US to Press Cuba on Human Rights, Basic Freedoms

US to Press Cuba on Human Rights, Basic Freedoms

President Barack Obama is expected to discuss human rights with Cuban
leader Raul Castro when, for the first time, both the U.S. and Cuban
presidents attend the Summit of the Americas.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson said there would be
"interaction" between the two leaders during the summit in Panama April
10-11. But she did not specify the circumstances of their meeting.

The U.S. diplomat said Obama has made clear the U.S. does not believe
the human rights situation in Cuba is "adequate," and added that the
U.S. would not change its "willingness to speak out on human rights
violations simply because we are now engaging with the Cuban government
directly."

In December, the White House announced a historic shift in its policy
toward Cuba, moving away from 50 years of isolation to a policy of
engagement meant to empower the Cuban people.

During the summit, Obama is expected to meet with members of Cuba's
civil society who will be attending. Jacobson said the U.S. leader would
send a clear message that "in places where either political or civil
space has closed in recent years or remains closed, such as in Cuba, we
give support to those who continue to peacefully fight for the space to
be open."

Eyes on Havana

With the U.S. and Cuba working to restore diplomatic ties, groups like
Amnesty International are closely watching Havana's handling of dissent
and freedom of assembly, association and expression.

In December, the same month Cuba released 53 activists from prison, the
communist government also arrested dozens of other demonstrators and
dissidents, and it even rearrested some activists it had just released.

"We have been seeing that some prisoners of conscience or dissidents
have been put back in jail. Some other dissidents have been harassed,"
said Marshelha Goncalves Margerin, Amnesty International advocacy director.

While diplomats in the U.S. and Cuba are working to reopen embassies in
Havana and Washington, they also have started laying the groundwork for
human rights talks.

Those talks will face challenges rooted in fundamentally different
philosophies on human rights, according to Brookings Institution analyst
Ted Piccone.

"The Cubans will emphasize that, 'This is our own domestic sovereign
affairs and you shouldn't be poking your nose into our human rights
issues,' " said Piccone, "and the Americans will say, 'No, these are
universal norms that all states have agreed to adhere to, and that
includes Cuba.' "

Comparison of records

During human rights talks, the U.S. agenda most likely will focus on
Cuba's political and civil rights record, while Cuba most likely will
criticize U.S. social services as inadequate and point to events in
Ferguson, Missouri, as an example of civil rights problems in the U.S.
The city became a flashpoint for a national debate on the state of race
relations in America after a police officer, who has been cleared of
wrongdoing, fatally shot an unarmed African-American teenager during a
street confrontation last August.

U.S. diplomats will be ready to take on such issues with Cuban
officials, Piccone said.

"We have court systems, we have accountability boards, we have auditing
systems," he said. "We have a free media and a press, we have a very
strong Congress. These are ways we have checks and balances in our
system to address the underlying human rights problems, and in the Cuban
case, they don't."

However, critics of U.S. policy toward Cuba say Havana has no intention
of allowing dissent or basic freedoms. Others believe that as more
Cubans are exposed to the rest of the world, they will bring pressure on
the Cuban government and force change on the communist nation.

Source: US to Press Cuba on Human Rights, Basic Freedoms -
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