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Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter

The drive by Zimbabwe to remove restrictive measures by the United States, Britain and the European Union (EU) continued to grow ahead of the Sadc-initiated Anti-Sanctions Day next week with support from a sub-committee of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) condemning all unilateral embargoes illegally imposed outside the UN.

Zimbabwe commemorates the Sadc-initiated day next Tuesday where President Mnangagwa is set to deliver a keynote address that will subsequently be followed with a musical gala at the Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex.

At its 77th session, the Third Committee of the UNGA, comprising 26 countries, noted that despite the grave hardship and challenges, developing countries and their populations continue to fall victim to unilateral coercive measures.

This ran counter to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the UN and International Law, multilateralism and the basic norms of international relations.

The Third Committee of the UNGA, based in New York, is concerned with social, cultural and humanitarian issues that affect people globally and focuses a large part of its work on human rights questions.

It is currently chaired by Ambassador Jose Alfonso Blanco Conde of the Dominican Republic and comprises countries such as Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Cambodia, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Laos, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Palestine, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Zimbabwe, and China.

In a statement by the head of China’s permanent mission to the UN, Ambassador Dai Bing said they had noted that the world was facing interlocking global challenges with developing countries disproportionately affected. 

“A true, effective and functional multilateral system based on international solidarity, unity and cooperation is urgently needed more than ever. And yet, despite the grave hardship and challenges, developing countries and their populations continue to fall victim to unilateral coercive measures, which run counter to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, multilateralism and the basic norms of international relations,” noted the committee in its statement.

“We reaffirm the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations as well as the duty of states to cooperate with one another in accordance with the charter. We reaffirm the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which strongly urges states to refrain from promulgating and applying any unilateral economic, financial or trade measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations.”

It was noted that despite global call for their removal, the US and its allies remained intransigent.

“Regrettably, despite the global call to urgently lift unilateral coercive measures, the imposition of these illegal measures continues to cause devastating, sometimes even life-threatening consequences, to targeted countries and their peoples. 

“Unilateral coercive measures, coupled with secondary sanctions and over-compliance, exacerbate existing humanitarian and economic challenges, result in lack of access to essential goods and services such as food, medicine, safe drinking water, fuel and electricity, and negatively affect the enjoyment of human rights, including the right to health and the right to life,” read the statement.

“Moreover, as the Covid-19 pandemic is not yet over, unilateral coercive measures impede the ability of targeted countries to obtain necessary goods such as medicines, medical equipment and vaccines. They also hinder humanitarian organizations’ ability to exercise their humanitarian activities and deliver life-saving assistance to affected people and families, in particular the most vulnerable.”

The committee was concerned that the unilateral coercive measures had threatened other areas such as education and access to technology, scientific research and academic freedom, international cooperation in arts, culture and sports, travel restrictions, among others.

 “We reaffirm that everyone was born with equal rights. Unilateral coercive measures deprive the affected population of the full realisation of their human rights, including the right to development,” the statement said.

The committee welcomed the latest Ministerial Declaration of the Group of 77 and China issued in October last year which reaffirmed that the imposition of coercive economic measures, including unilateral sanctions against developing countries, did not contribute to economic and social development, including dialogue and understanding among countries. 

It also reaffirmed its support on a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur Professor Alena Douhan, who visited Zimbabwe on a fact-finding mission in October last year and whose report called for the removal of the illegal sanctions.

“We also welcome the Non-Aligned Movement’s declarations and communiques on condemning unilateral coercive measures and urging their elimination to ensure the effectiveness of national responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

We recognise the work done by the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights and take note of the reports, country visits and statements delivered by the Special Rapporteur,” the report said.

“We reaffirm our opposition to unilateral coercive measures and call on imposing States to immediately and completely cease such practice. We call on states to avoid imposing future unilateral sanctions not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations. 

“The current circumstance calls for solidarity and unity rather than confrontation and division to address global challenges and promote and protect human rights for all.”

Commenting on the statement, political analyst Dr Ezekiel Zabanyana said countries that imposed illegal sanctions should abide by the UN Charter and show respect for the sovereignty of countries.

“The UN Charter says there must not be any measure against a sovereign nation. Disputes must be resolved through political or diplomatic means,’ he said.

Broad Alliance Against Sanctions spokesperson Ms Sally Ngoni hailed the UN Committee and other organisation that stood with Zimbabwe.

“As the Broad Alliance Against Sanctions we really appreciate the solidarity Zimbabwe is getting from SADC countries, African Union, the Asian and Caribbean nations in our anti sanctions bid. No normal person would wish for even their enemies to be sanctioned because economic sanctions are an art of warfare.

Sanctions kill livelihoods and can be equated to the worst genocide. We thank the UN Committee and the special rapporteur for denouncing sanctions because in this day and age with more conflict management solutions, the West should not continue to deter our economy because of our God given resources,” she said.

The Anti-Sanctions Day was adopted by the 39th SADC Summit that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in August 2019 and designated October 25 of each year as the day of solidarity with Zimbabwe against the illegal sanctions imposed by some Western nations.