A Disappointing International Human Rights Day in Cuba

A Disappointing International Human Rights Day in Cuba
December 11, 2014
Dariela Aquique

HAVANA TIMES — International Human Rights Day has just been celebrated
and Ziad Abu Ein, a Palestinian minister who took part in a planting of
olive trees near Ramala, was murdered by an Israeli soldier. The soldier
hit the minister on the chest with his rifle and beat his head with a
helmet. Combined with the inhalation of tear gases, this put the man in
a coma from which he did not return.

Across the world, Mexico continues to be gripped by mourning and
uncertainty over the disappearance of 43 students who led a protest in
Ayotzinapa. A little to the north, in different cities around the United
States, protests over the exoneration of a police officer who gunned
down a young African-American (Michael Brown) continue.

On the eve of Human Rights Day, the United States publicly acknowledged
that the CIA employs torture methods with prisoners who are presumed to
be extremists. Such abominable crimes and human rights violations have
been perpetrated in the name of the struggle against terrorism.

The south, in Latin America, President Dilma Rousseff is unable to hold
back tears before the Truth Commission, created in Brazil to investigate
all human rights violations committed in the country during the
dictatorship. There is a glimmer of hope that justice will be made
there, even if it comes a little too late.

This is but the tip of the iceberg. Though Ban Ki Moon condemns events
in the Gaza Strip, we all know that the UN is a symbolic institution.
Across the world, impunity reigns: those with power (be it the Left or
the Right) do as they please.

President Maduro continues to demand respect in Venezuela, with
tough-guy speeches condemning imperialism.

At home, the headlines speak of the day, extolling Cuba’s work in
defense of the human rights of children and for free education and
health. They publish photos of smiling school children and doctor’s
offices and say nothing about the issue of democracy (much less about
Cuban dissidents).

Perhaps one day, just as the use of torture methods by the CIA was
declassified, the many human rights violations that the Cuban government
zealously conceals will come to light. The day in which a Truth
Commission is created on the island and justice finally arrives may not
be far off.

That could be a silver lining for us, and perhaps International Human
Rights Day will one day be less sad and disappointing.

Source: A Disappointing International Human Rights Day in Cuba – Havana
Times.org – http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107861