US rights group finds abuses rife in Raul's Cuba

US rights group finds abuses rife in Raul's Cuba
By WILLIAM C. MANN (AP)

WASHINGTON — Human Rights Watch says conditions in Cuba have not
improved under Raul Castro and in some ways are worse than they had been
when his brother Fidel was president.

In a report released Wednesday, the group accuses Raul Castro's
government of systematic repression and creating "a pervasive climate of
fear among dissidents and, when it comes to expression of political
views, in Cuban society as a whole."

Fidel Castro ceded power to Raul Castro first on an interim basis in
2006, then permanently in February 2008. Human rights activists had
hoped that the change would lead to greater liberty on the Caribbean island.

The report found little evidence of that. It criticized Raul Castro's
increased reliance on a law that it says criminalizes "any behavior that
contradicts socialist norms."

It says the law "captures the essence of the Cuban government's
repressive mindset, which views anyone who acts out of step with the
government as a potential threat and thus worthy of punishment."

Human Rights Watch described the report as its most comprehensive
analysis of conditions for Cuba since Raul Castro took power. The report
echoes the group's past criticism of Raul Castro's government.

Cuba contends it protects human rights much better than most countries
because its communist system provides free health care, education
through college, housing and basic food. It says it holds no political
prisoners, and opposition activists in jail are there for legitimate
reasons, such as treason. The government says dissident groups are
mercenaries of Washington.

Human Rights Watch rejects that argument, but criticizes the United
States for its decades-old embargo.

While giving the Cuban government "full and exclusive responsibility"
for rights abuses, the report says that while the embargo continues,
"the Castro government will continue to manipulate U.S. policy to cast
itself as a Latin American David standing up to the U.S. Goliath, a role
it exploits skillfully."

Cuba's government has jailed or harassed some independent journalists or
activists, although its restrictions on Internet use are loose enough
that some critics still manage to file blog posts regularly from
computers on the island.

The independent Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National
Reconciliation, whose reports are the basis for many analyses of the
situation in Cuba, says more than 200 political prisoners still are held
in Cuba, notably fewer than when Fidel Castro ruled. The government does
not recognize the commission's legitimacy but has not shut it down.

The Associated Press: US rights group finds abuses rife in Raul's Cuba
(18 November 2009)
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