16 April 2003
Text: U.S. Official
Criticizes Cuba's Repression of Dissidents
(Says U.S. support for human rights advocates in Cuba will continue)
(1600)
The Cuban government's recent crackdown on dissidents is indicative of its
failure, and the United States must continue to support Cuban citizens in
their efforts toward democracy and a better life, says Lorne Craner,
assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.
In April 16 testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives International
Relations Committee hearing entitled "Castro's Brutal Crackdown on
Dissidents," Craner commented on the Cuban government's recent arrest of
over 100 individuals on spurious treason charges and the sentencing of 75 of
these activists to long prison terms.
He noted that many of these activists faced charges of collaboration with
the United States because of their courageous discussions with James Cason,
the head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
Craner acknowledged that Cason and his colleagues in Cuba have met with
Cuban citizens and regularly work to promote democratic change on the
island, provide information about the United States, and encourage and
strengthen fundamental, internationally recognized freedoms.
He indicated that while these activities are commonplace elsewhere in the
world, they are cause for alarm in Cuba, under the regime of President Fidel
Castro.
"Only Cuba, and a diminishing number of its totalitarian counterparts, could
tremble at the 'threat' of library books and free access to the Internet,
and call them subversion," Craner said. "In Cuba, a reporter's office files,
including envelopes of newspaper clippings, become evidence of treason."
The Cuban government's infiltration of opposition groups and recent brutal
crackdown on dissidents reflect the Cuban government's fear of the growing
democracy movement, according to Craner, but he added that the Castro
regime's actions are hardly without precedent.
"This brutality, this repression, is nothing new," he said. "Systematic
violations of fundamental freedoms have long been the hallmark of the Cuba
regime," he said.
Craner noted that the Cuba government's crackdown has sparked international
outrage, with the European Union, the United Nations' High Commissioner for
Human Rights, and more than 300 prominent artists, intellectuals and
politicians, among others, joining U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in
condemning the arrests of the activists.
The repression, Craner said, "is an admission of failure by the regime." He
added that the United States and like- minded members of the international
community must continue to support the ordinary citizens of Cuba who are
finding the courage to strive for a democratic future and a better life.
Following is the text of Craner's testimony, as prepared for delivery:
(begin text)
Testimony by Assistant Secretary Lorne W. Craner
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Bureau
At a hearing entitled: "Castro's Brutal Crackdown on Dissidents"
Committee on International Relations
April 16, 2003
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, you are to be commended for holding
this hearing to spotlight the recent crackdown in Cuba. The committee's
continuing interest in the situation in Cuba is particularly well timed and
welcome, given the growing international concern over the efforts of the
repressive regime to stifle independent voices and a growing demand for
democracy.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. Want to address
two issues, first the worsening human rights situation in Cuba, and second
the growing democratic movement in Cuba.
At the same time U.S. forces moved to liberate the people of Iraq from a
brutal regime, the sole survivor of totalitarianism in this hemisphere --
the dinosaur dictatorship of Fidel Castro -- moved to brutally repress
political dissent among its citizens. Beginning on March 18, the government
of Cuba has sought to decapitate the democratic opposition and the strongest
voices of independent expression on the island, arresting over 100 persons
on spurious charges of subversion and treason and sentencing 75 to long
prison terms in secretive and summary tribunals. Prominent targets included
independent journalists such as Raul Rivero, independent economists like
Maria Beatriz Roque, and a number of independent librarians and labor
leaders. Twenty of those arrested had supported the Varela Project, a
peaceful and constitutional call for a national referendum on political and
economic reforms in Cuba that had obtained over 11,000 signatures and
international praise and recognition.
Many of these prisoners of conscience faced charges of collaboration with
diplomats at the United States Interest Section in Havana. They were called
traitors for their courage in speaking to official Americans such as Jim
Cason. Like his predecessors, as chief of the Interest Section, Jim does in
fact talk to independent Cuban citizens: an activity hardly worthy of
comment, much less alarm, in a free and democratic society but a direct
threat to the iron control of information under a dictatorial regime. Like
American and other diplomats around the world, Jim and his colleagues work
to promote peaceful and democratic changes, provide information about our
country, and encourage and strengthen fundamental -- and internationally
acknowledged -- freedoms. Only Cuba, and a diminishing number if its
totalitarian counterparts, could tremble at the "threat" of library books
and free access to the Internet, and call them subversion. In Cuba, a
reporter's office files, including envelopes of newspaper clippings, become
evidence of treason.
