Cubans Can Have Cell Phones

so, today, King Raul made an announcement allowing his subjects ... to use cell phones

for those you trying to understand Cuba (or any totalitarian regime), think about this. the Head Honcho of your country ... announces ... you can use a cell phone from now on

think about this for a while, and you may begin to understand the control under which the Cuban people live

as to what this means, it's consistent with King Raul's attempts to relax the rules somewhat ... but only somewhat, mind you. he wants better production and economic efficiency, and he understands that people who work for material rewards (such as cell phones) tend to work better and harder

look for more changes providing "consumer society" rewards to the Cuban people. my hope is that these reforms will run away from King Raul as the Cuban people get small doses of freedom and demand more

Fidel was always weary of the smallest crack in the dike of control, fearing (perhaps rightly so) that the smallest loss of control could lead to the collapse of his regime.

Source

Press Freedom Group Calls for Release of Cuban Journalists

The free-press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders appealed Friday to Cuban leader Raul Castro to free 19 journalists still jailed in Cuba five years after a crackdown on critics of the regime.

Eight of the jailed reporters have been freed over the last five years, but relatives and colleagues of those still in prison attribute those releases to gestures of the Cuban government aimed at winning cooperative relations with European states. At least four more reporters have been detained since.

"This was not a humanitarian gesture but rather a trade-off in exchange for the goodwill of Europe, and Spain in particular," said Laura Pollan, wife of Hector Maseda Gutierrez, a rights group founder serving a 20-year sentence at a prison in Matanzas.

The European Union imposed diplomatic sanctions after the crackdown on dissent, but most have been eased over the last year, led by Spain, which is heavily invested in Cuba's resurgent tourism industry.

Last month, Havana released four rights activists to the Spanish government ahead of a visit by a Vatican envoy. The Cuban government also signed two U.N. human rights conventions that Fidel Castro long refused to support, contending they represented interference in the island's domestic affairs.

Reporters Without Borders called on the Cuban government to release the critics still in prison and allow free expression in the country.

The organization also appealed to European embassies in Havana to open their doors to the dissident press and urged the U.S. government to lift restrictions on Cuban access to the Internet and international contacts.

Source

Cuban Women March for Political Prisoners' Release

About two dozen women marched in Havana on Friday [March 14, 2008] to demand the release of their husbands and other political prisoners ahead of the fifth anniversary of a crackdown on dissent.

Of the 75 government critics arrested March 18-19, 2003, and given long prison terms, 55 remain imprisoned. Sixteen were released early on medical parole and another four were freed into forced exile in Spain last month.

Next week's anniversary "is very painful for us," said Laura Pollan of the Ladies in White, a support group for wives of political prisoners. Pollan's husband, Hector Maseda, was arrested and sentenced to 20 years.

Cuba accused the independent journalists, rights activists and other opposition members of being U.S. mercenaries working to undermine the communist government. The dissidents and American officials reject that charge.

Cuba currently holds 234 prisoners of conscience, according to a report early this year by the Havana-based Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.

That's down from 246 last June — continuing a decline since Raul Castro took over provisionally for his ailing brother Fidel in July 2006, when it listed 316.

Source

Cuban Repression Machinery Remains Intact

despite King Fidel's stepping down and the symbolic (but not yet binding) signature of two UN treaties on human rights, Cuba continues to be a repressive country that jails people for their beliefs.

Human Rights Watch calls it right:

For almost five decades, Cuba has restricted nearly all avenues of political dissent. Cuban citizens have been systematically deprived of their fundamental rights to free expression, privacy, association, assembly, movement, and due process of law. Tactics for enforcing political conformity have included police warnings, surveillance, short-term detentions, house arrests, travel restrictions, criminal prosecutions, and politically motivated dismissals from employment.

Cuba’s legal and institutional structures have been at the root of its rights violations. The rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, and the press are strictly limited under Cuban law. By criminalizing enemy propaganda, the spreading of “unauthorized news,” and insult to patriotic symbols, the government curbs freedom of speech under the guise of protecting state security. The courts are not independent; they undermine the right to fair trial by restricting the right to a defense, and frequently fail to observe the few due process rights available to defendants under domestic law.

Source

Cuba's supporters world-wide, who have long turned a blind eye to Cuba's human rights violations (because they like Cuba's anti-U.S. stance) must do the right thing and force King Raul to realize that acceptance of his new government must be predicated upon Cuba's guarantees of human rights for its citizens.

Cuba Signs Treaties Everybody Else Signed in 1966

better late than never, i guess

forty two years late, Cuba gets around to signing two important 1966 treaties on human rights (the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which includes the right to freedom of association in trade unions or political parties and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which deals with matters like the rights to employment and health care).

under King Fidel, Cuba steadfastly refused to sign these treaties, refusing to let the UN oversee its treatment of dissidents and prisoners of conscience.

despite signature, the treaties are not yet legally binding on Cuba. Cuba has to ratify them internally before they become binding. it will be interesting to see how long it takes Cuba to get around to taking this second and critical step.

additionally, Cuba has not indicated whether it will approve an optional protocol which would allow Cuban citizens to complain directly to the UN. it will be interesting to see if King Raul allows this protocol.

as to what this (belated) signing means, alas, it was in the works long ago, and it was done with the full approval of King Fidel before he stepped down. (in December of 2007, Cuba announced its intention to sign the two agreements, saying Cuba would allow scrutiny by the recently established UN Human Rights Council in 2009).

as such, it is not a true signal of King Raul's new direction, but rather a PR move planned ahead of the transition and calculated to generate good will for the new dictator.

we will know King Raul is serious when the treaty is ratified by Cuba and becomes binding. right now, all we have are pretty words on a piece of paper.

another thing to keep in mind: Cuba is one of a minority of members of the Organisation of American States (OAS) that hasn't yet signed the American Convention on Human Rights.

Cuba must sign and ratify these treaties. Cuba must be monitored internationally for human rights violations. human rights violations in Cuba must cease.

the free ride Cuba has gotten from supporters worldwide (who will downplay Cuba's human rights violation record because they like its anti-U.S. stance) must step up to the plate and force King Raul into the 21st Century.

Sources:

BBC
Radio Netherlands