Human Rights in Cuba

By Elio Delgado Legon

HAVANA TIMES – The US government has repeatedly voiced its concerns about human rights violations in Cuba. They’re right, human rights are being violated in Cuba. There is an illegal prison on Cuban soil, where hundreds of inmates have been tortured, held without being sentenced or taken to trial, which is a criminal violation of these people’s human rights, and many are still in a legal limbo.

However, this prison isn’t a Cuban prison. It’s a US military base that has been occupying Cuban land illegally, against the Cuban people’s and government’s will. So, who are the ones violating human rights?

On the other hand, the Cuban people have been subjected to an economic, commercial, and financial blockade for sixty years now, and any relationship they have with banks, companies, ships, etc. are relentlessly persecuted.

The blockade was implemented to stop the Cuban people from having access to food, medicine, medical equipment and many other things, which the US has itself declared is to cause starvation, diseases, all kinds of calamities and make the Cuban people desperate. That is to practice genocide and a flagrant and systematic violation of an entire nation’s human rights, for such a long time.

So, who are the ones violating Cubans’ human rights?

If the US government really had a shred of dignity it wouldn’t bring up the subject of human rights, much less accuse other countries of violating them, when they themselves are far from being an example on this issue, especially within their own borders. Plus, as we all know, they support governments that flagrantly violate the human rights of their own people and other countries, which they shamelessly attack, trusting that they have the US government’s support.

To just give you one example of the many I can list, the people of Palestine immediately come to mind. Their land was invaded by Israel in 1967 and they have had all of their rights systematically violated, even the most important: their right to life. Knowing they have the US’ full support, they murder, bomb, destroy, evict Palestinians from their homes and there has been no way to stop this massacre, as any resolution presented to the UN Security Council is vetoed by the US.

Other examples we see on a daily basis in our own region, where citizens are systematically murdered and repressed with force, and they aren’t considered human rights violators…

In spite of the blockade, Cuba has made important breakthroughs, with a health system that has been classified as one of the best systems in the world, and access is free and universal, ensuring that every Cuban has the right to healthcare and it has allowed the island to tackle the pandemic with positive results.

Furthermore, the Cuban health system has been able to help over 50 countries to fight the pandemic and to improve their health indicators. While the US government has stopped medicine and medical equipment (which could help the Cuban people) from reaching Cuba. They continue to want the Cuban people to suffer the blockade’s consequences, but they don’t believe this to be a human rights violation. How much hypocrisy!

“While some countries promote solidarity, others are stepping up unilateral coercive measures, attacks and all kinds of threats, that are flagrant human rights violations for entire nations,” said Juan Antonio Quintanilla, Cuba’s permanent representative at the 46th ordinary session of the UN Human Rights Council, held in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Cuban permanent representative also added that “while some defend the human rights system as a real space for dialogue and cooperation, others are using it as a political weapon against third parties, and even to openly promote destabilization and regime change.”

The country that violates human rights the most has no moral high ground to accuse others in this matter.

Read more from Elio Delgado Legon here.