Perspectivas / Perspectives

The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Grand Chamber1 hearing today Wednesday 13 December 2023 at 9.15 a.m. in the case of Ukraine v. Russia (re Crimea) (applications nos. 20958/14 and 38334/18).

The case concerns Ukraine’s allegations of a pattern (“administrative practice”) of violations of the European Convention on Human Rights by the Russian Federation in Crimea beginning in February 2014. It also concerns the transfer of Ukrainian “convicts” to the territory of Russia and allegations of persecution of Ukrainian “political prisoners”.

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Ukraine has four inter-State cases pending against Russia, including one jointly with the Netherlands, and over 7,400 individual applications are pending before the Court concerning the events in Crimea, eastern Ukraine and the Sea of Azov, as well as Russia’s military operations on the territory of Ukraine since 24 February 2022.

Procedure and complaints  

As the sun sets over Sudan, the shadows cast by faltering peace talks and escalating conflict paint a grim picture of a nation teetering on the brink.

New Delhi, Dec. 8.– As the sun sets over Sudan, the shadows cast by faltering peace talks and escalating conflict paint a grim picture of a nation teetering on the brink. The recent breakdown in Jeddah of negotiations brokered by Saudi Arabia and the USA dashes hopes for an end to a crisis that has displaced more than 6.5 million people; shattered the economy, and unleashed ethnically driven massacres in Darfur. The pressing question remains. How did a country that once united to oust former ruler Omar al-Bashir find itself mired in internal strife? The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), once comrades in the struggle against Bashir, have turned on each other over a transition plan, plunging Sudan into a vortex of chaos.

The dire situation in Sudan demands global attention and concerted efforts for resolution. The lack of progress at the peace talks is a harsh reminder that the international community’s role goes beyond mere mediation. It is a call to action, a plea to address the root causes of the conflict and not merely its symptoms. What unfolds in Khartoum is not just a political power struggle. It is a humanitarian catastrophe. Civilians bear the brunt of the conflict, facing artillery attacks that tear through their homes. 

• Los países comunistas hicieron hincapié en la aprobación de los derechos sociales, económicos y culturales, sin embargo, ninguno aprobó la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos (DUDH).
• Violaciones graves de los derechos Humanos en Cuba

La Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos (DUDH) de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) fue aprobada el 10 de diciembre de 1948 en la Asamblea General de la ONU, con la Resolución 217 A (III), como un gesto magnánimo de los países participantes en busca de la dignificación del ser humano en libertad, justicia, prosperidad y paz para todos los pueblos y naciones de la Tierra.

El 10 de diciembre es el Día de los Derechos Humanos, donde cada año se conmemora la fecha de la adopción oficial de la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos para toda la familia humana y este año, 2023, es el Septuagésimo quinto (75º) Aniversario de la proclamación de esos principios como ideal común para la dignificación de la raza humana.

La Cuba republicana tuvo el honor de estar entre los gestores y firmantes de la DUDH, inspirada en su Constitución de 1940, junto a otros 47 Estados; no hubo votos en contra y sí 8 abstenciones y 2 ausentes. Los votos a favor de la DUDH fueron (48): Afganistán, Argentina, Australia, Bélgica, Birmania, Bolivia, Brasil, Canadá, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dinamarca, República Dominicana, Ecuador, Egipto, El Salvador, Estados Unidos, Etiopía, Filipinas, Francia, Grecia, Guatemala, Haití, Holanda, India, Irak, Irán, Islandia, Líbano, Liberia, Luxemburgo, México, Nueva Zelanda, Nicaragua, Noruega, Pakistán, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Reino Unido, Siria, Suecia, Tailandia, Turquía, Uruguay y Venezuela.

Los países comunistas hicieron hincapié en la aprobación de los derechos sociales, económicos y culturales, sin embargo, ninguno aprobó la DUDH, que son orientaciones y no constituye un acuerdo vinculante u obligatorio de los Estado como los tratados internacionales, fueron para enmascarar los derechos individuales inherentes de las personas y se abstuvieron los países socialistas: la Unión Soviética y sus aliados satélites de Bielorrusia, Checoslovaquia, Polonia, Ucrania y Yugoslavia. Además, Arabia Saudita (reinado islámico bajo la sharía) y Sudáfrica (racista).

Thirty-six (36) years old political prisoner Luis Barrios Díaz died on November 19th, 2023. The father of a six-year-old was serving a 6-year prison sentence at a Havana prison for peacefully participating in demonstrations on July 11th, 2021. Last August, he had been transferred ill to a hospital that had no antibiotics for his infection. The doctors recommended his admission, but prison authorities refused, alleging from lack of fuel for his surveillance. With no medical care, his condition worsened, and he had trouble breathing. Finally transferred to the hospital, over a liter of fluid was taken from his lungs in an emergency procedure, but he died the following day. The doctor told the family that he had not been treated on time. Deaths in prison from denial of medical care have been par for the course of Cuba’s penitentiary since the early days of the revolution in 1959. Cuba Archive has documented 345 individual cases over six decades, each a testimony of human suffering and preventable loss of life. Many more cases, likely thousands, have not been documented, as monitoring the prisons is not allowed. and gathering the information is very difficult.

These photos show eight more victims of the practice of denying medical care to Cuban political prisoners: Rosario López Gómez, 1964; René Amoedo Bueno, 1968; Ramón Quesada González, 1970; César Páez Sánchez, 1977; Iyamil García Benítez, 2013; Hamell Mas Hernández, 2017; Raidel García Otero, 2018; Ariel Valdés García, 2021.

The Cuban regime consistently mocks international rules. The horrid conditions of Cuba’s dungeons are well known, yet the Cuban government has ratified many international human rights agreements, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It even guarantees its compliance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. The failure of a totalitarian Communist regime to not live up to its commitments is worrisome but unsurprising. What’s peculiarly troubling is the failure of the world’s democracies --and the international community in general-- to hold it to account and reward it repeatedly with legitimacy, engagement, and support.

British royals drink mojitos as Cuba burns