Report hits at Cuban regime on human rights

Report hits at Cuban regime on human rights
By Adam Thomson in Mexico City
Published: November 19 2009 00:25 | Last updated: November 19 2009 00:25

Cuba's regime has failed to improve its dire record on human rights
under the leadership of Raúl Castro, imprisoning scores of people for
exercising basic freedoms and refusing to release dozens of political
prisoners, according to a report released on Wednesday.

In the first investigation into conditions under Raúl, younger brother
of Fidel, the legendary revolutionary leader, Human Rights Watch found
that Cubans continued to be stripped of basic rights and freedoms.
EDITOR'S CHOICE
In depth: Cuba under Raúl - Dec-18
Opinion: Human rights are the highest form of realism - Nov-08
Cubans balk at ending of food rations - Oct-21
Doubt over Chávez's cure for health - Oct-15
Cuba forced to rethink system of paternalism - Sep-17
US and Cuba hold talks on postal links - Sep-17

Indeed, rather than dismantle Cuba's repressive machinery, the report
insists Mr Castro has kept it in place. "Raúl Castro has been just as
brutal as his brother," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at
Human Rights Watch, in Washington on Tuesday.

"Cubans who dare to criticise the government live in perpetual fear,
knowing they could wind up in prison for merely expressing their views."

The report comes as the Obama administration has instigated a more
flexible policy towards Cuba, lifting restrictions on Cuban Americans
travelling to the island and sending remittances there. The US House
foreign affairs committee will discuss plans on Wednesday to lift the
ban on US citizens entirely. Mr Obama, US president, has also authorised
communications companies to do business with the country.

The findings of the 123-page report, entitled "New Castro, Same Cuba",
are likely to dispel hopes among international observers that human
rights conditions on the Caribbean island had improved under Mr Castro's
leadership.

Mr Castro took over the day-to-day running of Cuba's communist regime in
July 2006 after his elder brother began to suffer ill health. He took
office officially in February last year, several days after Fidel said
that he would not stand for president again.

The report states Raúl Castro's government uses a range of draconian
laws to combat free speech, quash labour rights and criminalise all
forms of association. As a result, "human rights defenders, journalists
and other civil society members tried under these laws are subjected to
systematic due process violations, including abusive interrogations,
denial of legal counsel and sham trials".

Worse still, the Castro government has relied heavily on its criminal
code offence of "dangerousness," which means individuals can be
imprisoned on the suspicion that they are likely to commit an offence in
the future.

The report, written after a fact-finding mission to the island and more
than 60 in-depth interviews, documents at least 40 cases in which Mr
Castro's government has imprisoned individuals under the "dangerousness"
provision for exercising their basic rights.

Mr Vivanco on Tuesday called on Washington to secure commitments from
the European Union, Canada and Latin American allies to press for the
immediate release of all political prisoners in Cuba within six months.

Mr Obama has insisted that the 47-year-old US trade embargo will stay in
place until there are changes in Cuba's one-party political system.

The report on Tueday criticised that stance, arguing that the embargo
had proved a costly failure.

"The embargo has inflicted severe hardship on the Cuban population as a
whole, while doing nothing to improve the human rights situation in
Cuba," it concluded.

FT.com / In depth - Report hits at Cuban regime on human rights (19
November 2009)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f6b5f7d2-d49c-11de-a935-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=3d806e42-a627-11db-937f-0000779e2340.html?nclick_check=1