b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Although the Constitution grants limited rights of assembly
and association, these rights are subject to the requirement
that they may not be "exercised against the existence and
objectives of the Socialist State." The law punishes any
unauthorized assembly of more than three persons, including
those for private religious services in a private home, by
up to 3 months in prison and a fine. The authorities
selectively enforce this prohibition and often use it as a
legal pretext to harass and imprison human rights
advocates.
The Government's policy of selectively authorizing the Catholic
Church to hold outdoor processions at specific locations on
important feast days continued during the year. For the third
consecutive year, it permitted a procession in connection
with Masses in celebration of the feast day of Our Lady of
Charity in Havana on September 8. The Government also authorized
other denominations to hold a few public events in late November.
However, the Government continued routinely and arbitrarily
to deny requests for other processions and events. Just before
Holy Week, the Government informed Catholic Church
officials that no processions would be allowed. When the
Church made this information public, state officials
changed their position and decided that churches that had
requested permission for a procession could proceed.
The authorities have never approved a public meeting by a
human rights group. On February 22, state security officers
detained prodemocracy activists in different parts of the
country to prevent them from staging activities commemorating
the February 24, 1996, shootdown of two civilian aircraft
over international airspace by the air force. Security agents
also warned many more activists against staging any public
demonstrations on February 24, and warned independent journalists
not to cover such incidents.
In early August, security agents detained in Havana leaders
of the Council of Cuban Workers from various provinces to
ensure that members could not hold a preparatory meeting for
the CUTC's first congress. Although scheduled to take place
in October, it never was held. On October 13, state security
arrested Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos, the Secretary General
of the CUTC, as he was about to conduct a press conference.
At year's end, he remained in jail without being charged.
On August 15, state security informed a number of activists
not to gather in the cemetery in Havana in honor of Eduardo
Chibas, a well-known politician of the 1940's and early 1950's.
A march from the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the
Church of La Merced and which was organized by dissidents
for the release of political prisoners on September 17 did
not take place because of police intimidation and detentions.
On September 25, police again prevented a number of activists
from marching from the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
to the Church of Mercedes. Police took the activists to a
police station to review their identification documents.
On November 2, the Day of the Dead, state security personnel
prevented activists from entering the chapel in Havana's Colon
Cemetery where a number of human rights activists are buried.
On November 10, police in Santiago de Cuba prevented activists
from marching from the Plaza de Marte in honor of the first
anniversary of the attempt to demonstrate in Dolores Park
in Havana.
During the year the Government organized a number of marches
and rallies in front of diplomatic missions. The Government
mobilizes thousand of persons in these marches, including
school children and workers. Anyone who does not attend the
event can be easily identified since persons congregate at
certain points from factories or schools. Sometimes small
identification papers are given to participants; they must
present these papers to their immediate supervisor or school
officials the next day to demonstrate that they attended the
rally.
The Government generally denies citizens freedom of association.
The Penal Code specifically outlaws illegal or unrecognized
groups. The Minister of Justice, in consultation with the
Interior Ministry, decides whether to give organizations legal
recognition. The authorities have never approved the existence
of a human rights group. However, there are a number of
professional associations that operate as NGO's but without
legal recognition. For example, some scientists formed the
Zoological Society, and some teachers established an
Association of Independent Teachers.
Along with recognized churches, the Roman Catholic humanitarian
organization Caritas, the Masonic Lodge, small human rights
groups, and a number of nascent fraternal or professional
organizations are the only associations outside the control
or influence of the State, the Communist Party, and their
mass organizations. With the exception of the Masons, who
have been established in the country for more than a century,
the authorities continue to ignore those groups' applications
for legal recognition, thereby subjecting members to potential
charges of illegal association. All other legally recognized
nongovernmental groups are at least nominally affiliated with,
or controlled by the Government.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution recognizes the right of citizens to profess
and practice any religious belief, within the framework of
respect for the law; however, in law and in practice, the
Government continues to restrict freedom of religion.
