UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has issued his harshest criticism to date of the recent sanctions imposed by the United States on Cuba.
Mr. Turk on Monday drew a line between tightening restrictions on Cuba’s economy and reports of rising mortality rates, especially among children.
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“The fuel restrictions imposed since the beginning of 2026 and the recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming the Cuban people, especially the most vulnerable,” Turk said in a statement.
“Children are dying because doctors can’t get the medical supplies and medicines they need. This is unacceptable.”
Such “draconian sanctions” violate “fundamental principles of international human rights law,” he added. He called for it to be “immediately lifted.”
Turk’s comments are a direct response to a series of actions taken under U.S. President Donald Trump to increase pressure on Cuba, a Caribbean island nation that has already weathered a decades-long U.S. embargo.
Starting in January, the Trump administration moved to cut off oil supplies from abroad, the linchpin of Cuba’s aging energy grid.
First, it cut off oil and money supplies from Venezuela. Then, on January 29, President Trump issued an executive order declaring Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the national security of the United States. Any country that supplies oil will therefore be subject to high tariffs, he said.
In the months since then, the Trump administration has continued to tighten sanctions against Cuba. For example, in May, penalties were announced against Cuba’s Ministry of Interior, National Police, and Directorate General of Intelligence.
These were followed this month by sanctions targeting Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and his family.
The sanctions are aimed at punishing those “responsible for repression” in Cuba, where the communist government is accused of suppressing dissent and imprisoning and torturing activists.
Turkey’s president on Monday acknowledged Cuba’s human rights record and called on the country to “release all those arbitrarily detained.”
But he also pointed to the rising death toll linked to U.S. sanctions that have isolated the island nation from much of the world.
The sanctions freeze U.S.-based assets held by those targeted, but also prohibit companies from doing business with them. As a result, access to the global financial system and other international platforms may become difficult.
The de facto oil blockade has increased the frequency of power outages, and essential services such as public transport and health care are facing cuts. Turk pointed to these downstream effects in his remarks.
“Cuba faces increasing isolation,” he said. “Companies are leaving. There are fewer airlines flying to the country. It’s almost cut off from the international payment system.”
Turk’s office also emphasized the human cost of sanctions. According to statistics cited by the magazine, the infant mortality rate has doubled to 9.9 per 1,000 live births. Meanwhile, survival rates for childhood cancer have fallen from 85 percent to 65 percent.
In March, the Cuban government warned that energy shortages would continue to lead to unmet medical needs. It is estimated that 96,387 people are waiting for surgery, of which 11,193 are minors.
It also highlighted that 16,000 patients require radiotherapy and a further 2,888 require dialysis, and that these two treatments depend on a reliable electricity supply.
Turk’s remarks also pointed to the risks posed by the Atlantic hurricane season and other natural disasters. Within hours of his remarks, western Cuba was hit by a powerful 6.1 magnitude earthquake. Summer heat alone can be deadly, he explained.
“As summer temperatures rise, the risk of vector- and water-borne disease spread increases,” Turk said.
“Hurricane season becomes even more dangerous. This creates the perfect storm for social and economic deterioration and suffering for the Cuban people.”
President Trump has repeatedly suggested that he is considering military action in Cuba to remove the island’s leader after the US and Israel’s war against Iran ends.
Only one Russian oil tanker has been allowed to enter the island since January, leaving foreign fuel supplies severely depleted.
