16 April 2003
U.S. Official Criticizes Cuba's Repression of Dissidents
(Says U.S. support for human rights advocates in Cuba will continue)
(1600)
The Cuban government's recent crackdown on dissidents is indicative of
its failure, and the United States must continue to support Cuban
citizens in their efforts toward democracy and a better life, says
Lorne Craner, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights
and labor.
In April 16 testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives
International Relations Committee hearing entitled "Castro's Brutal
Crackdown on Dissidents," Craner commented on the Cuban government's
recent arrest of over 100 individuals on spurious treason charges and
the sentencing of 75 of these activists to long prison terms.
He noted that many of these activists faced charges of collaboration
with the United States because of their courageous discussions with
James Cason, the head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
Craner acknowledged that Cason and his colleagues in Cuba have met
with Cuban citizens and regularly work to promote democratic change on
the island, provide information about the United States, and encourage
and strengthen fundamental, internationally recognized freedoms.
He indicated that while these activities are commonplace elsewhere in
the world, they are cause for alarm in Cuba, under the regime of
President Fidel Castro.
"Only Cuba, and a diminishing number of its totalitarian counterparts,
could tremble at the 'threat' of library books and free access to the
Internet, and call them subversion," Craner said. "In Cuba, a
reporter's office files, including envelopes of newspaper clippings,
become evidence of treason."
The Cuban government's infiltration of opposition groups and recent
brutal crackdown on dissidents reflect the Cuban government's fear of
the growing democracy movement, according to Craner, but he added that
the Castro regime's actions are hardly without precedent.
"This brutality, this repression, is nothing new," he said.
"Systematic violations of fundamental freedoms have long been the
hallmark of the Cuba regime," he said.
Craner noted that the Cuba government's crackdown has sparked
international outrage, with the European Union, the United Nations'
High Commissioner for Human Rights, and more than 300 prominent
artists, intellectuals and politicians, among others, joining U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell in condemning the arrests of the
activists.
The repression, Craner said, "is an admission of failure by the
regime." He added that the United States and like-minded members of
the international community must continue to support the ordinary
citizens of Cuba who are finding the courage to strive for a
democratic future and a better life.
Following is the text of Craner's testimony, as prepared for delivery:
(begin text)
Testimony by Assistant Secretary Lorne W. Craner
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Bureau
At a hearing entitled: "Castro's Brutal Crackdown on Dissidents"
Committee on International Relations
April 16, 2003
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, you are to be commended for
holding this hearing to spotlight the recent crackdown in Cuba. The
committee's continuing interest in the situation in Cuba is
particularly well timed and welcome, given the growing international
concern over the efforts of the repressive regime to stifle
independent voices and a growing demand for democracy.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. Want to
address two issues, first the worsening human rights situation in
Cuba, and second the growing democratic movement in Cuba.
At the same time U.S. forces moved to liberate the people of Iraq from
a brutal regime, the sole survivor of totalitarianism in this
hemisphere -- the dinosaur dictatorship of Fidel Castro -- moved to
brutally repress political dissent among its citizens. Beginning on
March 18, the government of Cuba has sought to decapitate the
democratic opposition and the strongest voices of independent
expression on the island, arresting over 100 persons on spurious
charges of subversion and treason and sentencing 75 to long prison
terms in secretive and summary tribunals. Prominent targets included
independent journalists such as Raul Rivero, independent economists
like Maria Beatriz Roque, and a number of independent librarians and
labor leaders. Twenty of those arrested had supported the Varela
Project, a peaceful and constitutional call for a national referendum
on political and economic reforms in Cuba that had obtained over
11,000 signatures and international praise and recognition.