In 1991 the Government allowed religious adherents to join
the Communist Party. In 1992 it amended the Constitution to
prohibit religious discrimination and removed references to
"scientific materialism," i.e., atheism, as the basis for
the State. Members of the armed forces do not attend religious
services in their uniform, probably to avoid possible reprimand
by superiors.
The Government requires churches and other religious groups
to register with the provincial registry of associations within
the Ministry of the Interior to obtain official recognition.
In practice, the Government refuses to recognize new denominations.
The Government prohibits, with occasional exceptions, the
construction of new churches, forcing many growing congregations
to violate the law and meet in private homes. Government
harassment of private houses of worship continued, with
evangelical denominations reporting evictions from houses
used for these purposes. According to the Cuban Council of
Churches (CCC) officials, most of the private houses of
worship that the Government closed were unregistered,
making them technically illegal. In addition CCC
Pentecostal members have complained about the preaching
activities of foreign missionaries that led some of their
members to establish new denominations without obtaining the
required permits. Because of these complaints by the Pentecostals,
the CCC has formally requested overseas member church organizations
to assist them in dissuading foreign missionaries from
establishing Pentecostal churches.
The Government's main interaction with religious denominations
is through the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist
Party. The Ministry of Interior engages in active efforts
to control and monitor the country's religious institutions,
including surveillance, infiltration, and harassment of religious
professionals and laypersons.
In 1998 following Pope John Paul II's January visit, the
country's Roman Catholic bishops called on the Government
to recognize the Church's role in civil society and the family,
as well as in the temporal areas of work, the economy, the
arts, and the scientific and technical worlds. The Government
continued to limit the Church's access to the media and refused
to allow the Church to have a legal independent printing capability.
It maintained a prohibition against the establishment of
religious-affiliated schools. Nonetheless, in September
local government authorities, for the third time since
1961, allowed the Catholic Church to hold an outdoor
procession to mark the feast day of Our Lady of Charity in
Havana. Although visibly present, state security personnel
did not harass any participants or observers, as they did
in 1998. However, prior to the event, security police
ordered a number of human rights activists not to attend
the procession. On December 25, 1999, the Government permitted
the Catholic Church to hold a Christmas procession in Havana.
Catholic Church authorities received permission to conduct
the closing ceremonies for the jubilee year celebration and
the Cuba Eucharistic Congress (the last one took place in
1959) on December 9 and 10. On December 9, 1,500 children
from all over the country received their first communion in
the square outside the San Carlos Seminary. On December 10
Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega Alamino, carrying the eucharist,
led a procession of bishops, priests, and believers from the
Church of Christ (Iglesia del Cristo del Buen Viaje) to the
San Carlos Seminary. Unlike 1999, there was no broadcast of
the Pope's annual Christmas Day message from the Vatican,
but it was mentioned in the evening television news.
In 1998 the Government announced in a Politburo declaration
that henceforth citizens would be allowed to celebrate Christmas
as an official holiday. (The holiday had been cancelled, ostensibly
to spur the sugar harvest, in 1969, and restored in 1997 as
part of the preparations for the Pope's 1998 visit.) However,
despite the Government's decision to allow citizens to
celebrate Christmas as a national holiday, it also
maintained a December 1995 decree prohibiting nativity
scenes in public buildings.
The Government allowed two new foreign priests to enter the
country during the year and two to replace two priests whose
visas were not renewed during the year. Some visas were issued
only for periods from 3 to 6 months, and the applications
of many other priests and religious workers remain pending.
The Government continued to enforce a resolution that prevented
any national or joint enterprise (except those with specific
authorization) from selling computers, fax machines, photocopiers,
or other equipment to any church at other than official--and
exorbitant--retail prices.
On July 9, dissidents attended the Jubilee Mass for prisoners
celebrated by Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino at the Church
of Our Lady of Charity. The Church distributed leaflets that
invited worshippers to attend the Mass and to pray for prisoners
and requested former prisoners and prisoners on conditional
release to attend. Recently released members of the Internal
Dissident Working Group, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Rene
de Jesus Gomez Manzano, and Felix Antonio Bonne Carcasses
also attended. During the ceremony a white dove was released
from its cage, and the congregation spontaneously started
to clap and some persons shouted "liberty, liberty." State
security officials outside the church did not intervene. The
Church normally uses lay members to provide security at events
like these. Apart from ensuring that people remain in their
places or in the procession line during the service, these
church guards also prevent any activities from taking place
that could lead to a response from state security officials
such as occurred at the July 9 Mass.
