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Yahoo! April 21, 2002.
U.S. Senator Travels to Cuba
Sat Apr 20, 5:20 AM ET
HAVANA - Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer arrived in Cuba on a fact-finding
mission accompanied by a diverse delegation that includes a Grateful Dead
drummer, a British actress and U.S. agricultural representatives.
The trip is sponsored by the Center for International Policy, a
Washington-based nonprofit policy organization.
Boxer, who arrived Friday, serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, a fact
that will not be lost on Cuban officials who have been lobbying lawmakers for
help in easing U.S. policies toward the island, especially the 40-year-old trade
embargo and restrictions on American travel.
U.S. agribusiness has been pressing for legislative changes that would allow
Cuba to use American financing to buy their products under a 2-year-old law that
allows direct sales of American food to the communist island for the first time
in nearly four decades.
Boxer's state, California, grows more than half of the fruits and vegetables
consumed in America.
Also along for the trip that wraps up on Monday are Mickey Hart, drummer for
the Grateful Dead; British actress Julia Ormond, and Bill Mattos, president of
the California Poultry Federation.
Cuba claims 'moral victory' despite losing effort to block human rights
vote
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer. Fri Apr 19, 6:34 PM
ET
HAVANA - When the U.N. Human Rights Commission passed a resolution Friday
calling on Cuba to grant its citizens individual liberties, the communist-ruled
country declared a moral victory.
Cuba lost its battle to block the measure's approval by two votes. Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque said on state television that the slim margin proved
the loyalty of friends in developing regions such as Africa and Asia.
Cubans "have achieved a new and important moral victory," Perez
Roque's office said later in a written statement.
The statement said Cuba found the wide support for the measure in Latin
America "inconceivable." Earlier, Cuba characterized as "Judases"
the Latin American nations that planned to support the resolution.
The resolution passed 23-21 with 9 abstentions at the United Nations meeting
in Geneva. It also said Cuban authorities should let a U.N. rights
representative visit the island to help officials comply with the resolution —
a suggestion Cuba has rejected.
In an apparent reference to the 40-year U.S. embargo, the resolution at the
53-nation commission also recognized Cuban government efforts to "give
effect to the social rights of the population despite an adverse international
environment."
Cuba had accused the United States of applying "brutal pressures"
on countries to assure approval of the vote, which it says the U.S. government
needs to justify its 40-year-old decade against the island.
Cuba insists it respects human rights better than most countries by
guaranteeing its people broad social services such as free health care and
education and that rich nations that fail to protect the poor are in no position
to preach.
Nevertheless, the vote was welcomed by the island's human rights activists,
who said the annual exercise is necessary to keep Cuba's rights record in the
international spotlight.
Cuba is governed by "tropical Talibans" who "have a lot of
power over a silent majority who desire greater space and liberty," said
leading Cuban activist Elizardo Sanchez.
Cuba was especially disappointed with Mexico's decision to join the vote.
Mexico had previously abstained.
However, about a dozen Mexican congressional deputies and political party
leaders traveled to Cuba as private individuals on Friday to tell authorities
here that they disgreed with Mexico's vote.
U.N. human rights body calls on Cuba to give its citizens more freedoms
By Jonathan Fowler, Associated Press Writer. Fri Apr 19,
6:41 PM ET
GENEVA - The top United Nations human rights watchdog on Friday called on
Cuba to grant its citizens wide-ranging individual liberties, including the
right to freedom of speech.
The resolution passed 23-21 with 9 abstentions at the U.N. Human Rights
Commission. Cuba declared a "moral victory," saying the slim margin
proved the loyalty of friends in developing regions such as Africa and Asia.
The resolution said Cuba's communist authorities should let a U.N. rights
representative visit the island to help officials comply with the resolution —
a suggestion Cuba has rejected. It also calls for freedom of the press, freedom
of association and freedom of assembly.
But, in an apparent reference to the 40-year U.S. embargo, the resolution at
the 53-nation commission also recognized Cuban government efforts to "give
effect to the social rights of the population despite an adverse international
environment."
Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque took a positive note in a statement
issued after the vote.
"Once again, our people, with their firm refusal to surrender, have
achieved a new and important moral victory," the statement said.
But the vote was welcomed by the island's human rights activists, who said
the annual exercise is necessary to keep Cuba's rights record in the
international spotlight.
Cuba insists it respects human rights better than most countries by
guaranteeing its people broad social services such as free health care and
education. It says rich nations that fail to protect the poor are in no position
to preach.
"None of (the resolution's) sponsors has the moral authority to judge
human rights in Cuba," Cuban Ambassador Jorge Ivan Mora Godoy told the
commission.
The resolution was proposed by Uruguay and co-sponsored by several fellow
commission members from Latin America and Europe.
The United States also was a co-sponsor. It is not a member of the
commission this year — for the first time since 1947 — but is present
as an observer. Observer nations can act as co-sponsors.
