustainable development goals by making them financially vulnerable and politically isolated.
The U.S. and its allies have in recent years imposed various trade related and banking restrictions on countries such as China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Venezuela among others. For decades, it has yielded unilateral sanctions against nations such as Cuba, Syria, and Yemen.
Representatives from various nations underlined that their governments have been unable to fulfill basic service needs for the majority of their populations due to these unilateral sanctions, which perpetuate poverty and hunger.
Some countries also claimed that the imposition of unilateral sanctions makes the targeted countries and their people subject to frequent instability and unrest, depriving millions of their basic rights to security and development.
A representative from Iran agreed with Douhan’s proposal to constitute a transparent and comprehensive monitoring mechanism to assess the impact of such unilateral sanctions.
In her report, Douhan underlined that “clear information and precise data statistics are of crucial importance to identify the humanitarian impact of unilateral coercive measures, further raise awareness about their destructive nature, as well as to enable States and other actors to respond to such measures, including through advocacy, actions and policies.”
Violation of basic principles of international relations
Speaking during the discussion, representatives from Russia and Venezuela termed the repeated use of unilateral coercive measures as blatant violations of the internal affairs of countries with the sole objective of gaining the upper hand in the global politics. They added that the unilateral measures are used by the U.S. as a geopolitical tool to pressure countries to change their policies, which do not conform to U.S. interests.
Both Russia and Venezuela have been subjected to numerous unilateral coercive measures by the U.S. and its allies.
The Chinese representative alleged that the U.S. uses pretenses of democracy and human rights to conceal its actual violations of its commitments under international law, despite its own poor record in regard to human rights.
China has been subjected to various kinds of sanctions by the U.S., including restricting the export of semiconductors and other key technologies. Several Chinese companies such as Huawei have been sanctioned too. Most of the sanctions against China are a result of U.S. attempts to safeguard its economic interests in the international market.
The Cuban representative articulated how the decades-long U.S. blockade has impacted the basic needs of the majority of the people in the country. He underlined that Cuban funds frozen by the U.S. could be used to cater to the food and medicine needs of the hundreds of thousands of Cubans.
Instead of addressing the legitimate needs of the Cuban people, which has been repeatedly identified by the UN through its resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the comprehensive blockade, the U.S. has refused and even designated Cuba as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism,” which severely worsens the economic conditions of the Cuban people.
The Syrian representative underlined how various assessments including reports from the UN have established that unilateral coercive measures have been a serious roadblock to reconstruct the country after years of war. It also prolongs the suffering of the people in the areas affected by war, as it makes the government incapable of delivering basic services such as electricity, water and medicine.
Instead of indulging in unilateral illegal actions, the U.S. and its allies need to focus on developing greater international cooperation and rely on nurturing long term dialogue as the most effective means of resolving disputes, underlined the representative from South Africa.