On August 30, the independent press agency Grupo Decoro reported
that evangelical pastor Pablo Rodriguez Oropeza and his wife
Enma Cabrera Cabrera were evicted from the house where they
had lived for 6 years. The press agency did not report the
reason for the eviction. Santos Osmany Dominguez Borjas, a
bishop of the United Pentecostal Church of Cuba (Apostolic),
returned to Havana after he was expelled to Holguin on October
8, 1999. In recent years, the Government has relaxed restrictions
on some religious denominations, including Seventh-Day
Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. The CCC continues to
broadcast a monthly 15-minute program on a national
classical music radio station, under the condition that the
program not include material of a political character.
State security officials visited some priests and pastors,
prior to significant religious events, ostensibly to warn
them about dissidents; however, some critics claim that these
visits are done in an effort to foster mistrust between the
churches and human rights or prodemocracy activists. State
security officers also regularly harassed, including inside
churches and during religious ceremonies, human rights advocates
who sought to attend religious services commemorating special
feast days or before significant national days.
d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
The Government tightly restricted freedom of movement. The
Government generally has not imposed legal restrictions on
domestic travel, except for persons found to be HIV-positive,
whom it initially restricts to sanatoriums for treatment and
therapy before conditionally releasing them into the community.
However, in recent years state security officials have forbidden
human rights advocates and independent journalists from traveling
outside their home provinces, and the Government also has
sentenced others to internal exile. On December 12, a court
sentenced Angel Moya Acosta to 1 year in prison and banned
him from traveling to Havana from his home province of Matanzas
for 10 years after serving his prison term.
In 1997 the Council of Ministers approved Decree 217, aimed
at stemming the flow of migration from the provinces to the
capital. Persons from other provinces may travel and visit
Havana; however, they cannot move into the city, on the grounds
that if internal migration is left unchecked, the city's problems
regarding housing, public transport, water and electrical
supplies will become worse. The Government recently noted
that since the decree went into effect, 17,000 fewer people
have migrated to Havana. Police frequently check the identification
of persons on the streets, and if someone is found from another
province living in Havana illegally, they are fined $15
(300 pesos) and sent back home. Fines are higher ($50 -
1,000 pesos) for those who are residing illegally in the
neighborhoods of Old Havana and Cerro. Human rights
observers noted that while the decree affected migration
countrywide, it was targeted at individuals and families,
who are predominantly of African descent, from the more
impoverished eastern provinces.
The Government imposed some restrictions on both emigration
and temporary foreign travel. In June the Government denied
an exit permit to Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos, secretary-general
of the CUTC to attend a labor conference in the United States
organized by the AFL-CIO. No explanation was given. Elizardo
Sanchez Santa Cruz, president of the Cuban Commission for
Human Rights and National Reconciliation also was not allowed
to leave the country. Mexico's Partido Accion Nacional (PAN)
had invited Sanchez to witness the Mexican presidential election
on July 2. The PAN also invited members of the Moderate
Reflection Group, but Osvaldo Alfonso Valdes, president of
the Democratic Liberal Party and a member of the Moderate
Reflection Group, said that the group decided not to apply
for an exit permit because of lack of funds to pay for the
application fees for exit permits. PAN also issued an
invitation to Elizardo Sanchez to attend the inauguration
of the new President on December 1. According to Sanchez,
even though PAN officials requested an exit visa for him
directly from the Government, he never received it.
Similarly, the authorities denied an exit visa to Osvaldo
Alfonso Valdes, president of the Liberal Party, who was
invited to attend the International Liberal Party's
convention that took place in Canada in October.
The Government did issue an exit permit to Manuel Costa Morua
of the Socialist Movement to travel to Europe in April; Costa
Morua also is a member of the Moderate Reflection Group.
