TO NEW YORK STATE REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC:
PSC REQUESTS THAT THE US LIFTS ALL UNILATERAL COERCIVE SANCTIONS THAT EXACERBATE THE LOSS OF LIFE AND UNDERMINE THE WELL-BEING OF PEOPLES AND ENJOYMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Whereas, UN Secretary General António Guterres has called for an end to the ‘illegal and immoral practice of imposing unilateral coercive sanctions’ that have ‘resulted in unimaginable suffering’ even before the COVID-19 crisis; and
Whereas, WHO Secretary Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the great majority of all global COVID-19 vaccines are currently distributed in rich countries, denouncing the rise of ‘vaccine nationalism’ as a dangerous pattern that will exacerbate health and income inequalities in low- and middle-income countries; and
Whereas, UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena Ibarra has confirmed that US unilateral coercive sanctions will deprive one million households in Latin America from much-needed resources for guiding their post-COVID 19 recovery agenda; and
Whereas, US unilateral coercive sanctions have severely diminished trade relations of sanctioned countries, impairing their capacity to import medical and pharmaceutical goods such as ventilators, hygienic products, and PPE, needed to comply with WHO COVID-19 pandemic health guidelines; and
Whereas, US unilateral coercive sanctions indefinitely freeze bank transactions of humanitarian and medical organizations whose work rely upon local groups, impairing the vital cross-border cooperation needed for expediting recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; and
Whereas, US unilateral coercive sanctions have blocked access to medical databases such as Pub-Med and on-line platforms such as Zoom, severely hampering countries’ communication with international medical and humanitarian organizations; and
Whereas, US unilateral coercive sanctions have hampered local banks’ access to international sources of liquidity, undermining the capacity of local banks to create credit facilities needed for investing in vital health infrastructure such as hospitals and clinics; and
Whereas, US unilateral coercive sanctions have obstructed countries’ access to oil, creating fuel shortages that severely undermine people’s access to hospitals and transport of local medical personnel from cities to rural areas; and
Whereas, US unilateral coercive sanctions undermine the ability of states to sustainably develop, thus reinforcing global inequalities and undermining the long-term health and well-being of the populations living under sanctions; and
Whereas, US unilateral coercive sanctions seriously threaten the right to life, health, and food as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and
Whereas, US unilateral coercive sanctions are antithetical to President Biden’s stated commitment to multilateralism, global cooperation, and respect for international agreements; and
Whereas, President Biden’s National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Responses promises to ‘restore trust with the American people’; and
Whereas, global campaigns such as Lift Sanctions Saves Lives, Sanctions Kill, and End Sanctions, have exposed how US unilateral coercive sanctions threaten the physical and mental well-being of populations under sanctions;
Therefore be it resolved, that the Professional Staff Congress of The City University of New York, standing in solidarity with populations living under US coercive unilateral sanctions, demands that you take the necessary legislative action to request that President Biden lifts all US unilateral coercive sanctions;
Be it further resolved, that the Professional Staff Congress of The City University of New York declares that saving lives and mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental and physical well-being of populations under US sanctions must be the top foreign policy priority of President Biden.
Thank you and good luck in Congress. Stay safe, healthy and strong.
