The United Nations human rights chief has urged Washington to immediately lift tough sanctions imposed on Cuba this year, warning they were causing widespread suffering and endangering lives.

While Cuba has been under a US trade embargo since 1962, President Donald Trump has drastically ramped up pressure in recent months, cutting off its fuel supplies and threatening to take over the island.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement, "The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable."

"Children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines. This is unacceptable. These sanctions must be lifted immediately."

Turk pointed out that the oil blockade had left Cuba with daily blackouts frequently exceeding 20 hours.

Additional sanctions imposed last month – some with extraterritorial effect on private entities like traders, insurers and shipping companies – had added to the misery.

"These measures, combined, are significantly affecting the population's human rights," Turk's statement further read, highlighting that critical medical services were under severe strain, with essential medicines in "critical short supply."

Recent public health data indicated that infant mortality had doubled and childhood cancer survival rates had decreased since the fuel restrictions were imposed, the statement said.

It also highlighted a reported 60% decrease in food production and spikes in the cost of basic food items.

Turk concluded, "Such severe sanctions packages that target entire sectors of an economy and produce broad, indiscriminate and harsh effects on populations are incompatible with basic principles of international human rights law."