The Government allows the majority of persons who qualify
for immigrant or refugee status in other countries to depart;
however, in certain cases the authorities delay or deny exit
permits, usually without explanation. Some denials involve
professionals who have tried to emigrate and whom the Government
subsequently banned from working in their occupational field.
The Government refused permission to others because it considers
their cases sensitive for political or state security reasons.
In July 1999, the Ministry of Health issued an internal
regulation, known as Resolution 54, that provides for the
denial of exit permits to medical professionals, until they
have performed 3 to 5 years of service in their profession
after requesting permission to travel abroad. This
regulation normally applied to recent graduates. This
regulation was not published as part of the legal
provisions, and may apply to other professionals as well.
The Government also routinely denies exit permits to young
men approaching the age of military service, and until they
reach the age of 27, even when it has authorized the rest
of the family to leave. However, in most of those cases approved
for migration to the United States under the September 1,
1994, U.S.-Cuban migration agreement, the applicants eventually
receive exemption from obligatory service and are granted
exit permits.
In September two independent journalists, Jesus Labrador,
Cuba Press reporter, and Gustavo Cardero, (NotiCuba reporter)
planned to leave the country as refugees until the authorities
confiscated their exit permit.
The Government has a policy of denying exit permission for
several years to relatives of individuals who successfully
migrated illegally (e.g., merchant seamen who have defected
while overseas, and sports figures who have defected while
on tour abroad).
Migrants who travel to the United States must pay the Government
a total of about $500 per adult and $400 per child, plus airfare.
These government fees for medical exam, passport, and exit
visa--which must be paid in dollars--are equivalent to about
5 years of a professional person's accumulated peso salary
and represent a significant hardship, particularly for political
refugees who usually are marginalized and have no income.
In 1996 the Government agreed to allow 1,000 needy refugees
to leave each year with reduced exit fees. However, after
the first group of 1,000 in 1996, no further refugees have
been accorded reduced fees. At year's end, 85 approved refugees
remained in the country because they were unable to pay
government exit fees for themselves and their families.
The Penal Code provides for imprisonment from 1 to 3 years
or a fine of $15 to $50 dollars (300 to 1,000 pesos) for unauthorized
departures by boat or raft. The office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stated that it
regards any sentence of over 1 year for simple illegal exit
as harsh and excessive. Under the terms of the May 2, 1995,
U.S.-Cuba Migration Accord, the Government agreed not to
prosecute or retaliate against migrants returned from
international or U.S. waters, or from the U.S. Naval Base
at Guantanamo, after attempting to emigrate illegally.
In 1994 the Government eased restrictions on visits by, and
repatriation of, Cuban emigrants. Citizens who establish residency
abroad and who are in possession of government-issued permits
to reside abroad may travel to the country without visas.
The Government reduced the age of persons eligible to travel
abroad from 20 to 18 years and extended the period for a temporary
stay abroad from 6 to 11 months. In 1995 the Government
announced that emigrants who are considered not to have
engaged in so-called hostile actions against the Government
and who are not subject to criminal proceedings in their
country of residence may apply at Cuban consulates for
renewable, 2-year multiple-entry travel authorizations.
However, in 1999 the Government announced that it would
deny entry permits for emigrants who had left the country
illegally after September 1994. It remains unclear whether
the Government actually was implementing such a policy.
The Constitution provides for the granting of asylum to individuals
persecuted "for their ideals or struggles for democratic rights
against imperialism, fascism, colonialism, and
neocolonialism; against discrimination and racism; for
national liberation; for the rights of workers, peasants,
and students; for their progressive political, scientific,
artistic, and literary activities; and for socialism and
peace." However, the Government has no formal
mechanism to process asylum for foreign nationals.