Cuba earlier said regional neighbors would be "Judases" if they
supported the resolution. Havana claimed the United States was using strong arm
tactics to lobby support for the vote. U.S. officials have denied that.
The commission has voted to censure Cuba every year over the past decade
except 1998.
Cuba won the backing of many of the African, Asian and Middle Eastern
nations on the commission.
Chinese Ambassador Sha Zukang said the anti-Cuba resolution had "nothing
to do whatsoever with the purpose of the commission." He proposed a
counter-resolution calling for "no action," which was defeated 24-23,
with 6 abstentions.
China has used no action motions to block scrutiny of its own record at the
commission in the past.
In another vote earlier Friday, the commission decided to avoid discussion
of a European Union resolution condemning abuses in Zimbabwe.
Full debate on the subject was blocked after Nigeria introduced a no action
motion.
The resolution criticized Zimbabwe for its alleged flawed election and
political intimidation by supporters of President Robert Mugabe.
But developing country delegates said the EU had ignored the problems caused
by Zimbabwe's past as a British colony. The country won independence in 1980.
On a 16-15 vote, with 22 abstentions, the commission also rejected a
resolution on Chechnya proposed by European nations, Canada and the United
States.
The resolution criticized abuses by Russian forces and rebels in the
breakaway region, called for an end to the fighting there and asked Russia to
set up a commission of inquiry into human rights violations.
Russian Ambassador Leonid Skotnikov accused the sponsors of double
standards, claiming the Chechnya conflict is part of the international war
against terrorism.
Russia had been censured over Chechnya at the commission for the past two
years.
The commission also voted to condemn rights violations in Iraq, including
repression of opposition, political killings, torture and rape. It noted that
there had been no improvement despite previous resolutions.
Censure by the U.N. body brings no penalties but draws international
attention to a country's rights record.
Human Rights Body Seeks Cuba Action
By Jonathan Fowler, Associated Press Writer. Fri Apr 19,
4:23 PM ET
GENEVA (AP) - The top United Nations human rights watchdog passed a
resolution Friday calling on Cuba to grant its citizens individual liberties
such as freedom of speech, the press, association and assembly.
The U.N. Human Rights Commission, voting 23-21 with nine abstentions, also
urged Cuba's communist authorities to let a U.N. representative visit the island
to monitor compliance — a suggestion Cuba has rejected.
But in an apparent reference to the 40-year-old U.S. embargo against Cuba,
which most other nations oppose, the resolution recognized Cuban government
efforts to "give effect to the social rights of the population despite an
adverse international environment."
Cuba insists it respects human rights by guaranteeing its people broad
social services such as free health care and education, and that rich nations
that fail to protect the poor are in no position to preach.
"None of (the resolution's) sponsors has the moral authority to judge
human rights in Cuba," Cuban Ambassador Jorge Ivan Mora Godoy told the
53-nation commission.
The commission has voted to censure Cuba every year over the past decade
except 1998. Cuba accused the United States of using strong-arm tactics to lobby
support for the vote this year, a claim U.S. officials have denied.
"In recent days, the government of the United States has come
exercising new and more brutal pressures at the Human Rights Commission with the
objective of approving the project," Cuba's Foreign Ministry said in a
communique published Friday in the Communist Party daily Granma.
The United States was one of several co-sponsors of the resolution, proposed
by Uruguay. For the first time since the commission's creation in 1947, the
United States is not a member this year and cannot vote at the annual session,
but as an observer it can co-sponsor resolutions.
Last month, Cuba said any Latin American country giving in to what it called
U.S. pressure to sponsor a resolution condemning Cuba's human rights record
would be a "Judas."
Cuba has been particularly disappointed with Mexico's decision to join the
vote this year. Mexico, the only Latin American country that refused to break
diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro (news - web sites)'s 1959
revolution, traditionally has abstained.
The other Latin American nations voting for the measure were Peru —
which had abstained last year — and Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica,
and Guatemala. Brazil and Ecuador abstained, as they have in the past. Venezuela
voted against the proposal.
Cuba won the backing of many African, Asian and Middle Eastern nations.
China proposed a counter-resolution calling for "no action" but it was
defeated 24-23, with 6 abstentions. China has used no action motions to block
scrutiny of its own record in the past.
Censure by the U.N. body brings no penalties but draws international
attention to a country's rights record.
In another "no action" vote Friday, the commission decided not to
discuss a European Union proposal to criticize Zimbabwe for a flawed election
that gave Robert Mugabe a new term in March and for political intimidation by
his supporters.
Russia escaped censure over its war in Chechnya for first time in three
years when the commission, in a 16-15 vote with 22 abstentions, rejected a
resolution from European nations, Canada and the United States.
The resolution would have criticized abuses by both Russian forces and
rebels, called for an end to the fighting in Chechnya and urged Russia to
investigate human rights violations.
The commission also condemned rights violations in Iraq, including
repression of opposition, political killings, torture and rape. It said there
had been no improvement despite previous resolutions. | 
