Sanctioned States Censure West for Rights Violations

A senior Chinese diplomat on Monday made a joint statement at the General Debate of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, on behalf of 26 countries including Iran, criticizing the United States and western countries for violating human rights and calling for the complete and immediate lifting of unilateral sanctions.   
Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, made the statement on behalf of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe, Xinhua reported.
“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to severely affect all nations, in particular developing countries, and the response to and recovery from Covid-19 require global solidarity and international cooperation,” Zhang said. 
“However, we continue to witness the application of unilateral coercive measures, which are contrary to the purpose and principles of the UN Charter and international law, multilateralism and the basic norms of international relations.”
Unilateral coercive measures have an undeniable impact on human rights, as they impede the full realization of social and economic development and hinder the well-being of the population in affected countries, particularly women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities, he said.
The Chinese diplomat said unilateral coercive measures undermine the right to health, as they encumber access to medicines and medical technologies, equipment, and supplies, adding that "this is particularly relevant in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic." 
The statement welcomed the UN secretary-general's appeal of March 26, 2020, on the waiving of sanctions that undermine countries' capacity to respond to Covid-19, as well as the statement made by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on March 23 on the need to ease or suspend sectoral sanctions in light of their debilitating impact on the health sector and human rights.