Nonetheless, the Government honors the principle of first
asylum and has provided it to a small number of persons. There
was no information available on its use during the year. According
to the UNHCR, since January the authorities received 75 applications
for refugee status within the country. Of the 75 applicants,
24 persons were recognized as refugees. There were no
reports of the forced return of persons to a country where
they feared persecution.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change their Government
Citizens do not have the legal right to change their Government
or to advocate change, and the Government retaliates systematically
against those who seek peaceful political change. The
Constitution proscribes any political organization other
than the Communist Party. While the Constitution provides
for direct election of provincial, municipal, and National
Assembly members, the candidates must be approved in
advance by mass organizations controlled by the Government.
In practice, a small group of leaders, under the direction
of President Castro, selects the members of the highest
policy-making bodies of the Communist Party--the Politburo
and the Central Committee.
The authorities tightly control the selection of candidates
and all elections for government and party positions. The
candidacy committees are composed of members of government-controlled
mass organizations such as the Confederation of Cuban Workers
(CTC) and the CDR's and are responsible for selecting candidates,
whose names are then sent to municipal assemblies that
select a single candidate for each regional seat in the
ANPP. An opposition or independent candidate has never been
allowed to run for national office.
In January 1998, the Government held national elections in
which 601 candidates were approved to compete for the 601
seats in the National Assembly. According to the official
state media, the candidates were voted in by over 93 percent
of the electorate. No candidates with views independent from
or in opposition to the Government were allowed to run, and
no views contrary to the Government or the Communist Party
were expressed in the government-controlled national media.
The Government saturated the media and used government ministries,
Communist Party organs, and mass organizations to urge voters
to cast a "unified vote" where marking one box automatically
selected all candidates on the ballot form. In practice,
the Communist Party approved candidates for all offices. A
small minority of candidates did not belong formally to the
Communist Party. The Communist Party was the only political
party allowed to participate in the elections.
On April 23, elections for local representatives to the municipal
assembly were held. Government newspapers reported that 98
percent of voters participated in the election. Slightly more
than 50 percent of those elected were the incumbents, 20 percent
were women, and about 9 percent of all candidates were between
the ages of 16 and 30. The reports also claim that nationwide
the number of blank ballots decreased from 3.2 percent to
2.8 percent, while the number of annulled votes also
decreased to 3 percent from nearly 4 percent, compared with
the last election. Municipal elections are held every 21/2
years to elect 14,686 local representatives to the
municipal assemblies. Deputies to the National Assembly,
delegates to the provincial assemblies, and members of the
council of state are elected during general elections held
every 5 years. The municipal assemblies constitute the
lowest level of the Government's structure.
Although not a formal requirement, Communist Party membership
is in fact a prerequisite for high-level official positions
and professional advancement.
The Government rejects any change to the political system
judged incompatible with the revolution and ignored and actively
suppressed calls for democratic reform. Although President
Castro signed the Declaration of Vina del Mar at the Sixth
Ibero-American Summit in 1996, in which government leaders
reaffirmed their commitment to democracy and political pluralism,
the Government continued to oppose independent political activity
on the ground that the national system provides a "perfected"
form of democracy and that pluralism exists within the
one-party structure.
Government leadership positions continue to be dominated
by men, and women remain underrepresented. There are very
few women or minorities in policymaking positions in the Government
or the Party. There are 2 women in the 24-member Politburo,
18 in the 150-member Central Committee, and 166 in the 601-seat
ANPP. Although blacks and persons of African descent make
up over half the population, they hold only six seats in the
Politburo.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
The Government does not recognize any domestic human rights
groups, or permit them to function legally. The Government
subjects domestic human rights advocates to intense intimidation,
harassment, and repression. In violation of its own statutes,
the Government refuses to consider applications for legal
recognition submitted by human rights monitoring groups (see
Section 2.b.).
Dissidents generally believe that most human rights organizations
have been infiltrated and are subjected to constant surveillance.
Activists believe that some, perhaps many, of the dissidents
are either state security or are persons attempting to qualify
for refugee status to leave the country.
In its 1997 report, the IACHR examined measures taken by
the Government and found that they did not "comprise the bedrock
of a substantive reform in the present political system that
would permit the ideological and partisan pluralism implicit
in the wellspring from which a democratic system of government
develops." The IACHR recommended that the Government
provide reasonable safeguards to prevent violations of
human rights, unconditionally release political prisoners
and those jailed for trying to leave the country, abolish
the concept of dangerousness in the Penal Code, eliminate
other legal restriction on basic freedoms, cease harassing
human rights groups, and establish a separation of powers
so that the judiciary would no longer be subordinate to
political power.
