Cuban leader represses all basic freedoms, State Department concludes

                  By TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News

                  HAVANA – In a scathing new document that President Fidel Castro said was "useful
                  only as toilet paper," the U.S. government accuses Cuba of continuing to repress
                  basic human rights.

                  The State Department's 46-page human rights report, released this week, said
                  Cuba is a "totalitarian state" where Mr. Castro "exercises control over all aspects of
                  life."

                  In addition to criticizing Cuba's human rights record, the annual report said some
                  U.S. allies in the war on terrorism – including Pakistan and Uzbekistan – engaged in
                  rights abuses last year.

                  Among the countries receiving the harshest judgments were Iraq, Iran and North
                  Korea – all designated by President Bush as "axis of evil" countries.

                  The report also said that Russian forces in the republic of Chechnya had shown little
                  respect for basic rights and that there were credible reports of extrajudicial killings
                  by government and Chechen fighters. It also criticized Russia's record on press
                  freedom.

                  Cuba denies abusing human rights and says that Washington is waging "a dirty war"
                  to try to persuade the U.N. Commission on Human Rights to condemn human rights
                  practices on the island. The 53-nation commission convenes in Geneva on March 18
                  and is widely expected to debate the issue.

                  For 10 of the last 11 years, the commission has voted to censure Cuba, saying the
                  government does not respect human rights.

                  Cuba has denied the accusation, saying the country – like no other in Latin America
                  – provides such basics as housing, free schooling and free medical care.

                  The State Department report said Cuba in 2001 "continued to violate systematically
                  the fundamental civil and political rights of its citizens. Prisoners died in jail because
                  of lack of medical care. Members of the security forces and prison officials continued
                  to beat and otherwise abuse detainees and prisoners. The authorities routinely
                  continued to harass, threaten, arbitrarily arrest, detain, imprison and defame
                  human rights advocates."

                  Among the dozens of specific incidents cited in the report:

                  • On April 23, 2001, Damaso Aquino del Pino died in the Canaleta prison in the town
                  of Ciego de Avila "reportedly from lack of medical treatment for diabetes."

                  • That same month, prisoner Guillermo Alberto Alea, 34, died. He had been taken
                  to a hospital but wasn't admitted for unknown reasons and died 24 hours later.

                  Human rights groups estimated that there were between 249 and 300 political
                  prisoners in Cuba last year. However, there were no reports of politically motivated
                  killings or disappearances.

                  In remarks broadcast on state-run television this week, Mr. Castro called the State
                  Department report a sham. "There's so much hypocrisy, so many lies, so much
                  demagoguery, so much cynicism, that I think that document is only useful as toilet
                  paper!" he said.

                  The Associated Press contributed to this report.