Economic sanctions imposed against countries were described as “war crimes, terrorism and genocide” by a group of experts and diplomats attending a web seminar called “Impact of unilateral coercive measures in the world fight against COVID-19,” organized by the diplomatic missions of Belarus, China, Nicaragua, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe to the United Nations.
The web seminar was moderated by Mari Fernanda Espinosa, former president of the UN General Assembly, who explained that unilateral coercive measures are arbitrary and illegal, oppose the UN Charter and international right, and affect the human rights of peoples, including the right to life, food and health.
In his speech, Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s permanent representative to the UN, pointed out that unilateral coercive measures embody an illegal obstacle making practically impossible for countries to access the international financial system or trade to purchase medicines and food, which are priority to face the crisis.
Moncada highlighted that the UN has condemned these sanctions, particularly when they are used as a political coercive mechanism against countries. Unfortunately, he said, the states imposing these sanctions “have turned a deaf ear to these calls and continue acting with impunity against human life” and committing crimes against humanity.
The Venezuelan diplomat urged sanctioning countries to put aside their political interests and support the common interest in saving lives and facing together COVID-19.
Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, asserted that “the virus cannot only be fought with cooperation among us” and said that they have stressed in different scenarios the urgency of suspending these coercive measures because they affect the capacity of 20% of UN member countries to contain the pandemic, which has proven “these sanctions can be lethal.”
Jeffrey Sachs, economist and director of the Center for Sustainable Development of Columbia University, highlighted that “we are dealing with an extremely cruel U.S. leadership” and a president who does not care countries are suffering and ended funding to the World Health Organization.
Sachs explained that the most serious thing about sanctions is their extraterritoriality since they push other countries to comply with them out of fear for U.S. retaliations. Likewise, he urged to find alternative mechanisms so that affected nations can trade away from the reach of the U.S. financial system.
Richard Kozul-Wright, director of the Division of Globalization and Development Strategies (UNCTAD), expressed that unilateral coercive measures are “an open wound” for the multilateral system, which must be rebuilt in a moment when it needs it the most.
Kozul-Wright highlighted the South-South cooperation as an alternative to elude the effects of these coercive measures on commercial exchange among countries.
“Sanctions must be called what they are: war crimes, because they are imposed against the civilian population of these countries with the intention of causing misery and death to their people. They can be considered genocide,” said Dan Kovalik, human rights and labor rights lawyer, in his speech at the virtual seminar.
Kovalik insisted that it is not enough to avoid sanctions; rather than that, the UN and the International Criminal Court have the power to act and enforce international law so that all member states can be treated equally and with respect.
Russia’s and Iran’s Ambassadors to the UN Vassily Nebenzia and Majid Takhte Ravanchi advocated for multilateralism and the joint effort of the international community and agreed that unilateral coercive measures undermine the countries’ capacity to respond to the sanitary crisis.