By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Jan 12 2004 (IPS)

Restrictions on civil, political and economic freedoms in Cuba “eclipse” the positive impacts of the social rights that the government has always maintained a priority, complained an opposition group here Monday.

Restrictions on civil, political and economic freedoms in Cuba “eclipse” the positive impacts of the social rights that the government has always maintained a priority, complained an opposition group here Monday.

The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), which the Fidel Castro government does not recognise as a legal entity, stated in its semi-annual report that 2003 was a distressing year due to the “systematic transgressions” against the Cuban people’s human rights.

And this year, says the report, could be “equally discouraging” because the island’s socialist government does not seem willing to “introduce modernising transformations or reforms” to the laws or regulations related to the exercise of basic rights.

Among the most frequent offences against human rights, says the CCDHRN, are related to freedom of expression, information, press, the right to due process, and to protection from arbitrary treatment.

“All of this contrasts strongly with the high priority the government of Cuba has placed on the expansion and perfection of the systems of education and basic medical assistance, which correspond to the field of social rights,” says the report.

On that point, the opposition group warns that the “undoubtedly positive effects in terms of domestic policy and international image” end up eclipsed by the island’s situation in terms of civil, political and economic rights.

As has been the norm, the latest version of the document that the CCDHRN issues every six months was signed by the group’s president, Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz, a leading figure of the dissident movement in Cuba and who last year was accused of having ties with the Castro government’s counterintelligence services.

The report, circulating among the foreign media, details the situation of 315 people who are serving prison sentences or are awaiting trial on charges that include acts of terrorism, sabotage, spying, armed robbery, piracy and illegal departure from the country, among others.

On the list are nine condemned to life behind bars, as well as three sentenced to death, though their appeal is pending in the Supreme Court of Justice.

Salvadoran citizens Raúl Ernesto Cruz León and Otto René Rodríguez Llerena were tried for terrorism and sentenced to death in 1998, while Cuban Humberto Real Suárez, arrested in October 1994, received the same sentence for acts against the security of the state, assassination and other crimes.

Last year, the death by firing squad of three men who were subject to summary trials after hijacking a passenger boat in a bid to flee to the United States, ended a three-year moratorium that the island had maintained for capital punishment, which is permitted under national law.

The CCDHRN also states that there are 84 “prisoners of conscience” behind bars, including Raúl Rivero, Martha Beatriz Roque, Oscar Espinosa and Manuel Vázquez, who are among the group of 75 dissidents who were imprisoned in a sweep in March and April 2003.

According to the semi-annual report, around 20 of these inmates are gravely ill, and the health of at least 10 is so poor that they should not remain in prison if they are to survive.

The human rights and national reconciliation group has exhorted the Cuban authorities to put into practice – “for purely humanitarian reasons” – the legislation that would give Roque, Espinosa and several others an “extra-penal” authorisation for the equivalent of serving out their sentences under house arrest.

The Cuban government flatly rejects criticisms of its human rights record and, on the contrary, considers the country to be among those that most respect citizens’ social, economic and cultural rights.

Along that line of reasoning, Havana considers the opposition groups here that denounce restrictions on basic rights to be allied with the “hostile policy” of the United States towards the island.

The Castro government also rejects the resolutions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights that challenge Cuba’s record. Havana interprets those decisions as the result of U.S.-led campaigns.

The CCDHRN, which since 1987 has been awaiting a response from the Ministry of Justice to its request to register as a legal organisation, received in 1990 the freedom of expression prize from the Inter-American Press Association.

In 1991 it was recognised with the international prize awarded by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Excerpt:

By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Jan 12 2004 (IPS)

Restrictions on civil, political and economic freedoms in Cuba "eclipse" the positive impacts of the social rights that the government has always maintained a priority, complained an opposition group here Monday.

The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), which the Fidel Castro government does not recognise as a legal entity, stated in its semi-annual report that 2003 was a distressing year due to the "systematic transgressions" against the Cuban people’s human rights.

And this year, says the report, could be "equally discouraging" because the island’s socialist government does not seem willing to "introduce modernising transformations or reforms" to the laws or regulations related to the exercise of basic rights.

Among the most frequent offences against human rights, says the CCDHRN, are related to freedom of expression, information, press, the right to due process, and to protection from arbitrary treatment.

"All of this contrasts strongly with the high priority the government of Cuba has placed on the expansion and perfection of the systems of education and basic medical assistance, which correspond to the field of social rights," says the report.

On that point, the opposition group warns that the "undoubtedly positive effects in terms of domestic policy and international image" end up eclipsed by the island’s situation in terms of civil, political and economic rights.

As has been the norm, the latest version of the document that the CCDHRN issues every six months was signed by the group’s president, Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz, a leading figure of the dissident movement in Cuba and who last year was accused of having ties with the Castro government’s counterintelligence services.

The report, circulating among the foreign media, details the situation of 315 people who are serving prison sentences or are awaiting trial on charges that include acts of terrorism, sabotage, spying, armed robbery, piracy and illegal departure from the country, among others.

On the list are nine condemned to life behind bars, as well as three sentenced to death, though their appeal is pending in the Supreme Court of Justice.

Salvadoran citizens Raúl Ernesto Cruz León and Otto René Rodríguez Llerena were tried for terrorism and sentenced to death in 1998, while Cuban Humberto Real Suárez, arrested in October 1994, received the same sentence for acts against the security of the state, assassination and other crimes.

Last year, the death by firing squad of three men who were subject to summary trials after hijacking a passenger boat in a bid to flee to the United States, ended a three-year moratorium that the island had maintained for capital punishment, which is permitted under national law.

The CCDHRN also states that there are 84 "prisoners of conscience" behind bars, including Raúl Rivero, Martha Beatriz Roque, Oscar Espinosa and Manuel Vázquez, who are among the group of 75 dissidents who were imprisoned in a sweep in March and April 2003..

According to the semi-annual report, around 20 of these inmates are gravely ill, and the health of at least 10 is so poor that they should not remain in prison if they are to survive.

The human rights and national reconciliation group has exhorted the Cuban authorities to put into practice – "for purely humanitarian reasons" – the legislation that would give Roque, Espinosa and several others an "extra-penal" authorisation for the equivalent of serving out their sentences under house arrest.

The Cuban government flatly rejects criticisms of its human rights record and, on the contrary, considers the country to be among those that most respect citizens’ social, economic and cultural rights.

Along that line of reasoning, Havana considers the opposition groups here that denounce restrictions on basic rights to be allied with the "hostile policy" of the United States towards the island.

The Castro government also rejects the resolutions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights that challenge Cuba’s record. Havana interprets those decisions as the result of U.S.-led campaigns.

The CCDHRN, which since 1987 has been awaiting a response from the Ministry of Justice to its request to register as a legal organisation, received in 1990 the freedom of expression prize from the Inter-American Press Association.

In 1991 it was recognised with the international prize awarded by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Excerpt: