The Sunday News
Harare Bureau
ILLEGAL sanctions such as those imposed on Zimbabwe by the West hold back development and punish innocent civilians in affected countries, an independent panel of experts appointed by the United Nations (UN) has said.
The submissions by the global body once again put paid to claims by the West that sanctions against Zimbabwe are targeted and do not harm ordinary people. According to the UN experts many people around the world are being denied the right to development at both country and personal level because of the unilateral coercive measures.
The experts called on the West and other countries that impose unilateral sanctions to withdraw or at least minimise the measures to guarantee that the rule of law and human rights, including the right to development, are not affected.
“The precautionary principle should be applied by States when unilateral sanctions are taken to avoid any negative humanitarian impact on the whole scope of human rights, including the right to development,” the experts said. The punishment of innocent civilians must end.
“The General Assembly has declared the right to development to be an inalienable human right, and it is recognised as such by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Arab Charter on Human Rights and a range of multilateral human rights declarations.”
The experts said extraterritorial application of sanctions impact negatively on every individual or company in targeted societies.
“Sanctions hold countries back from development, they hold back people as well, and in a globalising world, that hurts everyone. Sanctions make it harder for entire populations to stay healthy and hamper the transportation of goods needed for economic development, result in the waste of natural resources, undermine environmental sustainability and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Activities essential to every country’s development suffer when unilateral sanctions are imposed.”
The experts said people in targeted countries like Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Cuba, Syria and Iran sink into poverty because they cannot get essential services like electricity, housing, water and fuel.
“When US sanctions block teleconferencing and data services in these countries and elsewhere, people are cut off from webinars and online meetings for information, exchanges, education and training, and doctors cannot consult medical data bases,” said the experts.
The panel of experts comprised Ms Alena Douhan, Mr Obiora Okafor, Mr Livingstone Sewanyana and Ms Malang Mofokeng. For two decades, Zimbabwe has been squeaking under the weight of the illegal economic sanctions that were imposed by Western nations outraged by the country’s decision to redress land imbalances caused by colonisation. As a result of the unilateral sanctions that breach international statutes, the country’s population has been hit hardest as Zimbabwe has had to go it alone without support from international financiers. Because of the sanctions, Zimbabwe could not access assistance to fight the Covid-19 pandemic like other African countries.
