UN Human Rights Leader Calls for Cuba Sanctions to Be ‘Lifted Immediately’
Volker Turk said the measures have doubled infant deaths to 9.9 per 1,000 births and cut childhood cancer survival to 65%.
- On Monday, Volker Turk, UN Human Rights Chief, urged the United States to lift sanctions on Cuba, asserting the measures harm the most vulnerable and violate "basic principles of international human rights law."
- President Donald Trump declared Cuba an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to national security in January, then imposed additional extraterritorial sanctions in May targeting traders, insurers, and financial institutions.
- The OHCHR cited alarming health figures: infant mortality doubled to 9.9 per 1,000 births, childhood cancer survival rates fell from 85 to 65 percent, and essential medicines are available at around 30 percent of normal supply levels.
- Turk noted Cuba faces increasing isolation, with fewer airlines and payment system disconnections, while the Atlantic hurricane season and recent earthquakes create a "perfect storm" for social and economic deterioration.
- Invoking the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Turk urged private companies to avoid blanket disengagement while calling on Cuban authorities to exercise restraint and "respect civil liberties.
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27 Articles
Children are dying as sanctions tighten and fears of military escalation grow in Cuba
UN human rights chief says U.S. restrictions are driving medicine shortages, food insecurity, and prolonged blackouts while lawmakers warn of a possible new conflict in the Caribbean.
US blockade of Cuba killing children – UN commissioner
The sanctions imposed on the island nation by Washington are incompatible with international human rights law, according to Volker Turk Children in Cuba are dying amid acute shortages of essential medical supplies caused by US-imposed economic sanctions, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said. The island nation has endured daily blackouts...
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged the United States to immediately lift the sanctions that have accumulated against Cuba since January, considering that “such severe, indiscriminate and extremely burdensome sanctions regimes for the population are incompatible with the fundamental principles of international human rights law”
'Children Are Dying': UN Human Rights Chief Demands Trump End Economic Assault on Cuba
"The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable," said Volker Türk.
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