EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 8 September 2023 — About 20 Cuban opposition organizations and 30 individual dissidents, mostly based abroad, signed a statement that rejects the recently announced candidacy for the re-election of Cuba to the UN Human Rights Council for the period 2024-2026. The document, published this Thursday, states that the Cuban State “does not comply with its human rights obligations, as highlighted in several reports presented this year within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review of the Republic of Cuba.”
They consider that this “non-compliance” has caused “an extreme setback” in the effective exercise of human rights on the Island.
The letter is signed by organizations such as the opposition platform D’Frente, the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba, Cuba Próxima and the Institute of Artivism Hannah Arendt
The letter is signed by organizations such as the opposition platform D’Frente, the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba, Cuba Próxima and the Institute of Artivism Hannah Arendt (INSTAR), among others, to which are added the signatures of the plastic artist Tania Bruguera and the opponents Carolina Barrero and Elena Larrinaga.
The group emphasizes that in the Cuban Constitution approved in 2019, “the one-party system is maintained and free elections are not allowed,” and emphasizes that Cuba has not ratified international pacts on civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, nor their optional protocols.
“This prevents the binding effect of the decisions and pronouncements of the treaty bodies and those derived from the visits of independent experts to verify the real situation of the country in terms of human rights,” adds the statement, disseminated by the Argentine initiative Demo Amlat.
As another reason for their rejection, they cite the increase in repression after the anti-government protests of July 2021 on the Island, the largest in decades, in which more than 1,000 people were arrested and 700 convicted.
They point out that the people arrested for political reasons “were tried and sanctioned without due process, as a result of the lack of independence of the courts.”
In announcing its candidacy, the Cuban Government said that it “is committed to advocating for full respect for the principles of universality, indivisibility, objectivity, non-politicization and non-selectivity,” and it promotes “the strengthening of international cooperation.”
The Cuban Foreign Ministry announced on September 1 that it will seek re-election on October 10 and began an online campaign to promote its candidacy and appeal to the vote
The Cuban Foreign Ministry announced on September 1 that it will seek re-election on October 10 and started an online campaign to promote its candidacy and appeal to the vote.
Various independent groups, NGOs such as Human Rights and Amnesty International and some States have criticized the Cuban government by accusing it of repeated human rights violations.
They have denounced, among other things, “arbitrary detentions,” “trials without minimum guarantees” and arrests and convictions “for exercising the right to freedom of expression.” They have also demanded the release of those convicted for political reasons, who, according to NGOs such as Prisoners Defenders, total more than 1,000 people.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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