The Government steadfastly has rejected international human
rights monitoring. In 1992 the country's U.N. representative
stated that Cuba would not recognize the mandate of the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) on Cuba and would not cooperate
with the Special Rapporteur on Cuba, despite being a UNCHR
member. This policy remained unchanged and the Government
refused even to acknowledge requests by the Special Rapporteur
to visit the country. In April 1998, the UNCHR did not renew
the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, following as yet
unfulfilled assertions by the Government that it would
improve human rights practices if it was not under formal
sanction from the UNCHR. As in 1999, the UNCHR again passed
a resolution on April 18, introduced by the Czech Republic
and Poland, which expressed concern about the human rights
situation in the country. The Government responded by
organizing a march of an estimated 200,000 persons past the
Czech Embassy in Havana. On April 19, national television
featured a round-table discussion on the UNCHR vote in
which the Foreign Minister strongly criticized the UNCHR
resolution and accused it of discriminating against third
world countries.
During this same UNCHR session, the U.N. Special Rapporteur
on Violence Against Women released her report, which was critical
of the Government on issues of women's rights and on other
human rights problems.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
Cuba is a multiracial society with a black and mixed-race
majority. The Constitution forbids discrimination based on
race, sex, or national origin, although evidence suggests
that racial discrimination occurs frequently.
Women
Violent crime rarely is reported in the press, and there
are no publicly available data regarding the incidence of
domestic violence and rape; however, human rights advocates
report that violence against women is a problem. The law establishes
strict penalties for rape, and the Government appears to enforce
the rape law; however, according to human rights advocates,
the police do not act on cases of domestic violence.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, visited the country in 1999 and issued a report
on her findings in February. The report states that she was
surprised to find that most government officials did not see
violence against women as a prevalent problem. However, she
noted that activists at the grassroots level are very attuned
to problems of violence affecting women. Coomaraswamy urged
the Government to take comprehensive steps to enhance the
legal protection against violence against women and specifically
urged the adoption of legislation to address domestic violence
and sexual harassment.
Prostitution is legal (except for prostitution by children
under 17 years of age); however, pandering or otherwise benefiting
from prostitution is a felony. Prostitution has increased
greatly in the last few years; press reports indicate that
tourists from various countries visit specifically to patronize
inexpensive prostitutes. A government crackdown on prostitution
that began in late 1998 initially had some effect, but
prostitutes (known as "jineteras") were still
visible in Havana and other major cities during the year.
The early success was obtained by stationing police on
nearly every major street corner where tourists are
present. Some street police officers are suspected of
providing protection to the jineteras. Most observers believe
that the Government clamped down on prostitution to combat
the perception that the Government promotes sex tourism. The
Government set up centers to take prostitutes off the streets
and reeducate them; the newest center reportedly opened in
September in Valle Grande near Havana. In her February report,
U.N. Special Rapporteur Coomaraswamy recommended that the
Government dismantle the centers and find "other mechanisms
that do not violate the rights of the prostitutes."
The Family Code states that women and men have equal rights
and responsibilities regarding marriage, divorce, raising
children, maintaining the home, and pursuing a career. Women
are subject to the same restrictions on property ownership
as men. The maternity law provides 18 weeks of maternity leave
and grants working mothers preferential access to goods and
services. About 40 percent of all women work, and they are
well represented in many professions. According to the Cuban
Women's Federation (FMC), women hold 33 percent of managerial
positions. The FMC also asserted that 11,200 women have received
land parcels to cultivate; that more than 561,000 women have
begun working as agricultural workers, and that women devote
34 hours a week to domestic work, about the same number of
hours they spend working outside the home.
Children
The Constitution provides that the Government protect family,
maternity, and matrimony. It also states that children, legitimate
or not, have the same rights under the law and notes the duties
of parents to protect them. Education is free and compulsory
to the ninth grade, but it is grounded in Marxist ideology.
