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NEWS
Thu Mar 22, 2007
Cuba attempts to
prevent UN Human Rights Council from picking on certain countries
Cuba has been spearheading a bid to prevent the newly formed UN Human
Rights Council from singling out countries for investigation into human
rights abuses.
Cuban and its allies say that countries should submit their own reports
and domestic records.
The campaign has lead to a diplomatic crisis between Cuba and Sweden who
were once allies.
This latest squabble between Sweden and Cuba has plunged the relations
between the two countries to its lowest in many years and has prompted
Sweden to summon the Cuban Ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in
Stockholm.
It all began when the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt held a speech
at the United Nations Human Rights Council criticizing the human rights
situation in Cuba in no uncertain terms.
That statement provoked an angry reaction from the Cuban delegation to
the council in which he was reported as accusing Sweden of ethnic
cleansing and only allowing the descendants of the Vikings to remain in
the country.
The Swedish Foreign Minister said that the language used by Cuba’s UN
ambassador, Antonio Fernandez Pecquiao, was totally unacceptable and
demanded an official apology from Cuba as well as an explanation as to
why a diplomatic post to the Swedish Embassy in Havana has arrived
opened contrary to the international diplomatic code.
For many years Sweden and Cuba were seen as close friends but in recent
years Sweden has become increasingly critical about human rights in the
country.
Swedish aid to Cuba has diminished considerably as relations have
cooled. But after this latest episode it appears it will be put on ice.
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