Many of these prisoners of conscience faced charges of collaboration
with diplomats at the United States Interest Section in Havana. They
were called traitors for their courage in speaking to official
Americans such as Jim Cason. Like his predecessors, as chief of the
Interest Section, Jim does in fact talk to independent Cuban citizens:
an activity hardly worthy of comment, much less alarm, in a free and
democratic society but a direct threat to the iron control of
information under a dictatorial regime. Like American and other
diplomats around the world, Jim and his colleagues work to promote
peaceful and democratic changes, provide information about our
country, and encourage and strengthen fundamental -- and
internationally acknowledged -- freedoms. Only Cuba, and a diminishing
number if its totalitarian counterparts, could tremble at the "threat"
of library books and free access to the Internet, and call them
subversion. In Cuba, a reporter's office files, including envelopes of
newspaper clippings, become evidence of treason.
It can be no surprise to any of us that much of the evidence in these
so-called trials was provided by agents of the Cuban intelligence
service who had successfully infiltrated the Cuban opposition. The
fact that government agents successfully infiltrated the Cuban
democratic movement is testimony to the regime's fear of this
movement, and the resources it is willing to bring to bear in its
efforts to intimidate its citizens, to control information, and to
stifle freedom of thought and expression. The brave men and women
confronted with these betrayals cannot have been surprised either,
knowing the very real threat peaceful dissent and independent thought
pose to an authoritarian regime. It is testimony to their true courage
that this knowledge did not sway or intimidate them. Indeed, this
action of the Cuba regime against its own citizens is a stark example
of Castro's failure to silence dissent, to establish "revolutionary
legitimacy" -- legitimacy of any kind, for that matter. It is further
proof of a failed and empty regime.
This brutality, this repression, is nothing new. Systemic violations
of fundamental freedoms have long been the hallmark of the Cuba
regime, violations denounced by a wide range of independent
international organizations including Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders, and recognized in the
State Department's annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices
released on March 31.
Ironically, at the same time as the secretive trials and convictions
of these political prisoners -- many facing prison terms of 20 years
or more for the non-violent exercise of their right to freedom of
expression and association -- Cuba sits on the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. A team of representatives of
that regime attends the current session working to block condemnation
of their own and other repressive regimes. This team is accepted
despite what the NGO Human Rights Watch characterized as the flouting
of fundamental human rights norms, despite their indifference to that
same Commission's 2002 resolution and rejection of the High
Commissioner's personal representative, and despite worldwide outrage
at the latest brutal crackdown.
Secretary Powell was not alone when he called for an end to the
repression in Cuba and insisted that Cubans who seek peaceful change
-- and basic human rights and freedoms -- be permitted to do so. His
call has been echoed by many others: the European Union, U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio de Mello, and prominent figures
across the world, including more than 300 artists, intellectuals, and
politicians -- Gunter Grass, Pedro Almodovar, and Mario Vargas Llosa
among them -- who recently published a letter protesting the recent
arrests. Even the French and Portuguese Communist Parties spoke out
against the repression, while the Catholic Bishops in Cuba -- who must
operate cautiously in the best of times -- issued a statement
"profoundly lamenting" the arrests of Cuban citizens for "thinking and
acting differently than the official ideology." Despite the bluster
and threats of Cuban officials, tree Latin American countries (Costa
Rica, Peru, and Uruguay) have drafted another resolution on the human
rights situation in Cuba, and many other countries at the commission
have voiced their support and their outrage at the recent wave of
arrests and trials of political dissidents, and at the summary trials
and executions of three ferry hijackers this past week.
This egregious act of political repression is an admission of failure
by the regime, an expression of fear directed at the most basic and
peaceful expressions of independent thought -- at journalists,
librarians, even economists. The regime has sought to characterize
members of this movement as the mercenaries of a foreign power, to
call the natural demand for freedom "treason." It is the ordinary
citizens of Cuba -- like the ordinary citizens of Iraq -- who are
finding the individual strength to look past years of repression, to
strive for a democratic future and voice their desire for a peaceful
transition and a better life. We must continue to support that effort
wherever and whenever we can, whether through our outreach to ordinary
Cubans or in partnership with like-minded members of the international
community.
I would like to conclude by stressing that promotion of democracy is
and will continue to be a central, defining element of our foreign
policy. We will continue to use all available bilateral and
multilateral tools at our disposal to combat threats to democracy and
to institutionalize democratic reforms toward a stable Western
Hemisphere.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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