HAVANA, April 5 (NNN-ACN) — Experts of the UN Human Rights Council described the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba as a violation of international law and of the human rights of Cuban people.
According to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex by its Spanish acronym) on its website today, in an unprecedented statement, the Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Food, the Right to Development, Extreme Poverty and the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the enjoyment of Human Rights considered this unilateral US policy to be serious, including the principle of non-intervention in internal affairs, the principle of sovereign equality of States and the obligation to settle disputes by peaceful means.
The report, sent in January to the Government of the United States by the UN experts, is made public after the 60 days of the privacy period that corresponds to this type of communications, the Foreign Ministry added.
The message states that the unilateral coercive measures applied by the U.S. against Cuba constitute serious violations of the human rights of the Cuban population, including their right to life, to food, to the highest possible level of health, to live without poverty, without discrimination and the right of the Caribbean nation to its development.
It emphasizes the serious consequences derived from the restriction of Cuba’s access to financing for agricultural and rural development programs, and for the rehabilitation and modernization of agricultural equipment and infrastructure, the Minrex continued.
The experts stress that the increase in transportation costs for imports and the cancellation of maritime freight contracts, due to the pursuit of the blockade, has even hindered the implementation of projects of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Cuban Foreign Ministry indicated that the joint communication urges the U.S. government, among other things, to inform on the measures it is taking to guarantee that international law and the rights of the Cuban people will not continue to be violated as a consequence of the unilateral sanctions.
So far, Washington has not responded to the inquiries received from the Human Rights Council, according to the Minrex statement. — NNN-ACN
