Denuncias / Reports

What You Don't Know, But Should

Nov.29.– Migrants and refugees stuck in Libya are being sold into slavery, CNN reported earlier this month.

The combination of Libya’s splintered government in the wake of Muammar Gaddafi’s fall and the influx of people from Nigeria has led to a situation where stranded men and women are being held against their will and, in some cases, sold into slavery or prostitution.

Cuba Archive recently prepared a report on Cuba’s systematic violations on the right to life and submitted it on October 5th to the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in conjunction with the New York-based Human Rights Foundation and the Tennessee-based Cubalex (until recently based in Cuba). The effort seeks to make sure the matter is addressed during the coming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Cuba next May (2018). The last examination by the U.N. of Cuba’s commitments and international obligations on human rights, in 2013, did not address this most critical issue. (See more information on the UPR at the end.)

The 10-page report enumerates Cuba’s most important international commitments on human rights, including its voluntary participation in the Geneva-based UNHRC, whose members must demonstrate their contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights. The document also summarizes the systematic and continuing disregard for human life in Cuba’s laws and practices, citing cumulative totals of cases of death or disappearance from Cuba Archive’s work-in-progress and giving examples of specific cases occurring since Cuba’s last UPR in 2013. A condensed version follows (see all case records and reports at www.CubaArchive.org):

A. Death penalty by firing squad

3,125 documented executions (after a ruling of capital punishment) are attributed to the Cuban state; most, if not all, lacked due process of law. Victims include minors, citizens attempting to flee the country, and asylum-seekers taken by force from diplomatic missions.