Thanks to your support and taking action, this petition to expel Cuba from the UN Human Rights Council has amassed over 2,600 signatures. Please continue to share it with others.
The defense of human rights presents an opportunity to hold accountable regimes that violate them. For example, on November 14, 2023 members of civil society held a side event at the UN to call out the human rights violation of the Castro dictatorship in Cuba.
Advocating the expulsion of Cuba from the UN Human Rights Council, as was done with Libya, and Russia, is a means to hold Havana accountable for its terrible human rights record.
In the CubaBrief below, some context is provided for the present human rights crisis in Cuba, and the need to continue this effort to restore respect for human rights in the island.
CubaBrief: Silencing Dissent in Cuba is a 65 year practice with thousands of Political Prisoners
Individuals in Cuba continue to be targeted, jailed, and imprisoned for nonviolently exercising their fundamental rights to free expression, assembly, and association.There are now over 1,100 identified political prisoners in Cuba. The current dictatorship in Havana has been systematically violating human rights since 1959.
Red cross barred from entering Cuban prisons for 64 years
In his 1861 book The House of the Dead, Fyodor Dostoevsky stated that “the degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” What does it say about the Cuban dictatorship that it blocked the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting Cuban prisons for over 64 years?
No visits were permitted between July 1959 and April 1988. After international shaming, the ICRC was given permission to visit Cuban jails for a few months until the end of 1989. After that, there were no further visits.