Hundreds of lawyers have sent a joint letter to U.S. President Joe Biden, appealing for an end to unilateral economic sanctions, according to a report by Bloomberg. The letter condemned the sanctions as a collective punishment to ordinary civilians, and a violation of international law.
Self-styled as the world gendarme, the United States has been exerting unilateral political, economic, and financial sanctions over other sovereign states, businesses, banks, and institutions over the past decades. These actions have caused serious difficulties and humanitarian crises in various countries around the world.
Since 1960, following the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Washington has imposed severe sanctions on Cuba, including a total economic, trade, finance, and travel blockade, and freezing Cuban assets in America. More than 10 million Cubans have long suffered severe shortages of food, fuel, daily necessities, and medicines. Those with severe, often life-threatening illnesses have been denied access to essential, life-saving medicine. During the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020-2022, U.S. sanctions prevented Cuba from accessing necessary medical materials and equipment, such as respirators, ultimately costing the lives of its citizens.
Reference(s):
U.S. Unilateral Sanctions: Stifling rule-based international order
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