Shadow Human Rights Summit: A Voice for the Voiceless

Speaking truth to power. In 2010 I opened the 2nd Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy addressing human rights challenges around the world and the words on Venezuela are all to prescient. Sadly, things have not gotten better, but the victims of repression refuse to be silenced.

 
UN Watch's Shadow Rights Summit to Turn Tables on Tyrants

Human rights heroes to spotlight China, Cuba, Turkey, Venezuela, Burundi, Vietnam, after UNHRC session turned blind eye. Watch it live on March 26, 2019 in the live stream video below.


GENEVA, March 24, 2019 — Dissidents and political prisoners' families from around the globe have gathered in Geneva for a summit that opens to the public on Tuesday, at the Palexpo conference center, aimed at giving a voice to victims of the world’s worst human rights abuses. The event is organized by an international coalition of 25 human rights NGOs, led by UN Watch.

Human rights defenders gather in Switzerland for the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy

 The 11th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy opens on the heels of the UN Human Rights Council's main 2019 session, which wrapped up on Friday without adopting resolutions on most of the countries represented by the activists, including China, Cuba, Turkey, Venezuela, Burundi and Vietnam.

The summit organizers say they will focus on issues the UN session—under pressure by its powerful members—omitted from its agenda.

Former political prisoners from China, Tibet, Turkey, Vietnam will join the family members of existing political prisoners in Iran, Saudi Arabia and other countries that will be announced only at the session.

The teenage children of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who live in Canada, will speak for the first time.

Richard Ratcliffe, whose British-Iranian wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, has been detained in Tehran for three years on trumped-up spying charges, will speak publicly for the first time since UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced that he was granting her diplomatic protection—a highly rare move that elevated Nazanin’s case from a consular matter to a formal legal dispute between Britain and the one in which she remains prisoner.

In separate ceremonies on Tuesday, the summit will give its 2019 Courage Award to Tibetan filmmaker and former political prisoner Dhondup Wangchen,  and its 2019 International Women's Rights Award to Nimco Ali, a Somali-born campaigner against female genital mutilation.

Diego Arria, one of the leading Venezuelan opponents to the Maduro regime and the former president of the UN Security Council, will be one of the keynote speakers, along with Michael Levitt, chair of the Canadian Parliament's foreign affairs committee. See list of presenters here.

With numerous diplomats attending, the acclaimed annual conference is timed to take place in Geneva days after the UN Human Rights Council ended its main annual session, to ensure the world does not forget critical human rights situations.

"The annual Geneva Summit, founded in 2009, has become a focal point for dissidents worldwide," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of United Nations Watch, which for the 11th year in a row will be organizing the annual event as part of a cross-regional coalition of 25 other human rights groups.

The global gathering is acclaimed as a one-stop opportunity to hear from and meet front-line human rights advocates, many of whom have personally suffered imprisonment and torture.

"The speakers’ compelling and vivid testimonies will aim to stir the conscience of the U.N. to address critical human rights situations around the world," said Neuer.

Subjects on the program this year include political prisoners, discrimination against women, jailing of journalists, prison camps, religious intolerance, and the persecution of human rights defenders.

Videos of past speaker testimonies are available here.

Admission to this year’s main session on March 26, 2019 is free and open to the public, but registration is mandatory.

For accreditation, program and schedule information, click here.

The main event on Tuesday, starting at 9:30 am Geneva time, will be live webcast at www.genevasummit.org.

Speaking truth to power: Cuban dissident and machete attack victim Sirley Avila Leon addresses the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva

"An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self sustained." - Mohandas Gandhi, Young India 1924-1926 (1927), p. 1285

Sirley Avila Leon in Geneva, Switzerland at the statue of Mohandas Gandhi.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has failed to hold the Castro regime accountable, and too often has legitimized the 59 year old dictatorship and its henchman. Lamentably, the Universal Periodic review has also been rendered impotent by the machinations of the despots in Havana, and the indifference of too many democracies around the world. Cubans are being beaten up, mutilated, and murdered by agents of the Cuban government for trying to exercise their human rights and the chief human rights body in the world says nothing about it.

