Cuban Dissident Rosa Maria Paya Elected to the IACHR
The founder of the organization Cuba Decide was the top vote-getter, with 20 votes.
HAVANA TIMES – Cuban dissident Rosa María Paya, nominated by the United States, was elected this Friday as a new member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Her election took place during a vote held at the 55th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), in Antigua and Barbuda, where three of the IACHR’s seven commissioners were selected.
Paya, founder of the organization Cuba Decide and daughter of the dissident Oswaldo Paya—whose 2012 death was attributed to the Cuban state by the IACHR—was the top vote-getter, receiving 20 votes.
The US had strongly advocated for Payá’s appointment to the Commission due to her outspoken criticism of the governments of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
On Thursday, during the Assembly, US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Landau urged member countries to vote for Paya’s nomination, delivering a forceful speech in which he questioned Washington’s future involvement in the OAS, stating that the organization had been “incapable” of resolving the crises in Venezuela and Haiti.
The IACHR is an autonomous body of the OAS tasked with promoting and protecting human rights in the Americas. It is composed of seven independent members.
In a statement following her election, Paya accused Cuba of having led Venezuela and Nicaragua “to the collapse of democracy,” and asserted that the Americas “have paid a high price for tolerating the Cuban regime for far too long.”
The new commissioner vowed to follow the example of her father, who “gave his life for freedom and believed that human rights exist beyond borders, races, cultures, and politics.”
Oswaldo Paya, founder of the Christian Liberation Movement, and fellow dissident Harold Cepero died on July 22, 2012, when the vehicle they were traveling in crashed. It was being driven by Spanish politician Angel Carromero, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Cuba.
However, the IACHR concluded in 2023 that the Cuban state was responsible for Paya’s death, determining that the crash had been caused by a vehicle driven by state agents deliberately ramming into theirs.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.