A medical journal editor called President Trump’s decision to halt funding to the World Health Organization “a crime against humanity.”
“President Trump’s decision to defund WHO is simply this — a crime against humanity,” said Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the Lancet, a British medical journal, according to the Hill. “Every scientist, every health worker, every citizen must resist and rebel against this appalling betrayal of global solidarity.”
President Trump’s decision to defund WHO is simply this—a crime against humanity. Every scientist, every health worker, every citizen must resist and rebel against this appalling betrayal of global solidarity. https://t.co/7hTwUZ4lJV
— richard horton (@richardhorton1) April 14, 2020
Trump announced Tuesday he was placing a hold on funding to the WHO and vowed to hold the organization accountable for not doing more to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The WHO, Trump claims, was too trusting of information about the dangers of the virus it received from China, where it is believed the coronavirus originated.
“Had the WHO done its job to get medical experts into China to objectively assess the situation on the ground and to call out China’s lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death,” Trump said.
The United Nations defines a crime against humanity as “any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:”
They include:
- Murder;
- Extermination;
- Enslavement;
- Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
- Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
- Torture;
- Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
- Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law;
- Enforced disappearance of persons;
- The crime of apartheid.
The assessed contribution to the WHO by the United States is 22% of the total members’ assessed contributions.
Critics say the loss of that funding could prevent the WHO from fighting the global outbreak of a disease that has sickened nearly 2 million people worldwide.
“There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the #coronavirus pandemic,” said Josep Borrell, foreign policy chief for the U.N. “Only by joining forces we can overcome this crisis that knows no borders.”
Deeply regret US decision to suspend funding to @WHO. There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the #coronavirus pandemic. Only by joining forces we can overcome this crisis that knows no borders.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) April 15, 2020