Nevertheless, over the course of this past year Cuban pro-democracy activists journeyed or tried to journey to the UN Human Rights Council to speak truth to power. (Cuban democrats did the same in 2009 and again in 2013 during the first two cycles of the Universal Periodic Review of Cuba). They all spoke truth to power, and their testimony exposes the lies propagated by the Castro dictatorship.

Cuba told lies yesterday at the United Nations to its fellow Human Rights Council members. But something went wrong for them when UN Watch gave the floor to dissident Sirley Avila Leon who testified how regime agents brutally attacked her with a machete. Thank you, @johnjsuarez. pic.twitter.com/ky7bRFq03j

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 25, 2018

Earlier this week, on September 24, 2018 during Item 6 of the UN Human Rights Council on the general debate over the Universal Periodic Review, one of the victims of repression was able to address the Human Rights Council. Sirley Avila Leon addressed the Council about the May 24, 2015 machete attack orchestrated by Castro regime agents in Cuba. Below is a translation of the original Spanish statement to English:

Item 6: Universal Periodic Review 

39th regular session of the Human Rights Council

Thank you, Mr. President,

My name is Sirley Avila Leon, I am Cuban and I will speak on behalf of UN Watch.

On May 24, 2015 living in Cuba I suffered an attack orchestrated by agents of the state, I was attacked with a machete to kill me cutting off my left hand and right shoulder while I covered my head with them, then cut my knees leaving me disabled for life.

This was not the first attack I suffered, I was previously attacked several times, physically and verbally by the political police in Cuba: they burned my bed, I suffered arbitrary arrests, death threats, economic damages. Only for demanding better living conditions for the peasants and their children in a rural area of Las Tunas.

My case is not isolated. In Cuba, the state continues to violate the human rights of Cubans, murders, imprisons and banishes those who demand rights and repress their families.

 To save my life, in 2016 I escaped from Cuba, since then my son, Yoerlis Peña Avila, has been threatened with death and repressed on several occasions. At this moment I fear for his life.

Mr. President, as a direct victim of repression in Cuba, I ask: How can the Cuban government be a member of the Human Rights Council, committing so many crimes against humanity for 59 years?

Thank you very much.

Later that same day I also spoke before the UN Human Rights Council touching on pressing issues: the continuing unjust imprisonment of Eduardo Cardet; the August 9, 2018 extrajudicial killing of Alejandro Pupo Echemendia, and the threats, harassment and detention of witnesses, family members and rights defenders who spoke out; and finally addressed with great concern the plight of Tomás Núñez Magdariaga, a Cuban political prisoner on his 40th day on hunger strike this past Monday.

The life of Tomás Núñez Magdariaga continues to hang in the balance as he enters his 44th day on hunger strike on Friday.

Cuba should be removed from UN Human Rights Council until Castro frees Eduardo Cardet

"So long as the Castro government jails Eduardo Cardet, a prisoner of conscience, we call for the complete removal of Cuba from this Council." -  Hillel Neuer of UN Watch, addressing the UN Human Rights Council, March 20, 2017

Sentenced today to three years in prison

Eduardo Cardet Concepción, prisoner of conscience and Christian Liberation Movement national coordinator, was sentenced to three years in prison today. Meanwhile at the United Nations Human Rights Council his plight was referenced in an oral statement by Hillel Neuer of the nongovernmental organization UN Watch. Speaking out for the Cuban dissident drew an angry protest from the Castro regime's diplomats that interrupted the courageous speaker.

MCL leader Eduardo Cardet condemned to three years in prison
From the Christian Liberation Movement website:

Today Eduardo Cardet was informed of the sentence to three years in prison that was dictated by the court that tried him on March 3, 2017 in Gibara, Holguin. Eduardo Cardet told his wife, the sentence is based on manipulated data, without taking into account the testimony of defense witnesses. Cardet's family will appeal the ruling

Listen to Yaimaris Vecino's testimony in Spanish.

