On October 5, Human Rights Watch (HRW), a leading international human rights non-profit, announced that next week the U.N. General Assembly should not re-elect Cuba to the U.N. Human Rights Council because Cuba “does not meet the criteria to be a member of the highest body“ due to its frequent rights violations.”[1] HRW added the following specific reasons:
- “The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) reported in 2022 that [Cuban] state agents have carried out “systematic repression” against peaceful protesters and Cuban dissidents, and that the Government has committed “massive, serious and systematic violations of human rights.”
- “UN human rights experts have also reported on patterns of arbitrary detentions, mistreatment and torture in Cuba,while human rights organizations have documented hundreds of cases of political prisoners — including protesters, critics, journalists, independent artists and opposition leaders—detained for exercising their basic human rights.”
- Moreover, many of these detainees were “mistreated in detention, some tortured and hundreds subjected to procedures that violate the most basic rights.”
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[1] Human Rights Watch, Russia and China should not join the Human Rights Council (Oct. 5, 2023);Human Rights Watch: ‘Cuba should not remain on the UN Human Rights Council, Diario de Cuba (Oct. 5, 2023).
COMMENT: Cuba Re-elected to U.N. Human Rights Council
On October 10, the U.N. Genial Assembly re-elected Cuba to the U.N. Human Rights Council by a vote of 146. The identity of the countries that so voted is unknown. Also elected to the Council were Albania, Bulgaria, Burundi, Ivory Coast, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malawi and the Netherlands.
Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, immediately stated on platform X that it was a recognition by the international community “of the humanist work of the Revolution. We will continue on our path towards building a more just society for all.”
Similar words came from Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Cuba’s President of the Republic and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, who said its re-elelction was “a place earned by practicing solidarity, cooperation, respect for the dignity and the right of all the peoples of the world to live in peace.” He also said, “for the human rights of all, Cuba has worked tirelessly to fulfill Martí’s desire that the First Law of the Republic be the cult of Cubans to the full dignity of women and men.” Finally he expressed gratitude for the support “to those who have shown their confidence in our commitment to continue defending the legitimate interests of developing nations.”
The re-election of Cuba was opposed by Human Rights Watch, which said, “Cuba should not be re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council because it “does not meet the criteria to be a member of the highest body” due to its frequent rights violations of its citizens. HRW added, “the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) reported in 2022 that state agents have carried out “systematic repression” against peaceful protesters and Cuban dissidents, and that the Government has committed “massive, serious and systematic violations of human rights.”
Likewise, HRW emphasized that UN human rights experts have also reported on patterns of arbitrary detentions, mistreatment and torture in Cuba, while human rights organizations have documented hundreds of cases of political prisoners — including protesters, critics, journalists, independent artists and opposition leaders—detained for exercising their basic human rights.
A similar objection was registered by the Madrid (Spain) Cuban Observatory for Human Rights. It said such a re-election “would be a serious message of impunity. The Government of Cuba has an extensive and proven history of repression and there are currently more than 1,000 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience on the Island.”
Three other non-governmental human rights organizations also objected to the election of Cuba and two other countries (Burundi and Kuwait) that also were elected .
Niki Haley, a former U.S. Ambasador to the U.N. and a current Republican presidential candidate, said, “China and Cuba are some of the worst human-rights abusers in the world, and today they won reelection to an entity that is supposed to protect human rights. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the U.N. Human Rights Council is a sham and an organization that is not worthy of its name.”
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Cuba elected, for the sixth time, as a member of the Human Rights Council, Granma (Oct. 10, 2023), https://www.granma.cu/cuba/2023-10-10/cuba-es-electa-al-consejo-de-derechos-humanos
With more than 1,000 political prisoners, the regime revalidates its seat on the UN Human Rights Council, Diario de Cuba (Oct. 10, 2023), https://diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1696959041_50298.html
Human Rights Watch: ‘Cuba should not remain on the UN Human Rights Council, Diario de Cuba (Oct. 5, 2023), https://diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1696527892_50196.html
OCDH: The re-election of Havana to the UN Human Rights Council would be ‘a serious message of impunity,’ Diario de Cuba (Sept. 20, 2023), https://diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1695223999_49870.html
Torres, Despite jailing critics and dissidents, Cuba keeps seat on U.N. Human Rights Council, Miami Herald (Oct. 10, 2023), https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article280351019.html