China News Agency, United Nations, August 11th. Four UN human rights experts issued a joint statement on the 11th, stating that due to unilateral sanctions, the economic development and the improvement of personal lives in many countries have been severely affected, and the right to development has been violated.
The statement stated that in a globalized world, unilateral sanctions hurt everyone and hinder the development of relevant countries and people.
Once unilateral sanctions are implemented, the development of the corresponding country will be restricted in all aspects, and key areas will be particularly affected.
"Sanctions make it more difficult for all people to stay healthy, hinder the transportation of goods needed for economic development, cause waste of natural resources, and undermine environmental sustainability and the achievement of sustainable development goals."
Taking Venezuela, Cuba, Syria, and Iran as examples, the statement pointed out that U.S. sanctions prevented conference calls and data services in these countries and other places, and people were unable to participate in webinars and online conferences for information, communication, education, and training. Doctors also cannot access medical databases.
Due to sanctions, people in these countries may not be able to access basic services such as electricity, housing, water, natural gas, and fuel, and the shortage of medicines and food is even worse, so they fall into poverty.
The statement pointed out that in the face of unilateral sanctions such as extraterritorial sanctions, the corresponding individuals or entities, including individuals or enterprises and humanitarian organizations in the sanctioned target countries and third countries, will tend to over-abide by the sanctions to avoid spreading, and intensify them. The impact of sanctions.
Experts call on countries that implement unilateral sanctions to withdraw or at least minimize sanctions to ensure that the rule of law and human rights, including the right to development, are not affected.
The statement emphasized that the United Nations General Assembly has declared that the right to development is an inalienable human right.
When adopting unilateral sanctions, countries should adopt the precautionary principle to avoid any negative humanitarian impact on the entire scope of human rights, including the right to development.
"The punishment of innocent civilians must end."
The four experts who made this statement are: Alena Douhan, Special Rapporteur on the Negative Effects of UN Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, and Obiola Oka, Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity Fowler (Obiora Okafor), Livingstone Sewanyana, Independent Expert on the Promotion of Democracy and Fair International Order, and Traren, Special Rapporteur on Physical and Mental Health that Everyone has the Right to the Highest Standard Achievable · Tlaleng Mofokeng.
UN special rapporteurs or independent experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and work independently in their personal capacity to investigate, monitor and publish public reports on the human rights situation of a specific country or major human rights violations worldwide. The maximum term is Six years. (Finish)