Eduardo Cardet has been jailed since November 30, 2016 for speaking critically of Fidel Castro following his death. Amnesty International declared him a prisoner of conscience on January 31, 2017.

Yaimaris Vecino, Eduardo Cardet and their two sons

Dictatorships at UNHRC try to silence UN Watch's Hillel Neuer

UN Human Rights Council, debate under Agenda Item 8, Vienna Declaration of Human Rights
delivered by Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch

Today we ask: Is the world living up to the Vienna Declaration, which reaffirms basic human rights?
We ask the government of Turkish President Erdogan, if it cares about human rights, why did they just fire more than one hundred thousand teachers, university deans, judges, prosecutors, religious figures and public servants?

We ask Pakistan, when will they release Asia Bibi, the innocent, Christian mother of five, now on death row on the absurd charge of blasphemy?

We ask Saudi Arabia, when will you end gender apartheid? When will you stop oppressing all religious practice that is not Wahhabist Islam? When will you release Raif Badawi, serving 10 years in prison for the crime of advocating a free society?

We welcome the Secretary-General’s new pledge of UN reform. That is why today, pursuant to Article 8 of Resolution 60/251, we call for the complete removal of Saudi Arabia from this Council.

So long as 1.3 billion people are denied their basic freedoms, we call for the removal of China. So long as human rights are abused by Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Congo, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, and UAE, we call for their removal.

So long as the Maduro government imprisons democracy leaders like Mayor Antonio Ledezma of Caracas, and causes its millions of citizens to scavenge for food, we call for the removal of Venezuela.

So long as the Castro government jails Eduardo Cardet, a prisoner of conscience, we call for the complete removal of Cuba from this Council.

Mr. President, we have the right to cite the suspension provision of this council’s own charter. They can silence human rights defenders at home, but they cannot do so at the United Nations.

Déjà vu: Venezuela's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council

Today reading UN Watch's report on the UN Human Rights Council review of Venezuela's human rights record it gave me déjà vu because I'd seen this before during the last Cuba UPR in 2013. Below is a summary of the report released earlier today by UN Watch.

Nicolas Maduro with UN prize for combating hunger—Venezuelans are in fact starving.

Venezuela used 500 front groups to subvert today’s UN review of its rights record 

GENEVA, Nov. 1, 2016 – UN chief Ban Ki-moon and human rights high commissioner Zeid Hussein are being called upon to investigate how their officials allowed Venezuela to commit “fraud on a massive scale” to influence today’s UN review of the country’s human rights record by using hundreds of “front groups” to submit comments favorable to the regime, a watchdog group reported.

While “an astronomical amount of 519 supposedly non-governmental organizations” submitted comments for Venezuela’s review, only 54 commented on Uganda, 26 on Syria,  23 for South Sudan, and 20 on Zimbabwe, according to a new report published by UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental human rights monitoring group.

Although “critiques by genuine NGOs do appear, they are overwhelmed by an unprecedented amount of submissions by fraudulent ‘NGOs’ that, if  they do exist, are either controlled by the government of Venezuela, or by its allies Cuba and Bolivia,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch and an international lawyer.

“This is fraud committed on a massive scale,” said Neuer, as Venezuela’s foreign minister appeared before the UN Human Rights Council this morning in Geneva, Switzerland, to present her government’s case. The UNHRC audits each nation every five years for its Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

“Venezuela used hundreds of front groups to hijack the United Nations database and compilation summary of NGO submissions, and turn it into a propaganda sheet for the regime of President Nicolas Maduro,” said Neuer.

The UPR is not binding on anyone “but does have an impact because it’s a megaphone, a podium, which does shape the way people think and it’s a source of legitimacy,” said Neuer.

“Among the 500 groups absurdly praising Venezuela’s alleged human rights accomplishments include the Bolivian Baseball Association, the Cuban Federation of Canine Sports, and the ‘Association for Obvious Things,’ a group in Slovenia that hailed Venezuela’s record on combating hunger,” said the UN Watch report.

