A Fresh Start for Human Rights in Cuba?

On Monday, Fidel Castro made the startling announcement that he would not "aspire to... nor accept" reelection to the presidency in Cuba, one of several leadership positions he holds. His proclamation set off a flurry of speculation in the media and blogosphere about whether his brother Raul would be his successor and how U.S. policy might then change. Amid all the uncertainty, Cubans must be given a voice to decide the next steps for themselves. This will only be possible, however, if the Cuban government seizes this opportunity to take immediate and tangible steps to improve the human rights situation on the island. Specifically, Cuba should immediately release all prisoners who have been jailed for their non-violent promotion of human rights and sign the United Nations treaties dedicated to promoting those rights.

Under Fidel Castro, making one's voice heard could be a dangerous proposition. The most egregious crackdown on Cuban civil society took place in the spring of 2003, when 75 non-violent human rights activists, journalists, and librarians, known as the Group of 75, were arrested, summarily tried, and given prison sentences of up to 28 years, having committed no crime but exercising their right to freely express themselves. Today, 55 of these activists remain in jail. Many of the detainees are seriously ill and in desperate need of medical attention.

For example, Dr. José Luis García Paneque, a medical doctor and independent journalist, has lost nearly half of his body weight while in prison due to an intestinal syndrome he has almost certainly developed due to the sub-standard condition of Cuban jails. Another journalist unfairly held in Cuban jails, Normando Hernández González, is also gravely ill. Although the Costa Rican government granted Hernández a humanitarian visa, he has not been allowed to leave prison to receive the medical care he needs. Cuba must immediately and unconditionally release these voices, as well as all those who peacefully express their beliefs and defend universally-recognized rights.

The surprise release of four members of the Group of 75 this past week, following negotiations between the Cuban and Spanish governments, is a welcome step in the right direction, but it is not enough. These men were forced to leave the island, their homes and families, and it is unclear what their citizenship status is, either in Cuba or in Spain. What's more, as with the 16 activists released in previous rounds of negotiations, the charges against these four men were not dropped -- they were given licencia extrapenal, an invented term that essentially means that they can be rounded up at any time and returned to prison. Cuba's next president must abolish licencia extrapenal and should stop using prisoners as bargaining chips to gain concessions from other governments.

Cuba should also fulfill its pledge to sign the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, two international treaties that guarantee essential human rights such as the freedom of expression and the freedom of movement. In December, Cuba's Foreign Minister promised to sign these treaties by March 2008. The new president should sign these covenants upon taking office and urge Cuba's National Assembly to ratify them so that they become domestic law. In this way, Cuban officials will be obligated to provide space to all voices in society as they undergo this important transition, and Cuban citizens who feel that their rights have been violated will have an avenue for redress.

This is a historic moment for Cuba, and one that Cuban citizens should take the lead in shaping. For this to happen, officials in Havana take immediate and tangible steps to improve the human rights situation on the island so that all voices are heard.

Elizabeth Jordan covers Cuba for Human Rights First in New York

Comments

[NABNYC]

You know the nation of Cuba has been under assault from the wealthy powerful and mean United States for almost 50 years now. We've tried to assasinate Fidel Castro over and over again, as if each new president who comes in thinks this is a game, to murder another person who has done nothing to them, and has done nothing to the U.S.

What is wrong with people that they think Cuba owes some apology or explantion to the U.S.? It's not our country. Would anyone suggest they submit to U.S. rule, like has happened in Haiti again and again with the U.S. invading, overthrowing, propping up dictators, keeping people at the poorest level in the country?

You want human rights in Cuba? Do you think the U.S. could start at Guantanamo?

Leave Cuba alone. There are a few tired bitter corrupt old Cuban-Americans who are given millions of dollars of my tax money every year to parade around Miami and say "We Hate Castro." That's it. Nobody else cares. The whole anti-Castro thing is just another big corrupt con.

Hands off Cuba. Normalize travel and let those who wish go to visit, let those who want to trade do so. But other than that, butt out.

[rixhex56]

I can’t help but think that maybe we American citizens should be a little more concerned about our own government’s failure to sign the United Nations Human Rights Treaties.

-----“[…] the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights can not prosecute the United States of America for Human Rights violations under Article 22 because after the 2002 re-ratification of the Treaty, the United States did not sign the new Treaty.”

-----“[…] the U.S.A. did not sign the Treaty. Also noticeably absent from the list is ALL of the countries that have been identified as working with the US on the suspected transport and torture of POWs, excuse me detainee´s or is it enemy combatants.”--- http://violatedrights.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=696&Itemid=2

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/ratification/9_b.htm
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment New York, 18 December 2002

[demockracy]

As sad as it is to read about Cuban jails being sub-standard, it's also good to remember that the U.S. (with it's *wonderful* prisons) incarcerates more people per-capita than any other society.

Cuba's rate is high (500 / 100,000 population), but the U.S. has proportionally nearly 60% more people in jail (roughly 800 / 100,000). See http://crookedtimber.org/2006/05/23/incarceration-rates/, for example, for a comparison of rates.

FYI, the worldwide average is 70-80 / 100,000 - one tenth of the U.S. rate (and one seventh of Cuba's). But hey, it's those darned Cubans who need to focus on human rights! Darn them!

Two additional things to remember: Cuba has been the target of a state-sponsored terrorism campaign by the country that spends more on its military than the rest of the world combined. That's the U.S.

Never mind the Bay of Pigs, the U.S. has tried everything from assassination to spoiling the food supply (infecting Cuba's pigs with swine flu) in attacking Cuba. Could that have anything to do with how repressive is their regime? (See, I told you those commies were bad!)

Then there was peak oil: Cuba received 13,000 tons of oil from the Soviets before they broke up (after: 4). The consequences: Cuban GNP declined 34% in the four years following 1990. The average Cuban adult lost 20 lbs. The kindly U.S. tightened its embargo. (Darn those inhuman Cubans!)

Castro let anyone who wanted to leave the island do so, and began adopting sustainable agricultural practices. The Cubans still offered free education and healthcare. Cuban doctors are the way most of the world gets to know Fidel, as opposed to, say, a cruise missile.

I'd like to know whether the U.S. would offer free education and healthcare under such circumstances. The four years following 1930 saw a comparable decline in U.S. GDP. What happened then? (Hint: no free anything, and lots of people left their homes looking for work. See "The Grapes of Wrath")

Anyway, I don't know why it's so much better to pick the mote out of Fidel's eye while ignoring the beam in our own. But that's how it is...