United Nations, United Nations.- Unilateral economic sanctions against countries like Cuba and Venezuela are causing today greater suffering and limitations for their people amid the Covid-19 pandemic, UN independent rapporteurs warned.

According to a report by five UN experts, humanitarian exemptions to the sanctions are not working, and people cannot adequately protect themselves against the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus or get proper treatment.

‘These sanctions in the name of human rights are, in fact, killing people and depriving them of fundamental rights, such as their right to healthcare, food, and life itself,’ the report stresses.

Basic supplies like water, soap, and electricity, which are imperative in hospitals, fuel to deliver vital goods and food are scarce due to sanctions in countries like Iran, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen, among others subject to unilateral coercive measures, the text adds.

UN Special Rapporteur on the impact of unilateral coercive measures Ms. Alena Douhan called for the collateral coercive measures to be ‘lifted or at least eased’ to allow access to basic products such as personal hygiene items and medical equipment.

The Cuban and Venezuelan governments are denouncing that, since the beginning of this pandemic, U.S. authorities have tightened sanctions and blockades and, instead of easing unilateral coercive measures, they have prevented the arrival of medical supplies and basic products.