In October 2020, Cuba was re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) for its fifth term, along with Russia and China. While Russia and China faced high levels of criticism for their re-election given their track record of human rights violations, much of the mainstream media coverage only briefly name-dropped Cuba as a passing reference, despite deep disapproval from the human rights community. So, what exactly has Cuba done to earn such disapproval?
CUBA’S HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Despite ratifying eight international human rights treaties, Cuba’s violations stretch to the most basic level of human rights standards. The country’s known use of arbitrary arrests has contributed to its rate of 510 prisoners per 100,000 citizens, making it the seventh-highest incarceration rate in the world; much higher than Russia and China. Not only are these individuals arrested for arbitrary reasons but these prisoners go on to then face human rights violations from arrest, to trial, to prison conditions.
Cuba’s constitution, replaced in 2018 by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, ensures that the ruling “Partido Comunista de Cuba” (“Communist Party of Cuba”) is the only legal political party permitted. Anyone publicly advocating opposing views, therefore, faces the threat of fines or arrest. Regarding detentions, police are able to arrest anyone under article 144 of Cuba’s Penal Code that “threatens, libels or slanders, defames, affronts or in any other way insults or offends, with the spoken word or in writing, the dignity or decorum of an authority, public functionary, or his agents or auxiliaries”. Peaceful political opponents, human rights defenders, and journalists are often villainised, verbally and physically harassed, and in many cases imprisoned. Cuban authorities frequently use article 144 to legally repress their people’s freedom of expression and assembly, with police violence and arrests during the 2019 Pride march garnering much global media attention. Moreover, Cuba’s tendency to infer “guilt by association" under article 75.1 means that family members and friends can be detained without sufficient grounds, violating their right to family life and a fair trial, as stated under the UN Declaration of Human Rights 1948 (UNDHR), which Cuba ratified in 1972.
The Cuban trial process is subject to the same low standard of human rights protection. Despite article 94(d) in Cuba’s constitution assuring judicial independence, all lawyers must be members of the National Organization of Collective Law Firms (ONBC), which is overseen by the Cuban Ministry of Justice. Furthermore, judges are appointed, and can equally be removed by an Assembly overseen by the government. The absence of security of tenure, a key component of judicial independence, influences judgments to suit the government’s political agenda, which violates Cuban citizen’s right to a fair trial.
It does not stop there. Despite Cuba’s having ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1995, torture and beatings are used regularly as a tool of oppression, as are extended periods of solitary confinement and forced labour. Furthermore, family visits are mostly refused, and prisons are overcrowded with low levels of hygiene—a problem exacerbated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, during which thousands of inmates have been released in order to reduce the spread of the virus within prisons.
Due to these repressive violations, the Freedom in The World 2020 report rated Cuba a 14 out of 100 based on its political rights and civil liberties. Whereas in comparison, China scored lower with a daunting 10 and Russia scored surprisingly higher with a 20.
CUBA’S MEMBERSHIP IN THE HRC
On a symbolic level, allowing Cuba to continue as a member of the HRC whilst it repetitively commits human rights violations reflects poorly on the values and influence of the HRC. On a practical level, we see the consequences of allowing Cuba to participate in the Council when looking at its voting record. Freedom in the World reports that throughout its five terms on the Council, Cuba “has only supported 66 out of the 205 resolutions passed in response to serious human rights violations around the world,” which raises the question of what Cuba’s true intentions are as an HRC member.
This can potentially be answered when looking at Cuba’s relationship with its allies, Russia and China, on the Council. According to Cuban human rights activist Rosa María Payá, “Cuba uses the seat to protect their impunity, making sure the multiple accusations against them and criminal friends in Venezuela, China, Russia and Belarus do not prosper. These groups act in gangs conspiring together to cover up the facts and empty the human rights council of content and effectiveness.” Cuba’s role seems much less of an aim to collaborate in the global protection of human rights but rather an opportunity to control the HRC’s response to Cuba’s own abuses.
With the next election only due in 2023, the human rights community will have to wait to see if Cuba will fail to be re-elected as Saudi Arabia was in 2020. Nevertheless, Cuba’s role in the repression of human rights should not be lessened when compared to its allies Russia and China. Allowing these countries to continue as members discredits the work and values of the HRC, and therefore other member states in the Council should work more effectively to review allegations of their human rights abuses or reconsider how they will vote in the 2023 elections.
Juno Worsdell is a second year LLB Law student at the University of Leeds, and is currently setting up a Human Rights Law Group initiative within the Leeds Law School. She has a passion for human rights and social justice, particularly relating to the politics of Human Rights in Latin America and women’s rights.