UN Praises Cuba for Practices against Human Trafficking
HAVANA TIMES – The UN Special Rapporteur on people trafficking, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, said today that Cuba applies “good practices” in the fight against this global problem, reported dpa news.
“The strength of the system is that people have a high level of education and know their rights,” said Giammarinaro at a press conference after concluding her several day visit to the island.
Giammarinaro highlighted “the quality of Cuba’s social security and educational system, which contributes to reducing the vulnerabilities associated with people trafficking,” she said.
“Cuba is a much less vulnerable country than others,” said Giammarinaro, who is the first United Nations human rights expert to visit the country for a decade.
“I hope it will be a starting point to promote a more intense and fruitful dialogue with the entire UN human rights system,” said Giammarinaro.
The rapporteur identified “some areas of concern” as the presence of sexual offenses against minors, especially in the family context.
In 2015, a total of 2,174 case of sexual abuse of minors were reported on the island, which would represent 0.09 percent of the 2.6 million children, according to Cuban authorities.
Giammarino transferred to the Cuban government her concern that local law considers minors in the case of abuse to be young people up to 16 years, when she believes that it should be until 18.
She also considered positive that in Cuba prostitution is not penalized as a crime, but she noted that it is necessary to avoid the stigmatization of prostitutes.
Opposition sectors accuse the Cuban government of exercising “labor slavery” in medical mission agreements with other countries, which currently involve thousands of people and are Cuba’s main source of income.
“I have been guaranteed that they only participate voluntarily and can return whenever they want,” said Giammarinaro in reference to the participation of doctors in official missions abroad.
The denunciation of trafficking in persons and the illegal trafficking of migrants is a recurring theme of the Cuban Government in international forums.
Last January, the US government eliminated the policy of “dry feet, wet feet”, which exclusively benefitted Cuban citizens who reached US territory by any means.
During her agenda on the island, which began on Monday and ended Friday, Giammarinaro met with the president of the Cuban parliament, Esteban Lazo.
The United Nations rapporteur also had meetings with the ministers of tourism, justice and foreign affairs.
I respect these answers, Moses…as long as we can still agree to disagree about Cuba and its Revolution, including its origin and its aftermath. And I respect Circles Robinson for putting up with our divergent opinions.
“The right horse” that I am referring to is DEMOCRACY. Your obsession to continuously conflate anti-Castro commentary to support for the long-deposed Batista dictatorship is a false flag and wearisome. Stop it. My comments here at HT do not occupy most of my time. SF Bay area traffic does. My passion for life in Cuba is related to my Cuban family. My respect for the Office of the President is exactly why I criticize it’s current occupant. He is scary stupid.
Probably, Moses, this is your most ridiculous comment yet. “We bet on the right horse.” Was that Batista and the Mafia, who via kickbacks, permitted rich Americans to also partake in the rape and robbery of Cuba from 1952 to 1959? Instead of acknowledging the 191-to-0 UN vote, you mock it because you want, somehow, to deny it. In the meantime, give us one other topic in the world in which the UN can reach unanimity. “The revolution has failed,” you say. Well, it succeeded in kicking Batistiano and Mafiosi thieves and killers off the island, so I guess that is some kind of success, uh? And, incredibly, it has succeeded in maintaining its independence against overwhelming odds, even more overwhelming than the revolutionary victory itself. “How again does that {the UN vote} affect my life?” you ask. Well, it doesn’t as long as you can hide behind the skirts of the world superpower that has a veto in the UN. Your extraordinary defense of the Batista-Mafia dictatorship that roiled Cuba prior to the revolution is precisely why I say…repeatedly, as you noted…that both the Cuban Revolution and Revolutionary Cuba say more…much more…about the U. S. than they say about little Cuba. And your insidious claim that “small, poor” Cuba is “a minor headline on even the slowest news day” is laughable. IF THAT IS SO, MOSES, WHY DOES IT SEEM TO OCCUPY MOST OF YOUR TIME? It doesn’t occupy as much of my time as baseball, birds, family, etc., but it indeed occupies much of my time BECAUSE OF HOW HUGELY AND ADVERSELY THE U. S. BATISTIANO-FUELED CUBAN POLICY HAS, FOR SO MANY DECADES, HARMED THE IMAGES OF AMERICA AND DEMOCRACY IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD. In other words, my passion for Cuba relates specifically to my larger passions for America and democracy. Now explain to us once again exactly what your passion for Cuba relates to.
And by the way, I’m certainly not a Trump supporter but I care too much about the office of President to call him “the scary stupid President Trump,” which I believe belittles the Office as well as you.
I heartily disagree with your “assessment”. Cuba is small, poor socialist country economically dependent upon foreign handouts. US Cuban policy is a minor headline on even the slowest news day. With the scary stupid President Trump in charge with everything that is going on in North Korea and Syria, news out of Cuba is hardly worth mentioning. Your affirmation regarding the Cuban revolution saying more about the US is simply ridiculous. The revolution has failed. Castro-style socialism in Cuba according to Fidel Castro himself does not work. What does the Castros failure in Cuba say about the US? We bet on the right horse. And by the way, the annual UN vote you love to mention. …how again does that affect my life? Are there any sanctions? Boycotts? Slap on the wrists? So, really, why bother?
One reason the Cuban Revolution and Revolutionary Cuba both say a lot more about the United States than they say about Cuba is that, since 1959, neither the mainstream U. S. media nor the U. S. government have been democratic enough, REGARDING CUBA, to permit such headlines as: “UN Praises Cuba for Practices Against Human Trafficking.” On the other hand, if a UN report criticized Cuba, the mainstream U. S. media; the anti-Cuban zealots in forums such as HT.org; and vast professional anti-Cuban propagandists and bloggers in the U. S. would scream powerful headlines. SO I REPEAT: With Cuba being an island and the U. S. being the world superpower, the Cuban Revolution and Revolutionary Cuba say a lot more about the United States than they say about Cuba, and that’s a truism since 1959. If HT regulars such as Moses disagree with that assessment, I believe they should explain their reasoning instead of just calling pro-American and pro-democracy zealots bad names for critiquing a U. S. Cuban policy that demeans America and democracy…a policy, by the way, that currently has a 191-to-0 condemnation in the United Nations.