OAS human rights branch condemns Cuba

Posted on Wed, Nov. 01, 2006

OAS human rights branch condemns Cuba
By Pablo Bachelet

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON - The human rights branch of the Organization of American
States on Wednesday condemned Cuba for jailing 75 dissidents and swiftly
trying and executing three hijackers during a 2003 crackdown on dissent.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recommended that Cuba free
the prisoners, compensate the victims and their families and modify its
laws to ensure the independence of the judiciary and the rights of its
citizens.

The opinion, stated in two separate reports, likely will have little
immediate impact because Cuba has long refused to recognize the
commission's decisions. But human rights lawyers say it might lay the
groundwork for future legal actions, including suits for reparations, if
there's a change of government.

"As a result of this case, these three deaths ... are not anonymous
deaths anymore," said Claudio Grossman, a law professor at American
University who led a legal team that argued the hijackers' case. "Their
story should be told by a legitimate organ with authority."

The commission, widely respected by non-government human rights groups,
has been credited with helping thousands of victims of violations in the
hemisphere obtain redress and prod OAS member-states to improve their
human rights protections.

Cuba argues that the commission has no jurisdiction over Havana because
the country was suspended from the OAS in 1962. It routinely returns the
commission' s communications unopened.

The 75 dissidents were sentenced to up to 28 years in prison after brief
trials on charges that they were acting as U.S. agents. The commission
report mentions another four dissidents jailed around the same time.
Fifteen were released later on health grounds.

The three hijackers were executed by firing squads just nine days after
their arrests following a foiled attempt to hijack a passenger ferry to
Florida. Their swift trial and executions infuriated international human
rights organizations, many Cuban-Americans and the U.S. government.

The commission regularly condemns Cuba for its lack of liberties but
also urges the United States to end its embargo against the island. The
panel rarely tackles specific cases, however.

In 1996, it condemned Cuba for the 37 deaths that occurred after
government vessels rammed and sank a Florida-bound tugboat in 1994. And
in 1999 it blamed Cuba for shooting down two Brothers to the Rescue
planes in 1996. Four people were killed.

The commission argues that Cuba is still subject to its jurisdiction
because it continues to be part of the 1948 Charter of the OAS and the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man of the same year.
Both documents gave rise to the commission in 1959.

However, Cuba isn't part of the 1969 agreement that created the Costa
Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights, meaning that neither
side can take the report to that tribunal for a more binding decision.

The Cuban American Bar Association and the rights group Cuban Democratic
Directory acted as plaintiffs for the jailed dissidents, filing their
complaint shortly after the 2003 crackdown. They argued that the
dissidents were forced to use court-appointed lawyers and were allowed
only hours to prepare their defenses. They were subject to solitary
confinement, beatings and other abuses, according to the 78-page report.

The commission says Cuba also denied the dissidents their right to a
fair and public trial and humane treatment in jail, among other
violations. It also condemned Cuba for laws that limit the rights of
freedom of expression and opinion.

The Venezuelan representative on the commission, Freddy Gutierrez, wrote
the sole dissenting opinion, saying the legal arguments were "weak and
inconsistent" and that Cuba's 1962 suspension meant that the country had
no representation in the OAS.

The hijackers, Lorenzo Copello, Barbaro Sevilla and Jorge Martinez, were
executed by firing squad on April 11. The family members were never
informed of the trial and weren't allowed to see their bodies afterward.

© 2006, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/15904334.htm