A news release from the Office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner says that an independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council has expressed deep concern at the recent imposition of unilateral coercive measures on Cuba, Venezuela and Iran by the US, saying the use of economic sanctions for political purposes violates human rights and the norms of international behaviour. Such action, it says, may precipitate man-made humanitarian catastrophes of unprecedented proportions. His statements follow claims in a recent report published by the Washington-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research that 40,000 people may have died in Venezuela since 2017 because of US sanctions.