Respecting the right to development and self-determination of the Cuban people

PRESS RELEASE

Geneva, 17 June 2024 – On 15 May 2024, the United States removed Cuba from its list of countries that “do not fully cooperate with counterterrorism efforts”. However, the United States maintains Cuba on a list of States that it considers to be promoting and “sponsoring” terrorism. CETIM and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) denounce this arbitrary and unilateral action, which aims to demonise Cuba in order to justify the maintenance of the illegal economic blockade and the adoption of new unilateral coercive measures.

Firmly committed to the promotion, protection and respect of all human rights – in particular economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development – CETIM and IADL express their firm rejection of this political manoeuvre by the United States. Maintaining Cuba on a list that supposedly designates States that support terrorism is part of an imperialist strategy aimed at denying the Cuban people’s right to self-determination and violating the national and popular sovereignty of the island.

The decision to maintain Cuba on the aforementioned list is a means to justify and aggravate the consequences of the blockade. As CETIM and IADL have been denouncing for decades, the blockade and all the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the US government are causing enormous damage to the Cuban economy, mainly by depriving the State of the resources necessary to attend to the basic needs of its population. The negative consequences of these measures affect all key sectors of the economy: energy, industry, technology, real estate, infrastructure, agriculture, construction, tourism, banking and finance. In addition, these illegal measures seriously affect foreign exchange earnings, the supply of basic necessities and spare parts, and the export of their products.

Unilateral coercive measures, and thus the blockade against Cuba, violate international law and human rights norms. Furthermore, several UN bodies, mechanisms and experts, including the UN General Assembly, have repeatedly condemned these measures as deeply prejudicial to human rights.

In light of the above, CETIM and IADL reiterate their call on the US government to remove Cuba from the list of countries that support terrorism and to immediately, totally and unconditionally lift the blockade and all other unilateral coercive measures unjustly imposed against the Cuban people.

Contacts:
Raffaele Morgantini, Representative of CETIM at the UN, raffaele@cetim.ch, +41796606514
Micòl Savia, Representative of the IADL at the UN, micsavia@hotmail.com

Press release in PDF