Prominent Cuban dissident pleads with UN rights panel to condemn Cuba

by Carlos Batista

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Prominent Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya is urging the UN human rights commission to condemn the Cuban government, arguing that not to do so "would be condemning the Cuban people," according to a letter released to media here.

"To keep silent or justify on this commission the lack of and the violation of many rights in my country ... indeed would be condemning the Cuban people," Paya said in the letter which is to be read Tuesday before the full commission by Cuban dissident Francisco de Armas.

The Cuban government last April launched its toughest crackdown against dissidents in years, netting 75 opponents who were given summary trials, convicted and sentenced to lengthy jail terms. The move brought an outcry from the United States and the European Union.

Paya, who won the European Parliament's Sakharov prize in 2002, has spearheaded the Varela Project, collecting 25,000 signatures seeking a referendum on political and economic reforms, and called for the release of all political prisoners. Cuba has rejected the request.

In his message to the commission, Paya, who was a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, underscored "the Government of my country, by denying citizens civil rights, denies the Cuban people the right to self-determination."

"Let no one say that anyone wants to condemn Cuba in this forum for having chosen a different political system. Quite the opposite. What we want is to defend the right of Cubans to choose and design a system that guarantees rights."

Since 1990 Cuba has been condemned 12 times by the commission.

President Fidel Castro's government, the only one-party communist system in the Americas, argues that the United States wants to use a condemnation to justify the economic and political sanctions it has had on Havana for 42 years.

In December Paya unveiled a "working document" seeking political reform and a transition to democratic rule. Paya, head of the opposition Christian Liberation Movement, called on all Cubans -- including Cuban exiles -- to participate in a national dialogue calling for democracy.

Paya's 70-page, nine-chapter road map lays out "a path of reconciliation" toward democracy.

The document foresees a democratic government being installed under a presidential college composed of three members.

Its members, who would have to reside in Cuba, would be charged with overseeing a transition to democracy, according to the document.

The Varela Project petition requests a referendum on five points -- freedom of expression and association, freedom of enterprise, amnesty for political prisoners, a new electoral law and, if the referendum is approved, elections within a year.

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