29 April 2003
U.S. Outraged at Cuba's Election to U.N. Human Rights Commission
(Walks out of Economic and Social Council meeting in protest) (500)
By Judy Aita
Washington File Staff Writer
United Nations -- Calling Cuba's re-election to the United Nations
(U.N.) Human Rights Commission an "outrage," the United States walked
out of a meeting April 29 of the U.N. Economic and Social Council.
Ambassador Sichan Siv, the U.S. representative to the Economic and
Social Council, said that "the election of Cuba ... is an outrage to
which we object in the strongest terms."
"Simply put, Cuba has the worst human rights record in this
hemisphere," he added. "Its nomination to the Commission on Human
Rights symbolizes the commission's regrettable decline in
international prestige, relevance, and authority."
The Economic and Social Council held elections April 29 for membership
on the 53-nation Commission on Human Rights. Each region presents a
slate of candidates for allotted seats on the commission. The Group of
Latin American and Caribbean countries presented a slate for the
second year in a row that included Cuba. No country in the region
presented itself for Cuba's seat, so the slate was accepted by
acclamation. Others elected with Cuba were Peru, Honduras, the
Dominican Republic, and Guatemala.
The United States walked out of the meeting twice -- the first time
when the voting was about to take place.
"I got up when the acclamation was going to take place because we
didn't want to join the acclamation," Siv told journalists after the
meeting.
Siv then walked out again when the Cuban delegate addressed the
meeting.
"We have been working ... to promote countries that have good human
rights records to be members of the commission," the U.S. ambassador
said. "We continue to do that. At the same time, we will oppose
countries like Cuba whose human rights records are just abysmal. It is
outrageous. That is why we decided to walk out this morning."
Cuba "is a country that for 40 years has not held an election," Siv
observed. "It is a country that arrests people and puts them in jail
at the whim of the dictator. That is why we were so outraged when the
candidacy [of Cuba] was endorsed this morning by the Latin American
and Caribbean regional group."
In remarks to the Economic and Social Council, the ambassador pointed
out that "while the [U.N. human rights] commission was in session this
year, with Cuba sitting as a member, the Cuban authorities rounded up
78 opposition leaders, independent journalists, and librarians, held
summary trials, and sent them to prison for terms of up to 28 years."
He concluded by citing the Castro regime's recent execution of three
men arrested for having committed a bloodless crime: hijacking a boat
in order to reach the United States. "The Cuban government also
arrested three alleged hijackers and shot them to death within a week
of incarceration -- no real trial, no appeal, no justice," Siv said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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