It can be no surprise to any of us that much of the evidence in these
so-called trials was provided by agents of the Cuban intelligence service
who had successfully infiltrated the Cuban opposition. The fact that
government agents successfully infiltrated the Cuban democratic movement is
testimony to the regime's fear of this movement, and the resources it is
willing to bring to bear in its efforts to intimidate its citizens, to
control information, and to stifle freedom of thought and expression. The
brave men and women confronted with these betrayals cannot have been
surprised either, knowing the very real threat peaceful dissent and
independent thought pose to an authoritarian regime. It is testimony to
their true courage that this knowledge did not sway or intimidate them.
Indeed, this action of the Cuba regime against its own citizens is a stark
example of Castro's failure to silence dissent, to establish "revolutionary
legitimacy" -- legitimacy of any kind, for that matter. It is further proof
of a failed and empty regime.
This brutality, this repression, is nothing new. Systemic violations of
fundamental freedoms have long been the hallmark of the Cuba regime,
violations denounced by a wide range of independent international
organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and
Reporters Without Borders, and recognized in the State Department's annual
Country Report on Human Rights Practices released on March 31.
Ironically, at the same time as the secretive trials and convictions of
these political prisoners -- many facing prison terms of 20 years or more
for the non-violent exercise of their right to freedom of expression and
association -- Cuba sits on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in
Geneva. A team of representatives of that regime attends the current session
working to block condemnation of their own and other repressive regimes.
This team is accepted despite what the NGO Human Rights Watch characterized
as the flouting of fundamental human rights norms, despite their
indifference to that same Commission's 2002 resolution and rejection of the
High Commissioner's personal representative, and despite worldwide outrage
at the latest brutal crackdown.
Secretary Powell was not alone when he called for an end to the repression
in Cuba and insisted that Cubans who seek peaceful change -- and basic human
rights and freedoms -- be permitted to do so. His call has been echoed by
many others: the European Union, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Sergio de Mello, and prominent figures across the world, including more than
300 artists, intellectuals, and politicians -- Gunter Grass, Pedro
Almodovar, and Mario Vargas Llosa among them -- who recently published a
letter protesting the recent arrests. Even the French and Portuguese
Communist Parties spoke out against the repression, while the Catholic
Bishops in Cuba -- who must operate cautiously in the best of times --
issued a statement "profoundly lamenting" the arrests of Cuban citizens for
"thinking and acting differently than the official ideology." Despite the
bluster and threats of Cuban officials, tree Latin American countries (Costa
Rica, Peru, and Uruguay) have drafted another resolution on the human rights
situation in Cuba, and many other countries at the commission have voiced
their support and their outrage at the recent wave of arrests and trials of
political dissidents, and at the summary trials and executions of three
ferry hijackers this past week.
This egregious act of political repression is an admission of failure by the
regime, an expression of fear directed at the most basic and peaceful
expressions of independent thought -- at journalists, librarians, even
economists. The regime has sought to characterize members of this movement
as the mercenaries of a foreign power, to call the natural demand for
freedom "treason." It is the ordinary citizens of Cuba -- like the ordinary
citizens of Iraq -- who are finding the individual strength to look past
years of repression, to strive for a democratic future and voice their
desire for a peaceful transition and a better life. We must continue to
support that effort wherever and whenever we can, whether through our
outreach to ordinary Cubans or in partnership with like- minded members of
the international community.
I would like to conclude by stressing that promotion of democracy is and
will continue to be a central, defining element of our foreign policy. We
will continue to use all available bilateral and multilateral tools at our
disposal to combat threats to democracy and to institutionalize democratic
reforms toward a stable Western Hemisphere.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) |