“The result is that the review today of Venezuela’s human rights record is being conducted based on a massive amount of manifestly false information,” concludes the report.

Under UN rules, the world body is only supposed to gather submissions that provide “credible and reliable information.” The report calls on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Hussein to investigate “how and why their officials failed to screen out submissions that clearly do not meet this standard.”

“Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner Zeid should declared Venezuela guity of conempt for the Human Rights Council on which it sits,” said Neuer.

UN Watch has often criticized the Council itself for electing non-democracies, including Venezuela itself last year, as members.

On Friday UN Watch slammed the re-election of Saudi Arabia, China and Cuba to the Council. “Electing the Saudis to the UN’s highest human rights body like making a pyromaniac into the fire chief,” said Neuer.

During the UNHRC meeting today on Venezuela, the Syria, North Korea, and Iran praised Venezuela while Western nations criticized its abuses and lack of democracy. All the comments and Venezuela’s responses are eventually added to the UPR.

The UN Watch report, titled “Fraud on the UN: Venezuela’s Corruption of its 2016 UPR Human Rights Review,” gives 20 examples of praise heaped by the NGOs on the socialist-run regime.

Among the “NGOs” were several organizations controlled by the Cuban Communist Party—and having no obvious expertise on the human rights claims in their submissions—such as the Cuban Association of Animal Production, the Cuban Federation of Underwater Activities, the Cuban Society for Philosophical Investigations, and the Cuban Society for Urology.

Also commenting were numerous Bolivian groups including the Bolivian Association of Plastic Arts.

According to the UN compilation document, despite Venezuela’s mass hunger, a Slovenian-based group called the “Association for Obvious Things” hailed Venezuela for being “recognized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for surpassing the first Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger.” (See full submission here.)

The UN document also reported that “a total of 238 organizations” welcomed “the reinforcement of people’s power and popular governance” in Venezuela. “Yet the truth is that the democratic opposition leaders like Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo Lopez have had their freedom taken away,” said Neuer.

“A total of 40 organizations” reported Venezuela’s alleged “advances in the provision of free education at all levels.” A group called Desarrolo Humano Integral stated that in Venezuela “there is freedom of religion, belief, expression of ideas and thought, association, assembly and peaceful demonstration.” Neuer said this too was false: “The regime routinely arrests dissidents for the crimes of peaceful demonstrations.”

The UN reported that 24 organizations praised Venezuela for “positive outcomes” including a “reduction in school dropout rates and the introduction of a school meals program.” A total of 21 organizations reported that “progress had been made in adopting health legislation to ensure compliance with constitutional provisions prescribing free, high-quality health services for all.” In reality, said Neuer, the state of health in Venezuela is “a catastrophe—people are desperate for basic medicines.”

For full report, click here

UN Watch Executive Director interviews Rosa María Payá Acevedo following dozen tyrannies trying to censor her

Hillel Neuer, UN Watch Executive Director, interviews Rosa María Payá Acevedo after she completed making her oral statement before the UN Human Rights Council on Item 4 of the Agenda that was interrupted by a dozen tyrannies in an effort, most likely orchestrated by the Castro regime, to harass the young activist over the course of a half hour to read a two minute statement.

Wife of Jailed Venezuelan Opposition Leader Addresses U.N.

Lilian Tintori, the wife of Venezuelan opposition leader and prisoner of conscience Leopoldo Lopez, testified this week before the UN Human Rights Council. 

Testimony of Lilian Tintori before UNHRC, 30 June 2015

Thank you, Mr. President.

My name is Lilian Tintori and I am Venezuelan. I have the honor to make this declaration on behalf of UN Watch.

Article 2 of the Durban Declaration prohibits all forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on political or other opinions.

I am here for all the names I have on my chest and my back. They are tortured, persecuted and killed. My husband Leopoldo Lopez, opposition leader in Venezuela, unjustly in jail, is only one of many cases. I speak in his name and in the name of all those silenced, like Geraldine Moreno, assassinated in close range, and Jose Manuel Carrasco, raped with a weapon in his anus, both by state security forces.

