The Foreign Minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza released a statement from human rights experts from the United Nations (UN), who qualify the US sanctions as a punishment against the innocent population and urges to put an end to to this type of actions that violate the rule of law of Venezuela and other countries.
In a post on his official Twitter account @jaarreaza, the senior official added that "there is no doubt that this is a crime against humanity that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court must investigate."
Likewise, the specialists appointed by the UN Human Rights Council reiterate that unilateral coercive measures deny the right to development, both to the economic improvement of their countries and to their own personal development.
“States should apply the precautionary principle when adopting unilateral sanctions to avoid any negative humanitarian impact on the entire human rights framework, including the right to development,” the experts said. “The punishment of innocent civilians must be stopped.”
"The General Assembly has declared that the right to development is an inalienable human right, and this is recognized by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Arab Charter on Human Rights and a series of multilateral declarations on human rights," the experts reiterated.
They also pointed out that the extraterritorial application of sanctions and other pressure measures affect each individual and company in the target societies, as well as nationals and companies from third countries, humanitarian organizations, donors and beneficiaries of humanitarian aid.
"Sanctions undermine the health of entire populations and hamper the transport of goods necessary for economic development, lead to the waste of natural resources, and undermine environmental sustainability and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals," the experts noted.
They then affirmed that the inhabitants of the countries subject to the sanctions, such as Venezuela, Cuba, Syria and Iran, se they sink into poverty because they cannot obtain essential services such as electricity, housing, water, gas and fuel, much less medicine and food.
When US 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, highlight experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council.
The declaration 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 possible level of physical health. and mental, Tlaleng Mofokeng.
It is also signed by the independent expert on human rights and international solidarity, Obiora Okafor, and the independent expert on promoting a democratic and equitable international order, Livingstone Sewanyana.
