Human Rights Commission Condemns Cuba
Editorial. Published Wednesday, April 19, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Support to weary dissidents now enduring the worst harassment in a decade.
The Cuban regime tried its best to deflect scrutiny from the human-rights abuses that afflict 11 million Cubans on the island. But the truth was not to be denied. The United Nations' Human Rights Commission rightfully condemned Cuba's repressive government yesterday during a meeting in Geneva.
We applaud this action.
The commission approved a resolution criticizing the ``continued violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.'' It noted particular concern about the repression of political critics and the detention of dissidents.
The U.N. commission bears witness to the suffering of all in Cuba who defend the right of individuals to live, work, believe and express themselves freely. The resolution lends much-needed symbolic support to Cuba's weary dissidents now enduring the worst harassment in a decade.
FREE THE FOUR
This vote should renew world efforts to free Cuban prisoners of conscience. Notable among them are Felix Bonne, Rene Gomez Manzano, Marta Beatriz Roque and Vladimiro Roca, the celebrated Group of Four, jailed 1,010 days now for the crime of publicly criticizing the regime's one-party monopoly.
Add, too, Oscar Elias Biscet, jailed and recently condemned for peaceful protest demanding the regime free its political prisoners.
The advocates of freedom deserve much credit. The Czech Republic and Poland, countries that know well totalitarianism's horror, sponsored the resolution and worked tirelessly for its passage, as they did last fall. The United States and Canada lent diplomatic heft. These efforts paid off,
widening the vote condemning Cuba to 21-18, up from last year's one-vote squeaker. Key support came from Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile and Argentina, as well as an abstention from Mexico, which took note of Cuba's dissidents last year for the first time. All told, this is the ninth time in 10 years
that the Human Rights Commission condemned Cuba's regime.
In Cuba, the condemned government staged yet another protest. Tens of thousands obediently marched on the Czech Embassy in Havana to rail against the country that brought the resolution before the ``corrupt'' human-rights commission, as one Cuban government statement described it.
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE
Therein is the difference between the Cuban state and countries where people are free: Only government-organized mobs are allowed to protest in Cuba.
The Human Rights Commission's resolution came despite a shameless campaign by Cuban diplomats to win sympathy by posing as the would-be protectors of Elian Gonzalez. A majority of the nations didn't buy it. But that condemnation should give pause to those who see Elian Gonzalez's case as simply
a custody battle.
By law, parental rights may trump human rights in the end. But that determination, and concerns about Elian's return, should not be taken lightly.
There is only one law in Cuba, and that is the word of its dictator.
Copyright 2000 Miami Herald |