In the non-surprise story of the day — except for maybe Kofi Annan — Cuba, a member of the newly minted United Human Rights Council, has failed to improve its human rights record, according to a U.N. expert.
"The situation doesn't seem today to be anything that could be described as improved, and I'm putting it mildly," Christine Chanet told the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.
Chanet, a French lawyer, cited censorship, the imprisonment of political activists, and restrictions on rights campaigners as particular concerns, according to an Associated Press story.
In response, Cuba's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Juan Fernandez Palacios said Chanet was doing the bidding of a "fascist clique," and that the best thing she could do for human rights is to quit her job.
If that's the case, just imagine the human rights in Cuba if the Castros quit their jobs and moved off the island.
Proving that you can tell a lot about a country by who its friends are, some of the world's most leading human rights violators — China, North Korea, Russia, Iran, Belarus, Algeria, and Zimbabwe — sided with the Cubans.
Only the United States, the European Union and Vietnam — yes, Vietnam — thanked Chanet for her report.
U.N. Watch stated that the fact Cuba is on Human Rights Council exhibits everything that is wrong with the new body.
From the group's news release on Tuesday:
UN Watch applauds Ms. Christine Chanet, the Council expert on Cuba, for her persistent work under difficult circumstances, given the Cuban government’s refusal to allow her to visit the country or to otherwise cooperate. We fully endorse her call on the Cuban government to stop prosecuting citizens, and to free those already imprisoned, for exercising their basic civil and political rights—such as the 60 pro-democracy activists still sitting in jail from the government’s March 2003 crackdown. UN Watch also endorses Ms. Chanet’s calls for the Castro regime to end restrictions against non-governmental organizations, to allow for dissenting views in trade unions, press, and political parties, and to lift the travel ban that prevents Cubans from leaving the island without permission.UN Watch condemned the Cuban ambassador for resorting to personal insults against Chanet. “We will send your report to the same place as your previous reports, i.e., to the circular file," he said. "Among your many occupations, Ms. Chanet, this is not one of your honorable jobs. No one will remember your illegitimate mandate. There is a significant contribution that you might make—by quitting.” Referring to the U.S., Cuba said “we struggle for survival as a nation against the most powerful and aggressive empire in history, this fascist clique trying to destroy us.”
“That Fidel Castro’s Cuba, one of the world’s most repressive regimes, is a member of the Human Rights Council is an outrage,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer. “Cuba uses its Council seat not to promote human rights, but to shield itself and fellow dictatorships from criticism. For months, council delegates have been subjected to Castro-style political theater, with Havana’s ambassador lambasting its political enemies, such as the U.S. and the E.U., and standing in the way of needed reforms. Cuba’s refusal to cooperate with Ms. Chanet is just another example of its obstructionist policy vis-à-vis the Council.”
For more, visit Child of the Revolution, which gets the H/T.
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