Commission also passes resolution on Israeli camps
 
By Vanessa Bauza
havana bureau

HAVANA · The United Nations Human Rights Commission on Thursday approved a mildly worded resolution against Cuba, calling for the international rights investigator to continue monitoring the island but not explicitly stating any violations.

The 21-17 vote with 15 abstentions came after weeks of intense lobbying from the United States, which sponsored the resolution, and Cuba, which mobilized an international signature drive campaign to defeat it.

Also on Thursday the 53-member commission condemned the Israeli settlement of the West Bank and the Gaza strip. That resolution, which passed by a 39-2 vote with 12 abstentions, said the Israeli government should "prevent any new installation of settlers in the occupied territories." It called for Israel to guarantee the safety of Palestinian civilians. Australia and the United States cast the two votes against.

The commission also passed a resolution condemning the use of force by Israel against Palestinian civilians by a 29-10 vote. A third resolution calling on Israel to respect the human rights of Syrian citizens in the occupied Golan Heights was also adopted by a 32-2 vote.

The commission was expected to vote on resolutions condemning abuses in Belarus and Sudan.

Censure at the commission's annual meeting in Geneva brings no penalties, but is considered a blot on a country's rights record. The vote on Cuba is always one of the most contentious and polarizing topics discussed, especially among Latin American countries. The U.S. trade and travel embargo on Cuba, which most countries oppose, further politicizes the discussion.

Cuba released 18 political prisoners in 2004, but "these releases do not signify the end of the period of repression which began in 2003," top UN rights investigator Christine Chanet wrote in her annual report. "The suffering inflicted on the people of Cuba as a result of the embargo is compounded by restrictions on the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals."

Cuba's Foreign Minister on Thursday blasted the United States for sponsoring the resolution, claiming it has no "moral authority" to judge Cuba.

Felipe Perez Roque said his government has introduced a resolution calling for an investigation into conditions for detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. Perez Roque also rebuked the European Union for backing the resolution.

"Their alignment with the United States against small countries like Cuba is shameful," Perez Roque said.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, who participated in the lobbying effort against Cuba, called the vote a "tremendous victory."

However, Human Rights Watch Geneva director, Loubna Freih, said this year's resolution on Cuba was "pretty bare-boned. There's no meat," Freih said in a phone interview from Geneva. "It just keeps the issue of Cuba on the agenda."

Freih said the weak wording of the resolution against Cuba points to larger problems within the commission, most significantly the membership of countries that are themselves accused of human rights violations.

"When you have the likes of Sudan, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China [on the commission] they form a pretty powerful group ... They are just there to protect themselves," Freih said.

Staff Writer Rafael Lorente contributed to this report, which was supplemented by The Associated Press.

Vanessa Bauza can be reached at vmbauza1@yahoo.com

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