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CUBA'S REPRESSIVE MACHINERY
Human Rights Forty Years After the Revolution


Copyright © June 1999 by Human Rights Watch.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN 1-56432-234-3
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-63561
 


CONTENTS


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
Repression of Dissidents
Cuban Laws Restrict Human Rights
Cuba's Prisons
Routine Repression
Labor Rights in Cuba
Religious Freedom in Cuba
Cuba's Bar on International Human Rights Monitoring
Impunity
The Role of the International Community
The United States
The European Union
The United Nations
Ibero-American Nations

Recommendations
To the Cuban Government
To the United States Government
To the European Union
To the Canadian Government
To the Ibero-American Nations
To Foreign Investors in Cuba

II. CUBA'S INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS
Torture
Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, and Exile
Detention Conditions
Freedom of Expression and Opinion
Freedom of Association
Religious Freedom
Freedom of Movement
Due Process Protections
Children's Rights
Impunity

III. IMPEDIMENTS TO HUMAN RIGHTS IN CUBAN LAW
Cuban Constitution
Codifying Repression
Measures Against Persons Demonstrating Criminal Tendencies
Crimes Against Public Authorities and Institutions
Crimes Restricting Freedom of Association
Crimes Restricting Freedom of Movement
Additional Crimes Subject to Abusive Application:
Due Process Denied
Associations Law
New Legal Measures Expand Government Control

IV. POLITICAL PROSECUTIONS
Manuel Antonio González Castellanos, Leonardo Varona González, and Roberto Rodríguez
        Rodríguez
Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, René Gómez Manzano, Félix Bonne Carcassés, and Vladimiro
        Roca Antúnez
Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández
Lázaro Constantín Durán
Reynaldo Alfaro García
Julio César Coizeau Rizo
Cecilio Monteagudo Sánchez and Juan Carlos Recio Martínez
Israel García Hidalgo, Benito Fojaco Iser, Angel Nicolas Gonzalo, José Ramón López Filgueira,
         and Reynaldo Sardiñas Delgado
Bernardo Arévalo Padrón
Eleven Members of the Pro Human Rights Party of Villa Clara
Dr. Dessy Mendoza Rivero
Orestes Rodríguez Horruitiner
Maritza Lugo Fernández and Raúl Ayarde Herrera
Cecilio Ruíz Rivero
Lorenzo Paez Núñez and Dagoberto Vega Jaime
Nestor Rodríguez Lobaina and Radamés García de la Vega
Ana María Agramonte Crespo
Enrique García Morejón

V. GENERAL PRISON CONDITIONS
Bar on Domestic and International Monitoring of Prison Conditions
Food
Health Concerns
Restrictions of Visits
Restrictions of Religious Visits
Political Indoctrination
Prison Labor
Isolation
Beatings by Police, Guards and Prisoners' Councils
Sexual Abuse
Juvenile Justice

VI. TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
Punitive Measures Against Political Prisoners
Hardships for Family Members
Hunger Strikes
Torture
Releases

VII. DEATH PENALTY

VIII. ROUTINE REPRESSION
State Organs Charged with Internal Surveillance and Repression
Repressing Independent Activists
Independent Journalists
Human Rights Activists
International Journalists Covering Cuba

IX. LABOR RIGHTS
Prison Labor
Government Repression of Labor Activists
Labor Rights in the International Investment Sector

X. LIMITS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Pope John Paul II's Visit to Cuba
Restrictions of Religious Expression
Impediments to Humanitarian Aid Programs
Restrictions on Religious Visits to Prisons

XI. IMPUNITY
Impunity for the Sinking of the 13 de Marzo
International Legal Actions Against Fidel Castro

XII. INTERNATIONAL POLICY
United States Policy
The Embargo
History of U.S. Embargo
European Union Policy
Canadian Policy

APPENDIX I:  Universal Declaration of Human Rights

APPENDIX II:  Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
         Punishment

APPENDIX III:  Protection of Persons Subjected to Detention or Imprisonment: Standard
         Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
 
 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was written by Sarah A. DeCosse, researcher with the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, on the basis of research she carried out between 1997 and 1999. Anne Manuel, deputy director of the Americas division, contributed research and writing to the chapter on international policy and edited the report. José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas division, Joanne Mariner, associate counsel at Human Rights Watch, and Jeri Laber, senior advisor to Human Rights Watch, also edited the report. We received help with the research and production of this report from Megan Himan, Jessica Galería, and Monisha Bajaj, associates with the Americas division, as well as several interns, including Amanda Sussman, Ariana Grebe, Loren Becker, Shadi Aryabod, Carina Cristovão, Jessica Baumgarten, and Sarah Carey. Special thanks to Steven Lee Austin for his assistance in the production of this report.

We are indebted to all of the Cuban former political prisoners, family members of political prisoners, human rights activists, independent journalists, labor rights activists, and others interviewed for this report. We especially appreciate the willingness of those living in Cuba to speak to us. We also are grateful to Giselda Hidalgo and Amado J. Rodríguez of Human Rights in Cuba for their valuable assistance. We would like to thank David Nachman, board member of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, who interviewed Cuban Justice Minister Roberto Díaz Sotolongo for this report.

The J.M. Kaplan Fund provided generous support for the translation of this report into Spanish. The report was translated by Juan Luis Guillén.
 
 




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