| United Nations | A/50/663 |
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
24 October 1995
ORIGINAL:
SPANISH
Fiftieth session
Agenda item 112 (c)
HUMAN RIGHTS QUESTIONS: HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATIONS AND
REPORTS OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS AND REPRESENTATIVES
Situation of human rights in Cuba
Note by the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the
General Assembly the interim report on the situation of human rights in
Cuba prepared by Mr. Carl-Johan Groth, Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights, in accordance with paragraph 12 of Commission resolution
1995/66 of 7 March 1995 and Economic and Social Council decision 1995/277
of 25 July 1995.
95-32296 (E) 071195 101195/...
*9532296*
Annex
INTERIM REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CUBA PREPARED
BY THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN
ACCORDANCE WITH COMMISSION RESOLUTION 1995/66 AND ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL COUNCIL DECISION 1995/277
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
I. INTRODUCTION ......................................... 1 - 63
II. CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS ...........................7 - 364
A. The right to non-discrimination on political
grounds, and freedom of expression and association 7 - 204
1. General observations .........................7 - 134
2. Individual cases relating mainly to 1994 and
1995 which were reported to the Special
Rapporteur in 1995 ...........................14 - 206
B. Freedom of the press ............................. 21 - 2214
C. The administration of justice .................... 23 - 2714
D. Police abuses resulting in fatalities ............ 28 - 3116
E. The right to leave and return to the country ..... 32 - 3617
III. CONDITIONS IN THE PRISONS ............................37 - 4219
IV. ENJOYMENT OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS ....43 - 5020
V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................51 - 6022
I. INTRODUCTION
1. At its fifty-first session, the Commission on Human Rights adopted
resolution 1995/66, entitled "Situation of human rights in Cuba", on 7
March 1995. In that resolution, the Commission decided to extend for
another year the mandate conferred on the Special Rapporteur under
resolution 1992/261 of 3 March 1992, whereby Mr. Carl-Johan Groth had been
appointed Special Rapporteur.
2. In resolution 1995/66, approved by the Economic and Social Council in
its decision 1995/277 of 25 July 1995, the Special Rapporteur was requested
to report to the Commission at its fifty-second session and to submit an
interim report to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session. The
present report is in response to that request.
3. In the same resolution, the Commission expressed its concern at
information in the previous report of the Special Rapporteur to the effect
that violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms enumerated in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights were continuing in Cuba, and noted
with regret the continued failure of the Government of Cuba to cooperate
with the Special Rapporteur and its refusal to permit him to visit Cuba in
order to fulfil his mandate. It also once again called upon the Government
of Cuba to permit the Special Rapporteur the opportunity to carry out his
mandate in full, in particular by allowing him to visit Cuba; regretted the
numerous unanswered reports of violations described in the report of the
Special Rapporteur; and called upon the Government of Cuba to bring the
observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms up to universally
recognized standards.
4. The Commission also requested the Special Rapporteur to maintain direct
contacts with the Government and citizens of Cuba. Pursuant to that
request, the Special Rapporteur once again requested the cooperation of the
Government in order to fulfil his mandate, asking, inter alia, for the
opportunity to visit Cuba. That request has remained unanswered.
5. With regard to the maintenance of contacts with the citizens of Cuba,
the Special Rapporteur has endeavoured to expand such contacts as widely as
possible and has continued to demonstrate his willingness to receive any
person or group wishing to meet with him.
6. For that purpose, and bearing in mind that most of the external sources
of information on the situation of human rights in Cuba are in the United
States of America, he travelled to New York and Washington, D.C., from 28
August to 1 September 1995, where he had the opportunity to meet with
experts on the real situation in Cuba in various professional circles,
including the academic world; with people who had recently left the country
and had suffered violations of human rights; and with representatives of
the following organizations and groups: the Coordinating Body for Human
Rights Organizations in Cuba, the Cuban Committee for Human Rights, the
Committee to Support the Human Rights Movement in Cuba, the Confederation
of Democratic Workers, Freedom House, the Cuban Workers' Trade Union, Human
Rights Watch, the Cuban Committee against the Blockade, the American
Institute for Free Labor Development, Casa de las Americas, the Federation
of Cuban Masons in Exile, the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba, the
Flotilla de la Libertad, the Cuban Democratic Coalition, the 30th of
November Movement, the Cuban Centre for Human Rights, and Cuban
Municipalities in Exile. The Special Rapporteur received written
material - in addition to that received from the above-mentioned sources -
from such sources as the Information Bureau of the Cuban Human Rights
Movement, the World Federation of Cuban Political Prisoners and Amnesty
International, as well as many communications from individuals sent from
Cuba and abroad.
II. CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
A. The right to non-discrimination on political grounds,
and freedom of expression and association
1. General observations
7. The situation of human rights in Cuba continues to be characterized by
severe restrictions of the rights to freedom of expression and association,
the right to form and join trade unions and the right to strike, and strong
official control over the individual activities of citizens, including the
need for a permit from the Ministry of the Interior for citizens to be able
to travel freely abroad, strong repression by the security forces which the
maintenance of such control involves, and a system of administration of
justice in criminal matters which to a large extent is in the service of
the prevailing political regime. All this, combined with the serious
economic crisis of recent years and external factors, has led to a
situation in which approximately 10 per cent of the population (the
population of Cuba comprises some 11 million inhabitants) resides outside
the country, and a large number of people, regardless of their occupation,
see emigration as the only hope for a better future and are prepared to
abandon the country by any means.
8. Many persons with whom the Special Rapporteur has had the opportunity
to speak emphasized that the current situation of human rights in Cuba is
in fact not characterized by a systematic violation of the right to life,
undoubtedly the most basic right of all those embodied in international
instruments, but neither must the obvious importance of the incidents of
that type of violation which do occur be underestimated. 1/ However, the
shortcomings in the protection of other civil and political rights are so
numerous and so deeply rooted in the political situation enshrined in the
Constitution - under which the exercise of those rights is possible, but
only within the framework of the building of socialism - that each case of,
for example, detention on political grounds or punishment for illegal
departure from the country must be viewed not in isolation, but in a
context characterized by the lack of pluralism. The very fact that an
individual applies to an "independent" body in order to file a complaint
also carries with it a risk, since any body that may be described as
independent of any ideology or official organ is illegal and hence is
highly vulnerable and incapable of taking action.
9. The setting up of groups with a political orientation and groups for
the defence of human and labour rights has continued to grow in recent
years, despite the difficulties they encounter. This process has
undoubtedly been accelerated by the economic crisis of the 1990s, but it
had already begun prior to that, particularly with the establishment in
1976 of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights, which has still not been
legalized.
10. The Government continues to minimize the importance of those groups,
describing them as "mini-groups" and "counter-revolutionaries". The
Special Rapporteur is of the view, however, that they are very important.
This is because, firstly, at least in most cases, they emerge spontaneously
in response to the need of ordinary citizens to find alternatives to all
the problems in which they are immersed. Secondly, they constitute an
embryo of civil society and pluralism in a context characterized by the
existence, on the one hand, of the individual and, on the other, of the
State apparatus which also controls the rank-and-file organizations, with
no intermediate body being permitted to exist. Although these small groups
represent a broad ideological spectrum, they all share a belief in the
defence of individual rights, emphasizing the importance of granting the
individual a place in society under the protection of a State governed by
the rule of law, and a strategy of peaceful opposition.
11. The foregoing does not mean that all criticism is prohibited. There
exist governmental channels which citizens can utilize - and they are even
urged to do so - in order to air their grievances about the lack of public
services or any other shortcomings, but always provided these criticisms
neither attack the foundations of the system nor come from independent,
organized groups.
