On February 7 and 8, the Department of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) held its annual hearings in Ottawa in preparation for the annual conference of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Geneva.The purpose of the hearings is to consult with groups that have an
interest in the agenda of the UNCHR; this includes human rights organizations
and solidarity groups, among others.
This year’s Geneva conference will be held from March 13
– April 21.For the past 20 years or so,
one of the items on the agenda has been an American.-sponsored resolution
condemning Cuba
for human rights violations, including lack of freedom of speech. The U.S. has
connived each year to pressure countries to introduce or support the motion,
using its traditional tools of blackmail, intimidation and threats. In the past
few years, its main strategy has been to twist the arms of some Latin American
countries to introduce the motion in order to attempt to further discredit Cuba in its own
backyard. This year, with an increasing number of Latin American countries further
developing their bilateral and regional relations with Cuba on many fronts –
economic, political, cultural and others – this American goal may prove to be
more difficult than ever to accomplish.
At the main DFAIT session on Cuba, representatives of eight Cuba solidarity groups from Ontario
and Quebec were present and four briefs were
submitted elaborating on Cuba’s
highly developed justice system and its standards and protocol for human rights.
The anti-Cuba lobbyists in attendance were reduced to superficial mud-slinging
and outrageous statements, such as their explanation for Cuba’s free
university education; they claimed its purpose was to lure young people into
higher education in order to indoctrinate them.
In addition to the general session on Cuba, officials of DFAIT also invited
representatives from some of the Cuba
solidarity groups to meet with them for more detailed discussion of Canada’s relationship with Cuba. This is a
critical matter, as Canada’s
recent policy towards Cuba
has become one of lauding its progress on the front of education, health care
and other areas, while criticizing it for supposed violations of human rights.
This position led Canada,
for the first time, to vote in favour of the U.S.-sponsored
resolution at the UNCHR meeting in Geneva
last year.