MIAMI, United States. – The Cuban ruler, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, told Alena Douhan, special rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on a visit to the island, that Cuba was “committed to all the human rights mechanisms” of the United Nations.
Despite the serious human rights violations of the Cuban population, and particularly of activists, independent journalists and opponents, Díaz-Canel assured that his government works to promote greater democratic participation among the population, in decision-making and in the process of creating regulations for their laws.
“We are working hard on the legal framework that guarantees the rights that we have recognized in the last Constitution, approved by a popular majority,” he explained.
As usual in his speech, the Cuban ruler lamented the United States embargo against the island’s regime and complained about Washington’s sanctions against Havana.
Despite international reports, only human rights violations in Cuba, according to GranmaDouhan thanked the support and assistance that Cuba has provided to her mandate and was impressed by the “resilience and resistance that Cubans show.”
Alena Douhan traveled to Cuba following an invitation from the University of Havana. The island’s regime only selectively receives senior UN officials and does not allow the visit of other human rights rapporteurs who demand, for example, to visit Cuban prisons.
“Despite the academic nature that has brought me here,” Douhan told Díaz-Canel, “I have had the opportunity to meet with different groups of Cuban society and I must tell you that I feel very impressed by the resilience and resistance that Cubans show,” Douhan told Díaz-Canel.
These meetings, the official continued, have allowed her “to learn about the effects that unilateral measures have on human rights issues and how these measures also affect human life.”
Despite Díaz-Canel’s public statements, international criticism of the human rights situation on the island does not cease. The lack of freedom of expression, the repression of dissidents and the absence of multiparty elections remain the main concerns of international human rights organizations.
