[News] International tribunal finds US blockade of Cuba in violation of international law

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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International tribunal finds US blockade of Cuba in violation of
international law
Zoe Alexandra - November 17, 2023
------------------------------

The International Tribunal on the Blockade of Cuba was held in the European
Parliament in Brussels. Photo: Zoe Alexandra

“Comrades, my first words are for the Palestinian people that suffer a true
genocide by Israel with the complicity of the North American government,
the same one that has blockaded us for more than 60 years.” With these
words Homero Acosta, the secretary of Cuba’s National Assembly and member
of Cuba’s State Council kicked off the sessions of the International
Tribunal Against the Blockade of Cuba, highlighting the inextricable
connection between the assault on the Palestinian people and the Cuban
people: US imperialism.

The tribunal held in the European Parliament in Brussels was organized by
the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples and The Left, a
parliamentary group in the European Parliament. It sought to discuss the
human impact of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed on
Cuba by the United States for the last 60 years. It focused on how the
blockade violates international law and also the human rights of both the
Cuban and the European people. The intensification of the blockade through
the designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United
States was also a key element.

The judges presiding over the tribunal included the German International
Law expert Normal Peach, member of the Democratic Jurists Society and
professor, Dimitris Kaltsonis, member of the Lawyers College of Portugal,
Ricardo Joao Duarte, president of the National Lawyers Guild Suzanne Adely,
writer and journalist Daniela Dahn, and the International Law specialist
Simone Dioguiardi.

The prosecution which presented the opening arguments was composed of Jan
Fermon, of the Lawyers College of Brussels, Nana Gyamfi of the National
Conference of Black Lawyers of the United States, and Antonio Segura of the
Lawyers College of Madrid.

Throughout the sessions of the tribunal, in addition to the prosecution’s
arguments, judges heard oral and written arguments from Members of European
Parliament, members of European and Cuban civil society, scientists, Cuba
solidarity activists, representatives of the business community in Europe,
Cuban cancer patients, journalists, feminist activists, and many others
whose lives and livelihoods have been impacted by the many different
components of the US blockade on Cuba. The diversity of economic and social
sectors represented among those who presented arguments in the tribunal
speaks to the expansive and extraterritorial nature of the six-decade
blockade – breaking with the myth that the blockade is precise and uniquely
impacts Cuban political leaders.
*The blockade on Cuba inhibits the advancement of people everywhere*

In her opening argument as prosecutor, the lawyer and rights activists Nana
Gyamfi declared: “The blockade has had a disproportionately negative impact
on Cuban women and people with disabilities. The blockade has exacerbated
the gender gap and impeded women from achieving their goals for themselves
and their families. Women as primary caregivers and healthcare
professionals are affected by the embargo’s impacts to Cuba’s healthcare
sector. Cubans with disabilities also face disproportionate harm as the
blockade prevents them from accessing equipment and software that enables
social inclusion and personal autonomy and improves their quality of life.”

During the tribunal, participants also watched a video testimony from
doctors and family members of child cancer patients in Cuba who have
encountered tremendous difficulties in accessing necessary, life-saving
treatment due to the restrictions imposed by the blockade. The health
workers in the video manifested that they face the difficulty of accessing
sufficient medical supplies and working equipment, essential in providing
quality care to their patients. Those who testified on this issue and
several others, highlighted that this situation is created not necessarily
because of the lack of available funds to purchase such supplies or
treatment, but the restrictions on financial transactions.

This difficulty was echoed by European business owners who testified in the
tribunal. Those who attempt to do business, invest, or trade in Cuba, are
not only often unable to find banks to carry out their transactions, but
they have also suffered retaliatory measures such as having lines of credit
canceled. This has been the case for Spanish businessman Juan Francisco
Fernández Campaña who testified on November 16 in the tribunal.

Peter Mertens, a leader in the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB), spoke in
the contextualization portion of the tribunal and condemned Europe’s
submissive attitude towards the US. He declared: “One cannot be sovereign
and, at the same time, continue to listen to Washington’s orders. Any
country claiming to be sovereign should establish its own relationships and
not submit to the United States’ illegal practices of coercion and
punishment. Europe must go its own way and establish full relations with
Cuba.”

He added that, “The cooperation between the European Union and Cuba is a
win-win situation on many levels, including science. A European regulation,
known as the “blocking law,” states that “companies are not authorized to
apply US laws imposing sanctions, including against Cuba.” Banks are
therefore not allowed to block transfers to Cuba or apply sanctions. Yet,
most Belgian banks do. This must stop, and it can stop.”

Belinda Sánchez, a Cuban scientist and one of the creators of the Soberana
COVID-19 vaccine, testified and spoke about the multitude of ways that
Cuba’s scientific research and development is severely limited by the
blockade. Cuba being essentially banned from buying from US markets means
that it has limited access to necessary materials for research and at least
a 20% price increase for obtaining materials from other markets.

Sánchez also highlighted that the blockade even impacts the reach of Cuba’s
scientific advances because many banks do not accept their payments for
patents and scientific publications as they come from Cuban banks. She
explained that “Not paying for a patent has the direct consequence of
losing the patent in that territory, which leads to it being copied, with
the potential loss of markets for Cuba. Not paying for a scientific
publication has the direct consequence that the publication is withdrawn
from the journal and that the authors are prohibited from publishing in it
again.”

She emphasized: “Years of research aimed at human health are being
destroyed. In my Institution alone, we currently have a payment arrears of
24 publications on the topic of Cancer Immunotherapy, some of which are
older than 4 years.”

The aforementioned testimonies are just a small sample of the type of
arguments heard during the two days on the basis of which the judges
presiding over the tribunal made their ruling.
*The blockade violates international law*

In the closing session of the tribunal on November 17, the judges ruled
that the blockade violates International Law and universal norms for
peaceful coexistence.

They also stressed that the economic, commercial, and financial blockade
imposed by Washington violates the UN Charter, which enshrines the
sovereignty of the countries, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
agreements of the World Trade Organization, among other norms.

After hearing the arguments of the Prosecution and the witnesses about the
human and economic damage of the blockade, the court recalled that the
United States has applied this unilateral system of coercive measures for
more than 60 years, affecting the living conditions of an entire people,
its development, and the performance of the various sectors of society.

Likewise, the magistrates’ decision reflects the extraterritorial scope of
the blockade, a component contrary to International Law, the unjustifiable
nature of the siege, and its intensification with the inclusion of the
island on the state sponsors of terrorism list.

The opinion read by the judges, also pointed out the blockade as violating
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966.
It also refers to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide and the possibility that Washington’s hostility and
its determination to cause systematic collective damage fits into this
crime.

The international tribunal urged the United States to end the blockade
against Cuba and compensate affected companies and citizens.

As the key partner of the US, Israel, continues to commit flagrant
violations of international law in its genocidal attacks on Gaza and the
Palestinian people, many ask, who does international law apply to? Until
the formal and binding tribunals will judge the crimes committed by the US
and its allies, the courts of the people will continue to make their
judgements and the organized people will demand justice on the streets.
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