The World Health Organization (WHO) should overturn its decision to appoint Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador, global health leaders said on Saturday, describing the move as unjustifiable and wrong.

Britain said Mugabe’s appointment was “surprising and disappointing” and added that it risked overshadowing the WHO’s global work. The United States, which has imposed sanctions on Mugabe for alleged human rights violations, said it was “disappointed.”

“This appointment clearly contradicts the United Nations’ ideals of respect for human rights and human dignity,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.

“This selection underscores why the United States continues to push for U.N. reform and leadership actions that uphold our shared U.N. ideals.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the appointment at a high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Uruguay on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by Mugabe, 93. He is blamed in the West for destroying his country’s economy and numerous human rights abuses during his 37 years leading the country as either president or prime minister.

In a speech, Tedros praised Zimbabwe as “a country that places universal health coverage and health promotion at the center of its policies to provide health care to all”.

The former Ethiopian health and foreign minister, who was elected last May as WHO’s first African director-general, added: “Today I am also honored to announce that President Mugabe has agreed to serve as a goodwill ambassador on NCDs for Africa to influence his peers in his region to prioritize NCDs.”