12. In 1995 a priest, speaking in his personal capacity, gave the
following oral testimony to the Special Rapporteur, who believes that it
represents the views of many citizens on the situation in Cuba:
"I have known persons who were detained for 40 days and who lost more
than 40 pounds, or about half a kilo a day. When society sees that a
person spends 40 days in prison and comes out looking like a walking corpse
and has been totally disoriented psychologically by the pressure and the
anguish he has suffered, that society is simply living in terror, and there
are plenty of other ways that may be utilized elsewhere to exercise
violence and power, because there are other means which are ultimately more
effective and evidently more destructive of the person and of society. I
am referring, for example, to the methods of control and surveillance, to
the distrust that has been created between people, to the system of
denunciations in Cuba, which is even used against children and the elderly.
A person is sure to distrust everybody else because anyone could be an
informer. This creates an atmosphere not only of fear, but also of
societal hypocrisy, because people conceal what they think and feel.
Clearly, we are living in a country of masks, and this is absolutely
selfdestructive in a society. One doesn't know what to believe because
people don't say what they think, they don't do what they say, and so one
lives in total confusion. The result is that this power is perpetuated,
but at the cost of all the fundamental elements comprising the reason why
we live in society and the reason why we are a people, a nation, a country.
The price paid is enormous, in suffering, in sadness, in utter degradation
as a result of living in a world of hypocrisy. All this creates a
situation which makes people feel they can do nothing to change it. They
are a people without hope, tired and oppressed ...
"The authorities hold society constantly in their grip ... The way
they conceive of and exercise power crushes human dignity ... The
situation in the country would require those with the capacity to do so to
open up possibilities for dialogue, for respect for others and,
consequently, for the establishment of channels of participation and
listening to what the other has to say, which should be expressed through
the ballot box, through a national, open dialogue with all groups that have
had the courage in some way to express themselves differently in such a
monolithic situation ...
"Cuba was never a country of emigrants, it was one of immigrants, but now
the only hope of Cubans is to be able to leave the country. Sometimes
persons with a greater level of conscience, of commitment, with profound
religious or patriotic ideals, find no alternative but to leave. We could
say that the tragedy of Cuba is that those in power are strong enough to
hold on to power but not strong enough to transform the country in a
creative manner and launch it towards the future; they don't have the power
or the moral authority to escape from this impasse but they have sufficient
brute force to continue running the country."
13. In this context, it is worth mentioning that the changes taking place
in Cuban society, principally in the economic sector, are creating a more
conducive framework enabling the incipient movement of non-governmental
organizations to reform Cuban civil society and to call for democratic
rules in relations between society and the political authorities.
2. Individual cases relating mainly to 1994 and 1995 which
were reported to the Special Rapporteur in 1995
14. In November 1994 the Special Rapporteur received from non-governmental
sources a list containing 1,195 names of persons serving sentences for
crimes with political connotations. 2/ In 1995, some of those persons,
including the following, were released before serving their full time:
Sebastian Arcos Bergnes, Rodolfo Gonzalez Gonzalez, Marta Maria Vega
Cabrera, Caridad Lima Garcia, Arnaldo Pascual Acevedo Blanco, Barbaro
Licourt Medina, Juan Luis Fuentes Valdes, Amador Blanco Hernandez, Jorge
Luis Carmona, Luis Felipe Lorens Nodal, Joel Mesa Morales, Carlos Orue
Caballero, Juan Jose Perez Maso, Julio Cesar Perez Maso, Rolando Quinones
Medina, Indamiro Restano, Guillermo Rodriguez Almora, Luis Rodriguez Leon,
Roberto Rodriguez Morejon and Alquimedes Ruiz Columbie.
15. There does not appear, however, to be any tendency for the number of
persons serving sentences for such crimes to decrease: indeed, an updated
version of the said list, received in August 1995, includes approximately
1,500 persons, at least 115 of whom were apparently arrested in 1994 and
1995. The crimes with which they are charged continue to be, in a large
number of cases, enemy propaganda, "dangerousness", acts against State
security, contempt, rebellion, etc., terms generally used to qualify
peaceful activities involving denunciation or criticism of the country's
social and political situation. Moreover, it frequently happens that the
true motives are concealed behind charges of ordinary crimes.
16. The following are some of the cases of which the Special Rapporteur
learned during the current year:
(a) Cristina Alfonso Valdes, a member of the Partido Democratico 30 de
Noviembre, was attacked in Havana on 24 January 1995 by a police agent who
shot at her when she attempted to come out in defence of her brother, who
was being held and beaten. Two months after the assault, she was charged
with contempt, for which the office of the public prosecutor is requesting
a penalty of three years' imprisonment. Nurgia Torres Leon, who witnessed
the events and came out in defence of Cristina Alfonso, is also being tried
for contempt, and in her case, too, the public prosecutor is requesting a
penalty of three years in prison;
(b) Jorge Heriberto Alfonso Aguilar, Ivan Curra de la Torre, Ileana
Curra Luzon, 3/ Felipe Lazaro Carrazana Diaz, Pedro Pablo Denis Blanco,
Carlos Denis Denis, Rodolfo Valdes Perez, Regla Tapanes Tapanes, Ariel
Lavandera Lopez, Maria Elena Bayo Gonzalez and Marcos Gonzalez Hernandez
were sentenced to one to three years' imprisonment (in some cases replaced
by restriction of freedom) by the Provincial Court of the City of Havana in
case 36/94 for the crime of enemy propaganda and other acts against State
security. According to the sentence, it was proven that the accused, "in
disagreement with the Cuban revolutionary process and its basic principles,
with a view to subverting the established social order and destabilizing
the bases of our social and economic system ..., conceived the idea of
preparing and disseminating in various places proclamations with texts
having a counter-revolutionary content", which they carried out by
producing a home-made printing block and printing fliers with texts such as
"Down with Fidel" and "Plebiscite";
(c) Armando Alonso, a member of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights and
a resident of the United States, entered the country on 5 April 1993 with
false papers. Shortly thereafter he was arrested, then held in the Villa
Marista State Security police station, where he was reportedly pressured to
make statements against other members of his group, until 4 August 1994.
