|
Examining Cuba's
human-rights record
Failure to condemn would
make U.N. agency irrelevant
Posted on Mon, Mar. 29,
2004 in The
Miami Herald.
The Mad Hatter, that notable grammarian,
observed that whenever he used a word, it
meant exactly what he wanted it to mean
-- nothing more and nothing less. It's worth
keeping this in mind when one goes through
the looking glass and enters the world of
the U.N. Human Rights Commission, particularly
in its dealings with Cuba. Here, words apparently
have no meaning, except to those who utter
them.
Obscene imprisonment
Thus, as Cuba's human-rights record is
once again up for scrutiny, Cuba's representative
last week unleashed a vituperative attack
on diplomat Christine Chanet of France for
meekly observing that Cuban human-rights
activists were suffering from ''an unprecedented
wave of oppression'' from the Castro government.
This is a reference to the 75 activists
who received obscene prison sentences last
year for the crime of dissent.
Jorge Iván Mora Godoy, the Cuban
representative, replied that "her analysis
was conducted under the blindness of the
ideological prejudice of bourgeois liberal
fundamentalism and under political motivation
of domination.''
Whatever could that possibly mean? That
Ms. Chanet was out to dominate Cuba because
she had the temerity to observe that repression
of human-rights activities has reached a
new low? Does ''bourgeois liberal fundamentalism''
mean anything to anyone outside the Cuban
government? But that's not all. The Cuban
representative further accused Ms. Chanet
of having ''insulted and offended Cuba''
by claiming that it had imposed ''repressive
laws.'' In the next breath, however -- in
keeping with the accepted protocol of this
oh-so-polite commission -- he observed that
he had been ''very careful not to offend
the dignity'' of Ms. Chanet.
Of course, Ms. Chanet wasn't allowed into
Cuba to observe the conditions under which
dissident prisoners are kept. In fact, she
noted, ''Cuban authorities had not been
interested in putting across their opinion
when she asked for it.'' Of course not.
The Cuban government claims that any criticism
is part of a U.S.-led conspiracy, and thus
no criticism will be tolerated. Internal
critics are sent to prison. Others, such
as Ms. Chanet, are labeled instruments of
U.S. aggression.
Condemned by many
The word farce doesn't do justice to this
pitiful display of meretricious nonsense.
Cuba has been condemned for its humanrights
record by organizations around the world,
from Amnesty International to workers' groups,
the European parliament and virtually every
other relevant organization in the world
that isn't carrying water for the Castro
regime.
A failure by the U.N. Human Rights Commission
to act accordingly when it votes on Cuba
next month would only condemn that body
to irrelevance.
|