State organizations and schools are charged with the integral
formation of children and youth. The national health care
system covers all citizens. There is no societal pattern of
abuse of children. However, child prostitution is a problem,
with young girls engaging in prostitution to help support
themselves and their families. It is illegal for a child under
17 years of age to engage in prostitution. The police began
to enforce this law more actively in late 1998 and continued
to do so during the year, as part of their crackdown on
prostitution in general. However, the phenomenon continues
as more cabarets and discos open for the growing tourist
industry which make it easier for tourists to come into
contact with child prostitutes.
Police officers who find children loitering in the streets
or begging from tourists frequently will intervene and try
to find the parents. If the child is found bothering tourists
a second time, police frequently fine the child's parents.
People with Disabilities
The law prohibits discrimination based on disability, and
there have been few complaints of such discrimination. However,
a young married blind couple, members of the Fraternity of
Independent Blind People of Cuba were told to leave a cafe
in Moron where they sang for tips. There are no laws that
mandate accessibility to buildings for the disabled. In practice
buildings and transportation are rarely accessible to disabled
people.
On November 8, a special police operation dislodged a number
of persons with disabilities from selling their products in
Central Havana. Police arrested two persons; a court sentenced
one of them to 1 year in jail for selling stolen goods.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Many persons of African descent have benefited from access
to basic education and medical care since the 1959 revolution,
and much of the police force and army enlisted personnel is
black. Nevertheless, racial discrimination often occurs, and
is acknowledged publicly by high governmental officials, including
Castro. There have been numerous reports of disproportionate
police harassment of black youths. In 1997 there were numerous
credible reports of forced evictions of squatters and
residents lacking official permission to reside in Havana.
The evictions, exacerbated by Decree 217 (see Section
2.d.), primarily targeted individuals and families from the
eastern provinces, which are traditionally areas of black
or mixed-race populations.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution gives priority to state or collective needs
over individual choices regarding free association or provision
of employment. The demands of the economy and society take
precedence over individual workers' preferences. The law prohibits
strikes; none are known to have occurred. Established official
labor organizations have a mobilization function and do not
act as trade unions, promote worker rights, or protect the
right to strike. Such organizations are under the control
of the State and the Communist Party, which also manage the
enterprises for which the laborers work.
The Communist Party selects the leaders of the sole legal
labor confederation, the Confederation of Cuban Workers, whose
principal responsibility is to ensure that government production
goals are met. Despite disclaimers in international forums,
the Government explicitly prohibits independent unions and
none are recognized. There has been no change in conditions
since the 1992 International Labor Organization (ILO) finding
that the Government violated ILO norms on freedom of association
and the right to organize. Those who attempt to engage in
unofficial union activities face government persecution.
Workers can and have lost their jobs for their political
beliefs, including their refusal to join the official union.
Several small independent labor organizations have been created,
but function without legal recognition and are unable to represent
workers effectively or work on their behalf. The Government
actively harasses these organizations. Police detained independent
labor activist Jose Orlando Gonzalez Bridon of the CUTC for
brief periods in January. Most political dissidents lose
their jobs and remain unemployed; the only work they are
offered is cleaning streets.
The CTC is a member of the Communist, formerly Soviet-dominated
World Federation of Trade Unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Collective bargaining does not exist. The State Committee
for Work and Social Security (CETSS) sets wages and salaries
for the state sector, which is almost the only employer in
the country. Since all legal unions are government entities,
antiunion discrimination by definition does not exist.
The 1995 Foreign Investment Law (Law 77) continued to deny
workers the right to contract directly with foreign companies
investing in the country without special government permission.
Although a few firms have managed to negotiate exceptions,
the Government requires foreign investors to contract workers
through state employment agencies, which are paid in foreign
currency and, in turn, pay workers very low wages in pesos.
Workers subcontracted by state employment agencies must meet
certain political qualifications. According to Minister of
Basic Industry Marcos Portal, the state employment agencies
consult with the Party, the CTC, and the Union of Communist
Youth to ensure that the workers chosen deserve to work in
a joint enterprise.