On that date he was tried and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for the
crimes of enemy propaganda and acts against State security. At the end of
1994 he was transferred from Combinado del Este prison to Kilo Ocho prison,
Camaguey, where he was reportedly placed in a solitary confinement cell;
(d) Jorge Luis Brito Rodriguez and Miguel Angel Leon Garcia, lay pastors
at the Baptist Church of San Fernando de Camarones, Cienfuegos, were
arrested in December 1993 and sentenced to six years in prison for the
crimes of rebellion and enemy propaganda. They were charged with being the
authors of anti-Government fliers and with organizing a "counter-
revolutionary group" that supposedly met on the premises of the Baptist
Church. They are serving sentences in Ariza prison, where the first-
mentioned suffers from serious health problems. Alexis Carballosa Falcon,
Juan Silvio Duenas Marrero, Salvador Aguiar and Roberto Diaz were also
sentenced in the same proceedings;
(e) Leonardo Cabrera Arias, Lino Jose Molina Basulto, Ramiro Angel
Rodriguez Leyva and Jorge Oscar Rodriguez Leyva, residents of Minajarle,
municipality of Jiguani, Granma, were sentenced to six to eight years'
imprisonment for the crimes of rebellion and acts against State security in
a trial held in Bayamo on 14 March 1994. The acts with which they were
charged were "assembling, assessing the country's economic, social and
political situation, listening to foreign broadcasts, engaging in written
propaganda and seeking a cellar in which to assemble persons". The accused
alleged that they met weekly in order to conduct Bible studies. They are
serving sentences at La Manga prison, Granma province;
(f) Francisco Chaviano Gonzalez, 4/ President of the National Council
for Civil Rights in Cuba, was arrested in May 1994 and taken to the Villa
Marista State Security police station. According to information received
from persons who have been detained at that centre, the detainees there are
frequently made to go without food for 19 successive hours and are forced
to sleep on a sheet of iron, facing a fluorescent light, in sealed cells
where they remain in solitary confinement. In addition, they are
frequently denied drinking water and not allowed to wash themselves for
three or four days. That is the treatment presumably undergone by
Francisco Chaviano. At least three other persons, Abel del Valle Diaz,
Pedro Miguel Labrador and Juan Carlos Gonzalez Vazquez, were also tried in
the same proceedings, being charged with "disclosure of State security
secrets" and "falsification of documents". The trial was held on 15 April
1995 before a court martial, despite the fact that nearly all the accused
were civilians. Abel del Valle Diaz's lawyer subsequently wrote in the
Miami press 5/ that the proceedings were conducted secretly, or in other
words without the participation of attorneys, and it had not been until
three days before the trial that he had been permitted to leaf through the
records and interview his defendants. Moreover, the attorney was not
permitted access to the two documents classified as "secret" (which dealt
with the question of how to fight economic crimes in the restaurant, hotels
and services sector and in the fuels sector) which had allegedly been found
in the possession of the accused and constituted the basis of one of the
principal charges. Several witnesses for the defence were denied
admittance to the trial, which was held in camera, and family members and
friends were threatened at the entrance to the building by members of
"rapid-response brigades". A number of members of human rights groups were
detained on their way to the court and released a few hours later.
Francisco Chaviano was sentenced to a prison term of 15 years and Abel del
Valle, three years;
(g) Efrain Garcia Hernandez, a member of Partido Civico Democratico, was
arrested on 21 September 1993 and sentenced on 27 September to four years'
imprisonment for "dangerousness". During the trial, it was alleged that
one weighty element that contributed to his being sentenced was that he was
in the habit of getting drunk and causing public scandals. His neighbours,
however, denied that allegation;
(h) The San Miguel del Padron home of Rafael Ibarra Roque, President of
the Partido Democratico 30 de Noviembre, was raided on 12 June 1994 by
State Security police agents, who also threatened his family. On 17 June
he was arrested together with his brother-in-law Yadel Lugo Gutierrez, a
member of the same group, and taken to the Villa Marista State Security
Department. Yadel Lugo was subsequently released. In July and August,
respectively, State Security agents appeared at Rafael Ibarra Roque's home
and confiscated goods that legally belonged to the family, such as a motor
car, a gas stove, a television set and a number of domestic animals on the
basis of a warrant for the confiscation of allegedly ill-gotten goods. In
February 1995 he was tried by the Provincial Court of the City of Havana
for the alleged crime of sabotage and possession of weapons and sentenced
to 20 years in prison. He is serving his sentence in Combinado del Este
prison in Havana. According to the information received, his wife Maritza
Lugo and other family members continue to be harassed. Yadel Lugo
Gutierrez was threatened on a number of occasions and dismissed from his
work and study centre in February 1995;
(i) Jorge Luis Ortega Palacio was arrested on 26 June 1994 for
displaying a bed sheet on which he had printed the words "Abajo Fidel"
(Down with Fidel). He was sentenced to one year and three months in prison
for the crime of "public disorder". At the time of the arrest he was
severely beaten. In October of the same year he was transferred from Taco
Taco prison to Cinco y Medio prison in Pinar del Rio, where he is
reportedly in a precarious state of health and receiving no medical
treatment;
(j) Vladimir Petit Ramirez was arrested on 5 August 1994 when he was
found with a video camera in an area of Havana where an anti-Government
demonstration was taking place. He was sentenced to three months in prison
for the crime of participation in public disturbances;
(k) Noel Reyes Martinez, aged 25, a member of the Partido Democratico 30
de Noviembre, was arrested on 3 June 1995 after shouting anti-government
slogans in a public place. He was transferred to the Calzada de Luyano
police station between Lugo and Acierto, Reparto Luyano, 10 de Octubre
municipality, Havana, and is alleged to have been severely beaten. At the
time the report was received he had been conditionally released, having
been charged with contempt, for which the prosecutor sought a two-year
prison sentence;
(l) Orson Vila Santoyo, an evangelical pastor (overseer of the Central
District of the Assembly of God), was arrested on 25 May 1995 in Camaguey
for refusing to close down the "house of worship" which he maintained at
his domicile. 6/ Some 80 of the approximately 100 existing houses of
worship were said to have been closed down in Camaguey Province in May and
June 1995. Charged with "unlawful association" and "disobedience", he was
tried by summary procedure the same day and received an 18-month prison
sentence. He is serving the sentence at the Ceramica Roja prison in
Camaguey. Two other members of the evangelical church in Camaguey, Balbino
Basulto and Benjamin de Quesada, were arrested also and were released a few
hours later.
17. The Special Rapporteur has also received reports on the conditions
purportedly endured by a number of persons serving sentences for crimes
with political connotations, especially in relation to their health and the
lack of adequate medical care. The following cases are among those
reported on:
(a) Gustavo Rodriguez Sosa, who is serving a sentence for the crimes of
rebellion and enemy propaganda at La Manga prison in Granma. He suffers
from a general rheumatic condition;
(b) Ruben Hoyos Ruiz, an inmate of Manacas prison since 1990, received a
five-year prison sentence for disseminating enemy propaganda. He was
recently tried at the prison for contempt and was sentenced to two
additional years in prison. He has diabetes and is said to require
surgical treatment for his eyes;
(c) Tiburcio Felix Ramirez, aged 60, is serving an eight-year prison
sentence for the crime of enemy propaganda in the provincial prison of La
Manga in Granma. He has ophthalmic problems, which began in prison, and is
not receiving medical care;
(d) Cesar Codina, aged 73, is serving a five-year prison sentence in La
Manga, Granma, for disseminating enemy propaganda. He suffers from
diabetes and hypertension, and he has nervous problems that make it
difficult for him to function on his own;
(e) Armando Espinosa, aged 74, is serving a sentence in La Manga for the
crime of rebellion. He has lung cancer;
(f) Luis Rodriguez Leon, aged 52, is serving a seven-year sentence in
the Kilo 8 maximum security prison in Pinar del Rio for the crimes of enemy
propaganda and unlawful association. According to information which the
Special Rapporteur received in January 1995, he has a duodenal ulcer and
chronic gastritis;
(g) Omar del Pozo Marrero. A foreign doctor who examined him in May
1995 in Quivican prison in Havana is reported to have diagnosed, inter
alia, hypertension, malnutrition and serious gastrointestinal problems. He
was transferred to the Carlos Finlay military hospital in Havana, where he
remained for five weeks without receiving the necessary medical care. At
the end of this time he was sent to Guanajay prison where, it has been
reported, he is being kept in solitary confinement and his health continues
to give rise to concern.
