Human Rights for All... Except Cubans

On December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted and proclaimed First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration was created by Mrs. Roosevelt, a pioneer of human rights, to ensure that everyone in every country, but specifically those who signed it, had dignity, freedom, justice and peace. It took 60 years for Cuba, a flagrant violator of human rights for the past 50 years, (whether the rest of the world chooses to believe it or not) to sign this document, the defense of which landed Dr. Oscar Biscet in jail.

But signing it has been, so far, just a PR stunt for Cuba. Raúl Castro and his merry band of human rights-depriving thugs have done little to repair the damaged dignity of the Cuban people. They have done little to re-instititute the freedoms that the country had once enjoyed. They have done little to guarantee justice for the Cuban people who dare to speak out against the regime and end up in jail on trumped up charges. Instead of ensuring peace in Cuba, they have brought anything but- intimidating and roughing up those who congregate to express their apparently alienable right to protest, beating down those who dare to dissent. In spite of the blatant lack of human rights in Cuba, the Cuban people have maintained their dignity.

The leaders of the opposition continue to fight through words and images- Yoani Sanchez through her blog.           

Martha Beatriz Roque, who was beaten and jailed for “acts of independence against the state” through phone calls and letters.

Dr. Darsi Ferrer has made us aware of the disgusting and deplorable conditions of Cuba’s hospitals through through videos. He has also peacefully protested, only to be manhandled along with other demonstrators.  And punk rocker Gorki Aguila, jailed on trumped up charges, lets the world know Cuba’s suffering through his songs.

It is they who ensure the peace; it is they who choose to protest in a dignified manner, and it is the regime who chooses to destroy that peace by going after them to stifle their voices.

On December 10 let us take a few moments to be grateful for where we live and the human rights that we enjoy and may often take for granted. Let us also remember these individuals who languish in Cuban prisons and the many more like them whose voices may not be heard as loudly, but are nonetheless just as important. Let us remember the lack of human rights suffered by these men and women and others- some jailed secretly, some on made-up crimes, all because they dared to speak out for their own human rights and those of their fellow countrymen.

Arnaldo Ramos Lauzerique
Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona
Félix Gerardo Vega Ruiz,
Dr. Marcelo Cano Rodríguez
Norberto Dorta Sánchez
Majaíl Barzaga Lugo
Dr. Luis Milán Fernández

As a non-Cuban who has lived her whole live on American soil, I not only am outraged by the regime's lip-service to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but I am also bowled over by the tenacity of the Cuban dissidents who remain steadfast in their devotion to see a free Cuba.

¡QUE VIVA CUBA LIBRE!

Comments

[GILBERTO RODRIGUEZ]

Hello, Claudia:
May you have a happy new year!!!

My dear lady, usually I have words for everything that goes on...but you have put me in a tough position now... Would that saying, "God bless you, Claudia, and thanks"
were like the sails of a ship, white enough, free enough and wide enough to express my gratitude to you, but I fall short of the mark.

I am a Cuban-American that has been in the fry for a long time, on both sides of the story. There'll be more.

Meantime, let me bend my knee and incline my head while saying a prayer for you.
Gilberto