There are no functioning export processing zones, although
the law authorizes the establishment of free trade zones and
industrial parks.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Neither the Constitution nor the Labor Code prohibits forced
labor. The Government maintains correctional centers where
it sends persons for crimes such as dangerousness. Prisoners
held there are forced to work on farms or building sites.
The authorities often imprison internees who do not cooperate.
The Government employs special groups of workers, known as
microbrigades, that are temporarily reassigned from their
usual jobs, to work on special building projects. These microbrigades
become increasingly important in the Government's efforts
to complete tourist and other priority projects. Workers who
refuse to volunteer for these jobs often risk discrimination
or job loss. Microbrigade workers reportedly receive priority
consideration for housing assignments. The military assigns
some conscripts to the Youth Labor Army, where they serve
their 2-year military service requirement working on farms
that supply both the armed forces and the civilian population.
The Government prohibits forced and bonded labor by children;
however, the Government requires children to work without
compensation. All students over age 11 are expected to devote
30 to 45 days of their summer vacation to farm work, laboring
up to 8 hours per day. The Ministry of Agriculture uses "voluntary
labor" by student work brigades extensively in the
farming sector.
d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment
The legal minimum working age is 17 years. However, the Labor
Code permits the employment of 15- and 16-year-old children
to obtain training or fill labor shortages. The law requires
school attendance until the ninth grade, and this law generally
is respected. The Government prohibits forced and bonded child
labor; however, it strongly encourages children to work without
compensation (see Section 6.c.).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The minimum wage varies by occupation and is set by the CETSS.
For example, the minimum monthly wage for a maid is $8.25
(165 pesos); for a bilingual office clerk, $9.50 (190 pesos);
and for a gardener $10.75 (216 pesos). The Government supplements
the minimum wage with free education and subsidized medical
care (but reduces daily pay by 40 percent after the third
day of being admitted to a hospital), housing, and some food
(this subsidized food is enough for about 1 week per month).
However, even with these subsidies, the minimum wage does
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
Corruption and black market activities are pervasive. The
Government rations most basic necessities such as food, medicine,
clothing, and cooking gas, which are in very short supply.
The Government requires foreign companies in joint ventures
with state entities to hire and pay workers through the State.
HRW noted that the required reliance on state-controlled employment
agencies effectively leaves workers without any capacity directly
to negotiate wages, benefits, the basis of promotions, and
the length of the workers' trial period at the job with the
employer. Reportedly these exploitative labor practices
force foreign companies to pay the Government as much as
$500 to $600 per month for workers, while the workers in
turn receive only a small peso wage from the Government.
The standard workweek is 44 hours, with shorter workdays
in hazardous occupations, such as mining. The Government reduced
the workday in some government offices and state enterprises
to save energy.
Workplace environmental and safety controls are usually inadequate,
and the Government lacks effective enforcement mechanisms.
Industrial accidents apparently are frequent, but the Government
suppresses such reports. The Labor Code establishes that a
worker who considers his life in danger because of hazardous
conditions has the right not to work in his position or not
to engage in specific activities until such risks are
eliminated. According to the Labor Code, the worker remains
obligated to work temporarily in whatever other position
may be assigned him at a salary provided for under the law.
f. Trafficking in Persons
In February 1999, the National Assembly revised the Penal
Code to prohibit trafficking in persons through or from the
country and provided the following penalties for violations:
a term of 7 to 15 years' imprisonment for organizing or cooperating
in alien smuggling through the country; 10 to 20 years' imprisonment
for entering the country to smuggle persons out of the
country; and 20 years to life in prison for using violence,
causing harm or death, or putting lives in danger, in
engaging in such smuggling. These provisions are directed
primarily at persons engaging in organized smuggling of
would-be emigrants. In addition, the revised code made it
illegal to promote or organize the entrance of persons into
or the exit of persons from the country for the purpose of
prostitution; violators are subject to 20 to 30 years'
imprisonment.
There were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from,
within, or through the country for the purpose of providing
forced labor or services.
[End.]
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