18. The Special Rapporteur has continued to receive information about
cases of harassment, house searches, temporary arrest and loss of
employment or other kinds of reprisal connected with the exercise of
freedom of expression and association or due to discrimination on political
grounds. On the other hand, "acts of repudiation" by individuals organized
by the authorities are reported to have decreased in number this year. The
following are among the cases reported recently:
(a) Ramon Varela Sanchez, Carlos Alberto Guzman Gonzalez and Miguel
Angel Oliva, members of the Liga Civica Martiana, were arrested in Havana
in July 1995;
(b) Lorenzo Perez Nunez, Luis Alberto Lazo Borrego, Javier Marquez
Borrego and Maritza Nunez, from Artemisa municipality, together with Juan
Francisco Monzon Oviedo, from El Mariel municipality, all members of the
Partido Democrata Martiano, were arrested on 10 August 1995 and
subsequently transferred to the Villa Marista detention centre by State
Security agents, who also searched their domiciles;
(c) Joaquin Cabezas de Leon, Librado Linares and Cecilio Monteagudo
Sanchez, members of the Grupo Reflexion in Camajuani, Villa Clara, were
summoned to the State Security Department in January 1995 and threatened
with prosecution if they persisted in their activities within the group;
(d) Mercedes Parada Antunez was detained temporarily and threatened with
further imprisonment (she had spent a year in prison from 1993 to 1994)
during the last week of January; 7/
(e) Luis Alberto Muro Gutierrez, a writer and a member of various
opposition groups, such as the Asociacion Pro Arte Libre (APAL), is alleged
to have been subjected to various forms of harassment and discrimination
since the 1980s, including expulsion from literary workshops, lack of
access to advanced studies in the arts and humanities, no possibility of
obtaining employment or publishing his writings, and so forth. On 3 April
1994, he was taken from the National Hotel in Havana, where he was in the
company of two foreign friends, by four State security agents who beat him
and fractured his skull. One year later he was still undergoing treatment;
(f) Felix Mario Fleitas Posada, a member of the Asociacion Pro-
Democracia Constitucional, was summoned on 11 December 1994 to the L y
Malecon police station where he received an official warning for
"conducting activities against the regime". Members of his family are also
said to have been threatened with reprisals in order to deter them from
maintaining contacts with human rights groups;
(g) Juan Guarino Martinez Guillen, President of the so-called
Confederation of Democratic Workers of Cuba, was arrested on 13 July 1995
at his domicile in central Havana and was subjected to an interrogation and
threats. On the same day, Maria Elena Argote Gonzalez, a member of the same
Confederation, was summoned by State Security agents, who threatened to
have her put on trial;
(h) Jose Antonio Fornaris Ramos, of the Frente de Unidad Nacional
Liberal Progresista, was arrested in Havana on 16 June 1994 and kept for 19
days in offices belonging to the 100 y Aldabo Technical Department of
Investigations where he was subjected to questioning and threats designed
to deter him from engaging in any type of political activity;
(i) During the final months of 1994 security organizations summoned and
threatened the following members of the Movimiento Cristiano Liberacion,
the majority of them in Havana: Segundo Lima, Miguel Salude, Encarnacion
Echenique (Guines municipality, Havana), Antonio Llaca, Elio Rodriguez,
Pedro Ferreiro, Omar Victores, Ramon Antunez, Antonio Hernandez, Rafael
Leon (east Havana), Pastor Rodriguez (San Miguel municipality), Andres
Rodriguez (Holguin), Regis Iglesias, Marve Mora (Santiago de Cuba), Pedro
Valdes (Aguada de Pasajeros, Cienfuegos), Antonio Sanchez, Armando
Barreras, Efren Martinez (San Luis, Pinar del Rio), Ernesto Mayea,
Alejandro Paya, Oswaldo Paya;
(j) A considerable number of members of political and human rights
groups were arrested in early July, in connection with the anniversary of
the sinking of the tugboat 13 de Marzo. 8/ It was further reported that an
extensive police operation had been mounted in Havana at that time to
prevent the organization of any commemorative activities by opposition
groups. A mass that had been scheduled at the Church of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus was cancelled by the authorities and the church was closed;
(k) Jose M. Gil, Alfredo Santana, Roberto Gonzalez, Eduardo Garcia
Nieto, Rafael Vigoa and Miguel Padilla, members of the teaching staff at
the Jose Antonio Echeverria Polytechnic Institute for Advanced Studies in
Havana, were penalized after sending a letter to the Rector on 28 September
1994 expressing their disagreement with the way in which the Government had
treated persons who had demonstrated on 5 August 1994 and advocating a
shift to democracy in Cuba. Although they were not officially expelled, the
penalty consisted in not allowing them to teach at any educational
establishment in the country;
(l) Jesus Marante Pozos, a resident of Piloto, Pinar del Rio province,
was expelled from the Abel Santamaria teaching hospital after refusing to
continue his membership in the Union of Communist Youth. His wife, Dr.
Yanelis Garcia Gonzalez, was expelled from the Primero de Enero Polyclinic;
(m) Rubiseida Rojas Gonzalez, a Spanish teacher in the trade school in
San Antonio de los Banos municipality, was dismissed from her post and, as
a result, expelled from the education sector in Cuba on 3 November 1994.
In March 1994, she had been removed from the post of Director in the same
school for having in her possession copies of the Miami newspaper El Nuevo
Herald and other foreign publications. The basis for the final decision to
expel her was that she had committed acts contrary to socialist morality
and the principles of Cuban society by failing to belong to the committees
for the defence of the revolution, participate in political activities and
pay one day's salary to the territorial troop militia;
(n) Enrique Jose de la Cotera Doce, a member of the teaching staff at
the Jose Antonio Echeverria Technical Institute for Advanced Studies in San
Jose de Las Lajas, was dismissed from his post on 30 June 1995 for
expressing unwillingness to continue such non-teaching parallel activities
as voluntary work and political and union activities ordered by the
administration and to make the obligatory payments of dues to the union and
the territorial troop militia.
19. The Special Rapporteur remains concerned about the continuing
dismissals of teaching staff which are taking place despite the criticisms
of this practice which were expressed by the Committee of Experts on the
Application of Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labour
Organization in the framework of Convention No. 111 concerning
discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. 9/ In its most
recent report to the International Labour Conference, the Committee states:
"The Committee recalls that the Latin American Central Organization of
Workers (CLAT) alleged in 1992 that 14 university teachers had been
dismissed for having expressed their political opinions, in accordance with
their constitutional rights, in an eight-point "declaration of principles"
which they signed and sent to their immediate superiors. The Government
replied that inquiries into the matter showed that the teachers in question
no longer had the essential qualities required for teaching and that
Legislative Decree No. 34 of 1980, which provides that the dismissal of
teachers in higher education may be decided upon by the rectors of
universities and is subject to appeal, was applied. Nine of the teachers
dismissed had appealed to the Minister of Higher Education but their
appeals were dismissed.
"The Committee again urges the Government to explain what it means
by 'essential qualities required for teaching'. While noting that the
Government again states that the teachers concerned were offered jobs but
refused them, the Committee asks the Government to indicate what means of
redress, other than the above-mentioned procedure of appeal to the Minister
of Education, are available to these workers as protection against any
discriminatory practices based on any of the grounds in the Convention,
particularly political opinion.
"...
"With regard to Resolution No. 2 of 20 December 1989 respecting the
reinstatement of the educational workers to whom Legislative Decree No.
34/80 applied ..., the Committee observed that these workers may only be
reinstated after completing five years' disciplinary work, during which
they are excluded from the education sector. The Committee notes that,
according to the Government, this period may be reduced to a period of less
than five years with a view to reinstatement.
"The Committee is bound to recall that this legislation is drafted in
very broad terms and could therefore give rise to practices which
discriminate against any worker coming into contact with young people in
the education process, enforceable by penalties which exclude them from
their employment for a long period. It considers that these provisions are
not consistent with the principles of the Convention and points out that
they would only be in line with the Convention if they dealt with
qualification requirements for certain jobs involving special
responsibilities ... The Committee asks the Government to take the
necessary steps to have these legislative provisions repealed in the near
future, as required by article 3 (c) of the Convention". 10/
20. Another disturbing consideration is that former prison inmates are
marginalized on political grounds. They receive the label "untrustworthy",
which effectively bars them from engaging in professional or technical work
and blocks their access to administrative posts or positions of
responsibility or employment in a foreign firm, even though their
qualifications and skills may make them ideal candidates for the job. In
the best of cases, they are relegated to posts of inferior worth.
Moreover, the Special Rapporteur received reports on the politically
motivated discrimination to which workers are subjected when hiring takes
place in the most prosperous sectors of the economy, including sectors
which have received foreign investment.
B. Freedom of the press
21. The Special Rapporteur continued to receive information about cases of
journalists who suffered reprisals ranging from dismissal from their jobs
to prosecution for having expressed opinions critical of the current system
in the exercise of their profession. That was the case, for example, of
Alexis Castaneda Perez de Alejo, who worked for, among other newspapers,
Vanguardia and Huella, and on 15 May 1994 was sentenced to five years
imprisonment for having made statements which were termed "enemy
propaganda".
22. Journalists who have been dismissed from their jobs, in many cases on
political grounds, have formed various unauthorized news agencies in order
to send information to foreign communications media. Frequently, however,
they are subjected to house searches at which their equipment (fax
machines, cameras, tape recorders, etc.) is confiscated and other types of
measures of intimidation are taken, as in the following cases:
(a) Nestor Baguer, President of the Agencia de prensa independiente
(APIC), was attacked on 2 March 1995 in Havana by an unknown assailant and
suffered a broken wrist and several bruises. On 11 July State Security
agents searched his home and seized a fax machine which had been made
available to him by Reporters sans Frontieres; they also cut off his
telephone service. A few days later Mr. Baguer lodged a complaint with the
Plaza municipal court for the return of the confiscated item, but the court
secretary refused to accept the complaint on the grounds that it had no
legal foundation;
(b) Roxana Valdivia, a correspondent of Reporters sans Frontieres and a
member of APIC in Camaguey, was arrested on 22 May 1995 and interrogated
for 10 hours. Subsequently she has continued to receive telephone threats.
Orestes Fandevila, Luis Lopez Prendes and Lazaro Lazo, also members of
APIC, were arrested and interrogated for several hours on 8 July 1995;
(c) Rafael Solano, who was dismissed from the Radio Rebelde and Radio
Taino radio stations in 1994 and is currently a member of the agency Habana
Press, was arrested on 12 July 1995 in San Miguel del Padron. During the
15 hours for which he was held. he was accused of distributing propaganda
and threatened with prosecution if he continued to send reports to the
United States radio station Radio Marti and to the newspapers The Miami
Herald and El Diario de las Americas;
(d) Jose Rivero Garcia, a member of the Havana Circle of Journalists,
was subjected to a house search on 13 July 1995 by State Security agents
who confiscated a video camera, a fax machine and a typewriter.
C. The administration of justice
23. The Special Rapporteur received information from jurists within Cuba
conveying their concerns about deficiencies in the administration of
justice, and specifically about the lack of independence of the judiciary
from the political authorities which is particularly clear when persons
prosecuted for crimes with political connotations are sentenced. It was
also reported that there is the same lack of independence in the legal
profession. Decree Law No. 81 of 8 June 1984 and its regulations establish
membership in the National Organization of Collective Law Offices (ONBC) as
a requirement for exercising this profession; in order to enter this
organization it is necessary to have "moral qualities which accord with the
principles of our society" (art. 16 (a) of the decree), which in practice
has blocked entry to those who do not share the official ideology and
policy. Although article 5 of the decree proclaims that ONBC is an
"autonomous entity", the Ministry of Justice carries out inspections,
supervision and monitoring of its activities and those of its members,
issues regulatory and other provisions and performs other additional
functions (special first provision of the decree and article 42 of the
regulations).
24. In theory, ONBC is democratically governed by a general assembly
elected by the member lawyers. However, the public (non-secret) system for
the election of officers (art. 13 of the regulations) means that in
practice, according to the information received, the electors vote for the
directors, members of the Communist party or its youth branch (which
together account for over 85 per cent of the delegates), and other
candidates who are acceptable to the administration. Opinions which differ
from the view of the administration are silenced through intimidation.
25. Where the right of association is concerned, the National Union of
Cuban Jurists (UNJC) has a monopoly over Cuba's lawyers' association.
According to the information received, the leaders and representatives of
State bodies play a predominant role in its activity and management, while
simultaneously serving in the Communist Party. A group of lawyers has been
pursuing measures since 1990 to set up an independent association under the
name of "Union Agramontista de Cuba". In February 1991 they submitted an
application for legalization to the Ministry of Justice but have so far
received no reply.
26. It was also reported that members of the Union Agramontista are
frequently the victims of measures such as various types of pressure
ranging from "friendly advice" to administrative prohibition on undertaking
the defence of human rights activists and members of the political
opposition. There is overt hostility on the part of ONBC leaders to the
signing of petitions containing dissenting opinions concerning national or
professional problems, which has resulted in the signatories being summoned
to meetings where pressure has been brought to bear on them and,
ultimately, in their possibly being sanctioned to the extent of being
forbidden to practise as lawyers. Measures are also adopted to prevent
fellow lawyers from meeting in private homes; on 22 April 1995, for
example, three unknown persons burst into the home of the lawyer Jorge
Bacallao, who was in a meeting with several other jurists. Summonses to
the police authorities and the public prosecutor's office, arbitrary
arrests and even imprisonment are not unknown, as in the case of Freddy
Reyes Lafitta, who was sentenced to four years' imprisonment after being
charged with the offence of enemy propaganda in 1993 for painting signs
opposing the political regime.
27. Early in 1995 the lawyers Leonel Morejon Almagro, of the Marianao
collective law office, and Rene Gomez Manzano, of the Havana Cassation
Office, were expelled from their respective offices. In addition, the
lawyers Castor de Moya Viera, Juan Escandel Ramirez and Jose Angel
Izquierdo Gonzalez have been subjected to surveillance and harassment. All
of them have adopted positions criticizing the operation of the
administration of justice in Cuba and have defended persons accused of
offences with political connotations. In the case of Sergio Hernandez
Ramos, one of the defence lawyers in the trial of Francisco Chaviano, 11/
it was reported that on 15 April 1995, when he left after the hearing, he
was followed by a State Security vehicle and attacked by unknown persons on
reaching Calzada de Santa Fe.
D. Police abuses resulting in fatalities
28. The complaints received by the Special Rapporteur also include cases
of persons who have died or have been injured as a result of an excessive
use of force by Government agents. The most serious case in recent years
is certainly the sinking of the tugboat 13 de Marzo in the waters of the
Straits of Florida on 13 July 1994, referred to by the Special Rapporteur
in his previous report. Although the Government maintains that the
authorities bore no responsibility for what was considered to have been an
accident, the Special Rapporteur received testimony from some of the
survivors indicating that Government launches from the port of Havana tried
to stop the 13 de Marzo with pressurized water jets and then deliberately
rammed it, causing it to sink. Non-governmental sources informed the
Special Rapporteur that the number of persons who died was not 32, as the
Government had stated, but at least 37 and that the families have for a
year now been asking for an investigation to be initiated. Up to September
1995, however, the case had not progressed further than a very limited
police investigation which has been filed in the Havana prosecutor's
office. In response to requests by family members and lawyers, this office
replied in mid-July 1995 that it had no plans to initiate legal proceedings
for the sinking of the vessel.
29. The Special Rapporteur also received a report of the case of
Estanislao Gonzalez Quintana who was detained on 8 September 1995 and
subsequently died in the Consolacion del Sur police station, Pinar del Rio,
where he had been taken on charges of illegal economic activity. On 12
September a relative was informed that the detainee had died of a heart
attack but, the report went, when the corpse was inspected in the morgue
bruises could be seen as well as a deep gash in the forehead.
30. The Special Rapporteur has also received information on cases of
persons allegedly shot dead by police when surprised stealing food on farms
and in the fields. This appears to have been the case of Wilfredo Almiral
de Armas, who died on 12 November 1994 on the Marilin farm in the
municipality of Consolacion del Sur, Pinar del Rio, which he had entered
intending to steal chickens. Reinerio Velasquez Avila was shot dead on 14
May 1994 by a guard when he was surprised with other individuals on a State
banana plantation called "La Guanabana", located on Via San Andres highway,
near the town of Holguin.
31. The Special Rapporteur has been unable to obtain reliable information
as to whether or not cases of this type are duly investigated as a general
rule and the perpetrators punished. However, he welcomes the reply
transmitted by the Government of Cuba to the Special Rapporteur of the
Commission on Human Rights on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Execution
with reference to one of these cases, that of Orelvis Martinez Limonta.
According to this reply, on 7 July 1992 a civilian guard of an economic
unit surprised this person stealing sugar from a railway wagon parked in
the Santa Clara station marshalling yard, and, in an attempt to capture
him, shot and killed him. The guard was sentenced by the provincial court
of Villa Clara to eighteen years' imprisonment. 12/
E. The right to leave and return to the country
32. Cuban law still does not recognize the right of all citizens freely to
leave the country and to return to it. In both cases a permit is required
which the administrative authorities may refuse on discretionary grounds,
without justification under the law and frequently on political grounds, as
in the following cases:
(a) Oswald and Alejandro Paya Sardinas of the Movimiento Cristiano
Liberacion. The Immigration Department has informed them repeatedly, and
most recently during 1995, that they are forbidden to leave Cuba even
temporarily, and that this provision holds indefinitely;
(b) Elizardo Sanchez Santa Cruz, of the Commission on Human Rights and
National Reconciliation, was refused a permit to visit Canada in the spring
of 1995;
(c) Mercedes Pupo Robert and Ariel Garcia Pupo were refused an exit
permit although they held visas to enter Canada, where Ariel Garcia Rivero,
the husband of the former and the father of the latter, lives; he works in
the merchant navy and was granted asylum in Canada in 1993;
(d) Hilda Molina Morejon, who resigned from her post as a member of the
board of the Centro Internacional de Restauracion Neurologica for
ideological reasons in 1994, and her mother, Hilda Morejon Serantes, were
refused a permit to leave the country temporarily to visit relatives in
Argentina;
(e) Leonor Diaz Ramirez was refused a permit to leave the country to
visit her son, who lives in the United States, on the grounds that he was
engaged in propaganda against the Government of Cuba.
33. The maximum time allowed for temporary stays abroad is 11 months, and
confiscatory measures are taken in cases of definitive exit. Cuban
citizens living abroad must obtain a permit each time they wish to enter
the country; these permits entail the payment of fees that are very high by
Cuban standards. Moreover, the permits are usually granted for very short
stays (two weeks or a month), and are required regardless of the country
where the Cuban citizen has taken up residence.
34. Anyone attempting to leave Cuban territory illegally is subject to
severe penalties, such as the following:
(a) Santiago Francisco Alvarez, who was a technician in charge of
recording, editing and sound transmission for the Radio Guama radio station
in Pinar del Rio, was dismissed from his job during the second half of 1994
after having been declared "untrustworthy". He was accused of having
purchased a boat in the port of La Coloma, with the intention of leaving
the country;
(b) Mario Julio Viera Gonzalez, of the Frente de Unidad Nacional, who
had lost his job as an agronomist in 1988, was arrested on 30 June 1994,
one day after having been issued an official summons to appear for an
interview at the State Security office at 20th Street and 3rd Avenue, in
the Miramar district of Havana. Three days later, his family was informed
that he had been transferred to the province of Ciego de Avila to serve a
two-year sentence imposed in 1990 for "illegally leaving the country".
According to Mr. Viera, at the trial held that year, it was not determined
that the attempt to leave the country had actually taken place, since, in
fact, it had not;
(c) Carlos Alberto Ocana Romero lost his job as a maintenance
electrician at the General Hospital in Santiago de Cuba after having
publicly expressed opinions against the political system. On 13 March
1994, he was arrested by State Security authorities when he was beginning
to prepare to leave the country illegally. He was charged with piracy and
other acts against State security, and, at a trial held in February 1995,
was sentenced to a year in prison.
35. The Special Rapporteur's previous reports have mentioned the
phenomenon of illegal exit by sea of citizens who used precarious means of
transport in their desire to reach the United States coast. Thus, it is
estimated that some 2,500 persons arrived in the United States in 1992, and
some 3,000 in 1993, while approximately 30,000 people left Cuba during the
crisis of August 1994. 13/ The immigration agreements signed in 1995 by
Cuba and the United States are intended to put a stop to this phenomenon.
To this end, the United States has undertaken, among other things, to
return to Cuba all Cubans who may be intercepted at sea, instead of
facilitating their entry into the United States, as had been the practice
up to 1994. The Cuban Government, for its part, has undertaken to refrain
from taking reprisals against such persons or against persons requesting
exit visas at the United States Interests Section in Havana. The Special
Rapporteur sincerely hopes this commitment will be honoured; at the same
time, he is concerned at the apparent contradiction between this
undertaking and the fact that illegally leaving the country is still a
crime under Cuban legislation. He also wishes to express his concern
regarding reports received from non-governmental sources to the effect
that, although persons who are repatriated after having been denied
residence permits in other countries are usually not prosecuted, they do
suffer other types of discrimination in daily life, particularly as regards
access to jobs.
36. In addition, the Special Rapporteur has received from non-governmental
groups a partial list of persons who allegedly disappeared in the Straits
of Florida while trying to leave Cuba illegally. The list contains 103
names, most of them corresponding to the years 1991 and 1992. He has also
received a list of names of 77 members of the Movimiento Integracionista
Democratico Autentico who were allegedly ordered, under threat, to leave
the country on the occasion of the events of August 1994. 14/ Members of
other groups have also apparently been subjected to this type of pressure.
III. CONDITIONS IN THE PRISONS
37. Non-governmental sources have informed the Special Rapporteur that
they have recorded the existence of 294 prisons and correctional labour
camps throughout the country; it is estimated that there are between
100,000 and 200,000 prisoners in all categories; this figure represents a
very high proportion of the country's population. It is also a matter of
concern, bearing in mind the fact that the Special Rapporteur is still
receiving reports on the precarious living conditions in the prisons, such
as those described below.
38. In early 1995, there was an epidemic of leptospirosis at the Combinado
del Este prison which resulted in the deaths of several inmates. More than
100 prisoners had to be hospitalized.
39. The Special Rapporteur has received a list of 26 inmates of a section
of the Kilo 7 prison, in the province of Camaguey, who allegedly had
tuberculosis. Moreover, in February 1995, an outbreak of diarrhoea
apparently affected the great majority of the 1,300 inmates of that prison.
An outbreak of tuberculosis at the Combinado del Sur prison in Matanzas has
also been reported; there were six deaths at this prison during the past
year. Cases of scabies also appear to be widespread.
40. A report on the situation in the provincial prison of La Manga, in the
province of Granma, includes the following description of the situation of
persons detained on charges of committing offences with political
connotations:
"We are placed with very dangerous criminals, people who have personality
and even psychiatric disorders. In many cases, State Security takes
advantage of the situation of these people and of their base moral values,
and uses them to offend our dignity. State Security uses many of them as
informers, promising them rewards for providing information on what we talk
about, and authorizes them to beat us up if they hear us saying bad things
about the President of the Republic. Moreover, the prison authorities have
created a system whereby certain inmates are entrusted with disciplining
the rest, in return for certain privileges. These inmates are violent
people who have no scruples and are extremely dangerous, and they impose
excessively strict measures. At the slightest breach of discipline on the
part of a prisoner, they offend him with insulting words and even beat him
up brutally ... We are subjected to severe interrogation sessions because
of false information supplied by ordinary prisoners, and our lives are also
threatened ... Those of us who are Christians are threatened with
prosecution as common criminals on charges of what the authorities call
'proselytizing'; moreover, we are not allowed to hold religious services
because they say we use them for political purposes ... Food is poorly
prepared; the fish is often spoiled, and this creates serious digestive
problems."
Similar situations are also frequently mentioned in reports received by the
Special Rapporteur on other prisons.
41. There are also reports of cases where prisoners have been severely
beaten by members of the staff. The Special Rapporteur received a list of
names of 25 inmates of the Combinado Sur prison in Matanzas who are said to
have been severely beaten during 1995.
42. On the other hand, the Special Rapporteur wishes to express his
satisfaction at the information supplied by a former prisoner of the
Alambrada de Manacas prison to the effect that this centre was closed
during 1995. It appears that this was possible because of the action taken
by the office of the provincial prosecutor as a result of the many
complaints received regarding material conditions at the prison and the way
the prisoners were treated.
IV. ENJOYMENT OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
43. One of the aims of the building of socialism in Cuba is to achieve an
egalitarian society; for this purpose, mechanisms such as rationing, price
subsidies and restrictions on wage levels have been established. At the
same time, the Government's efforts in the field of human rights have been
reflected in high levels of employment and the expansion of social security
and educational coverage. However, as stated in the previous report of the
Special Rapporteur, 15/ the economic tools chosen to promote high levels of
protection for the whole population in these areas do not seem to have been
highly effective. In fact, the economy has shown a poor rate of real
growth for several years, leading to the serious economic crisis that has
prevailed in Cuba since the early 1990s and the consequent impact on the
enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.
44. The scale of the crisis has significantly worsened levels of
employment. Almost 80 per cent of the industrial sector either is not
functioning or is doing so at a very low level, and some 40 per cent of the
workforce is unemployed or underemployed. To make up for lost income, the
State continues to provide the unemployed with 60 per cent of their wages.
Still, given the low level of wages, that amount is not sufficient to cover
the basic needs of the average worker; as a result, he or she is often
forced to undertake illegal activities. Government measures in recent
years have been intended mainly to promote the operation of market
mechanisms in the economy and include major incentives for foreign
investment. Experts believe that these measures do not seem likely to
diminish, but rather to increase the level of unemployment; that will
certainly further exacerbate social inequalities.
45. The distribution of basic foods through rationing has been severely
curtailed; the system now covers only about the first 10 days of each
month. The existence of the free market in farm produce is alleviating the
economic crisis somewhat, but the free-market prices are extremely high
compared to the national average wage of about 180 pesos per month. For
example, the official price of rice is 24 centavos a pound, but is free-
market price is 9 pesos a pound.
46. The wage structure is determined by profession, rather than by
industrial sector or through collective bargaining, and it is applied
strictly, regardless of the worker's experience, qualifications or output.
The wage scale was established when the economy was still highly subsidized
for the purpose of achieving a more egalitarian society. However, the
present levels of inflation have made this system obsolete, causing a
substantial reduction in the average standard of living and forcing many
citizens to indulge in illegal activities, to find a second job or to
emigrate. Another aspect of the wage structure is the fact that workers
are paid in the national currency, despite the continued dollarization of
the economy. Indeed, many basic consumer goods and services are paid for
in dollars, and workers who do not receive their wages in dollars are
deprived of access to them (the rate of exchange is 40 pesos to the dollar,
and the average wage is equivalent to approximately $4.50). The Government
obtains profits in hard currency from firms which operate with foreign
currency, while continuing to pay minimum wages in non-convertible
currency.
47. It is against this background of profound crisis and of economic
employment reforms, which are for the most part detrimental to workers'
rights, that the latter increasingly feel the need to set up their own
trade unions, breaking the monopoly exercised in this sphere by the Central
Organization of Workers of Cuba (CTC). As has happened with all the other
independent organizations referred to by the Special Rapporteur in previous
chapters, those unions have not succeeded in obtaining legalization and
their activities are still being repressed. 16/
48. Further, to an earlier comment of the Committee of Experts on the
Application of Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labour
Organization concerning the application of Convention No. 87 (Freedom of
Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention) concerning
relations between CTC and the Communist Party, and the latter's alleged
interference in the election of trade union leaders, the Committee stated:
"The Committee takes due note of the comments made by a worker member of
Cuba to the Conference Committee to the effect that the relations between
the Central Organization of Workers of Cuba (CTC) and the Communist Party
did not compromise the continuity of the trade union movement, since the
members of the CTC approved its statutes, rules and guidelines and elected
its leaders in an open and democratic manner, and no candidates had been
proposed by the Communist Party. The Worker member also indicated that the
relationship between the CTC and the Communist Party was approved by the
workers democratically and that they were the only ones who were competent
to decide whether or not to change it.
"Nevertheless, the Committee emphasizes that a system in which there is a
single party and a single central trade union organization is likely to
lead in practice to external interference prejudicial to trade union
independence.
"The Committee requests the Government to guarantee in law and in
practice the right of all workers and employers, without distinction
whatsoever, to establish independent organizations of their own choosing,
outside any existing trade union structure if they so desire (art. 2 of
Convention No. 87), and the right to elect their representatives in full
freedom (art. 3 of the Convention)".
49. The economic crisis has also seriously affected the health care
system, a sector which has also been very directly and significantly
damaged by the United States embargo.
50. The Special Rapporteur has received numerous reports concerning the
enormous shortfalls in the provision of basic medicines and describing the
dilapidated state of many of the country's hospitals. Most of the time,
provincial hospitals are even short of such essential medicines as
painkillers, antibiotics, anaesthetics and equipment for sutures. Either
because of a shortage of electricity or because of the lack of antiseptics,
it is difficult or impossible to sterilize clothing and instruments,
including those used in operating theatres, and air-conditioners are
switched off or used at very low settings. It has also been reported that
products manufactured in medical equipment facilities are essentially
intended for export or for those hospitals which provide medical treatment
to foreigners; the latter are certainly provided with all they need.
Meanwhile, in the country's other hospitals, patients must wait for long
periods before obtaining a prosthesis.
V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
51. Throughout 1995, the Government of Cuba took certain measures in the
field of human rights with which the Special Rapporteur expresses his
satisfaction. The first measure was the decision to ratify the United
Nations Convention against Torture. The second was the decision to permit
a visit to Cuba by some non-governmental human rights organizations, after
the Government had listened attentively to their requests and claims and
acceded to them partially by agreeing to release, without the condition of
leaving the country, some persons imprisoned for offences with political
connotations. These measures were preceded by the decision to invite the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit the country,
which he did in November 1994. The decision to hold in 1995 another
conference in Cuba on "the nation and emigration" is also positive as a
continuation of the experience of the previous year, thus creating the
possibility for a dialogue between Cubans living in the country and those
residing abroad, albeit one still limited to very specific questions.
52. The economic situation in Cuba also differs from that of recent years
in that there is a new readiness to evaluate critically previous policies
and solutions that had proved to be unfeasible in today's world. The
previous resistance that characterized Cuban economic policy seems to have
given way to a new, more pragmatic phase. The profound restructuring of
the system nevertheless is exacting a considerable political and social
price, particularly with regard to the inevitable unemployment and the
appearance of new social actors. Cuba is not immune to the ideological
effect of institutions such as self-employment, the agricultural and
livestock market and, on another scale, foreign enterprises, with the
concomitant national and foreign businessmen connected with the mixed
import and export economy. The emerging social sector linked to the black
market is also another factor with a strong social impact.
53. In spite of the steps being taken in the United States Congress to
reinforce the embargo, United States policy towards Cuba, which is a pallid
remnant of the cold war, is another area where resistance to change, in our
view, would seem to be waning. The policy based on the trade and financial
embargo against Cuba has increasingly lost support at the international
level as well as in broad and significant sectors of the United States.
54. It is essential for the Cuban economy to be transformed in an orderly
and peaceful manner, without social upheaval. This is clearly also in the
interest of the international community. The internal decisions taken by
the Government of Cuba are decisive. Nevertheless, without a positive and
favourable international climate, such measures would be much more
difficult to adopt and implement.
55. The current dialogue between the European Union and the Cuban
Government aimed at achieving an agreement on cooperation, like that which
already exists with other countries in the region, should yield positive
results in both the economic area and the field of human rights. In order
to ensure that the process of change, which seems inexorable in Cuban
society, takes place in a peaceful and effective manner, there is a need to
have channels for responsible and constructive information and action, but
which are also truly independent and legitimately representative in the
eyes of the Cuban people.
56. In the field of human rights, serious violations of the civil and
political rights of Cuban citizens continue to occur. It could not be
otherwise since political pluralism and freedom of association have still
not been officially recognized and, therefore, the freedoms of expression,
information, movement and assembly and the freedom to demonstrate
peacefully continue to be infringed. Those who defy these prohibitions,
which are contrary to human rights, are subject to persecution,
discrimination and even imprisonment. Under the Cuban Penal Code, enemy
propaganda, unlawful association, "dangerousness" to society, illegal entry
into or departure from the country and so forth continue to be wrongfully
defined as offences.
57. Repression in individual cases of opposition figures and independent
human rights activists thus continues unchanged, although, according to
information received, there has been a decrease in the number of "acts of
repudiation" on the part of the rapid response brigades. If any
improvement can be discerned in this context, it is in the new climate of
discussion which has come about unthinkable only several years ago - in
intellectual sectors, which have called into question vital aspects of the
system that exists in Cuba.
58. The continuation of human rights violations during 1995 obliges the
Special Rapporteur to reiterate to the Government of Cuba essentially the
same recommendations as those of the previous year. They involve measures
which would substantially improve the human rights situation and which, in
many cases, require purely administrative decisions:
(a) Cease persecuting and punishing citizens for reasons relating to the
exercise of the freedom of peaceful expression and association;
(b) Take immediate steps to release unconditionally all those persons
serving sentences for offences against State security and other related
offences and for trying to leave the country unlawfully;
(c) Permit legalization of independent groups, especially those seeking
to carry out activities in the political, trade union, professional or
human rights field, and allow them to act within the law, but without undue
interference on the part of the authorities;
(d) Ratify the principal human rights instruments to which Cuba is not
yet a party, in particular, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols (the first on
communications from individuals and the second intended to abolish the
death penalty) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights;
(e) Delete from penal legislation types of offences by virtue of which
citizens may be tried for exercising their right to freedom of expression
and association, such as enemy propaganda, unlawful association and
possession of illegal printed matter and restrict the application of other
offences which, while not specifically so designed, may, in practice, be
used in such a way as to have the same effect, as, for example, the offence
of rebellion;
(f) Review in depth the legal provisions relating to the concept of
"dangerousness" and the relevant security measures with a view to
eliminating all those aspects liable to infringe the rights and freedoms of
individuals;
(g) Repeal all those legal provision which imply discrimination between
citizens on political grounds, in particular in the employment and
education sectors, and redress as far as possible abuses committed in this
area in the past, for example, by reinstating in their former posts persons
who have been dismissed;
(h) Repeal the legal provisions which bar Cuban citizens from exercising
their right to enter and leave the country freely without requiring prior
administrative authorization. This also implies putting an end to de facto
discrimination against persons who, having unsuccessfully attempted to
settle abroad, have been repatriated. Persons of Cuban origin residing
abroad, in particular those who are Cuban nationals, should be able to
enjoy the same right once minimal administrative requirements have been
met;
(i) Respect the guarantees of due process, including the independence of
the judiciary, in accordance with the provisions of the relevant
international instruments, adopting in particular the measures necessary to
facilitate free and effective access to legal assistance for all persons
put on trial. Such assistance should be provided by lawyers able to
practise their profession with complete independence;
(j) Investigate thoroughly the events surrounding the sinking of the
tugboat 13 de Marzo and the many resulting casualties, with a view to
punishing those responsible and providing compensation to the relatives of
the victims;
(k) Ensure greater transparency and guarantees in the prison system, so
as to prevent excessive violence and physical and psychological suffering
from being inflicted on prisoners. In this connection, it would be a major
achievement to renew the agreement with the International Committee of the
Red Cross and to allow non-governmental humanitarian organizations access
to prisons;
(l) Allow international non-governmental human rights organizations to
enter the country more frequently so that they can evaluate the human
rights situation and offer their competence and cooperation with a view to
securing improvements.
59. The international community should continue providing all possible
support for the establishment of a process of peaceful political transition
in Cuba to accompany the ongoing economic reforms. It also should ensure
that adequate humanitarian assistance is provided to the Cuban population
in need, in particular vulnerable groups such as children, youth, the
elderly, women, disabled persons and unemployed persons. It is also
necessary to facilitate multi- and bilateral technical and financial
cooperation with Cuba which can enable its Government and people to
continue on the path of the economic reforms in progress and to undertake,
on a consensual basis, the political reforms which are urgently called for
by the current situation, in particular with respect to human rights.
60. In accordance with the invitation by the Commission on Human Rights in
its resolution 1995/66, the Government should consider the possibility of
requesting the establishment of a programme of advisory services and
technical assistance. The objective of the programme should be to
facilitate the dissemination of information on, and the education of Cubans
with respect to, human rights; to assist international experts in carrying
out technical studies so as to bring domestic legislation more closely in
line with the human rights requirements of universally accepted
international standards; and to establish national institutions for the
promotion and protection of human rights.
Notes
1/ See para. 18 (j) below and E/CN.4/1995/52, para. 40.
2/ See E/CN.4/1995/52, para. 9.
3/ Ibid., para. 10 (1).
4/ Ibid., para. 11 (b).
5/ El Nuevo Herald, 27 April 1995.
6/ "Houses of worship", which are generally to be found in the homes of
clergymen, were authorized in 1990.
7/ See E/CN.4/1995/52, para. 30 (b).
8/ See para. 28 of this report.
9/ See E/CN.4/1995/52, para. 18.
10/ International Labour Conference, Eighty-second Session 1995, Report
III (Part 4A), Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of
Conventions and Recommendations, Geneva 1995, pp. 301-302.
11/ See above, para. 16 (f).
12/ See E/CN.4/1995/61, para. 114.
13/ See E/CN.4/1995/52, paras. 36-43.
14/ Ibid., paras. 41-42.
15/ Ibid., paras. 48-55.
16/ See above, para. 18 (g).
-----