My husband Leopoldo is in jail for speaking out against the human rights violations that occur in our country, the right to life is violated every 20 minutes, homicides last year were above 25,000, inflation, medicine and food scarcity is more that 72%. Leopoldo has been in jail for 16 month, 9 of which in solitary confinement, with inhuman treatment and torture. In 2014, there were more than 3700 arbitrary detentions. I am here as a wife, as a mother that is raising her two children alone.

My husband and opposition leaders are in jail for demanding democratic change through constitutional, non-violent methods. They have not committed any crime. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined that Leopoldo had been detained in violation of international law, as did the Committee Against Torture, the High Commissioner and the Special Rapporteur Against Torture.

The Venezuelan government must respect the rights of all people. Today there are 75 political prisoners that should be liberated. Isolation should stop. The Tumba, a white torture center, has to be closed. The Red Cross should have access to prisons and we have to put an end to impunity.

Venezuela continues to be a member of this Council, when it violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We dream and work for a positive change for all Venezuelans. I ask this Council to demand the liberation of all political prisoners in Venezuela.

Thank you, Mr. President.

 

Freedom in the World 2015: A Reflection on the Freedom House Report

"I am an irrepressible optimist, but I always base my optimism on solid facts." - Mohandas Gandhi 

Freedom House in its 2015 reports distressing news: for the past nine years freedom has been in retreat around the world. According to Freedom House: 

"More aggressive tactics by authoritarian regimes and an upsurge in terrorist attacks contributed to a disturbing decline in global freedom in 2014, according to Freedom in the World 2015, Freedom House’s annual report on the condition of political rights and civil liberties."

In concrete terms of the 195 countries Freedom House assessed: 89 (46 percent) were rated Free, 55 (28 percent) Partly Free, and 51 (26 percent) Not Free. Less than half the world is currently living in freedom.

On two previous occasion addressing the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in 2010 and again in 2013 the global deterioration of human rights has also been painfully evident and reflected upon. A possible answer was ventured citing the martyred Cuban democratic opposition activist, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, who when awarded the Sakharov prize for Freedom of Thought on December 17, 2002 observed that:

“The cause of human rights is a single cause, just as the people of the world are a single people. The talk today is of globalization, but we must state that unless there is global solidarity, not only human rights but also the right to remain human will be jeopardized.”

 Although this is part of the answer, it is not the complete answer. Over the past decade two approaches towards confronting grave injustices have been tried and found wanting: war with and/or appeasement of tyrants.

Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya to overthrow cruel and unjust regimes have led into spirals of violence that have destabilized entire regions making the situation worse. On the other hand cruel and unjust regimes such as North Korea, the Peoples Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Vietnam and now in Cuba have and continue to be appeased out of fear, greed, and perceived self interests. 

In either case human rights has worsened. Neither has worked.

The one approach that has achieved progress over the past century and when failing has not worsened the situation compared to what existed before is nonviolent resistance.  Resisting injustice without committing new injustices or accepting existing injustices to avoid new challenges or losses in the profit and loss column. Tragically in the case of Syria what was initially a nonviolent uprising shifted to violent resistance when elements of Assad's military defected to the opposition thinking it would speed up victory. It had the opposite effect. 

On February 24, 2015 the Seventh Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy will convene placing a spotlight on the kidnapping of nearly 300 girls by Boko Haram in Nigeria when one of the escaped students will speak out for the first time. She will be joined by dissidents from Iran, North Korea, Turkey, Ukraine and China. 

Speaking truth to power and engaging in effective nonviolent campaigns that topple entrenched dictatorships does not cost billions of dollars. Appeasing tyrants have generated great profits for industries in the past as has going to war against them. This is the tragedy of nonviolence but at the same time the great opportunity it provides to the powerless majority but the secret is that it requires training, learning tactics and having a strategy.
 

Today: UN to Hear from Venezuelan Protest Leaders, Cuban Dissidents

Next month marks two years since Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante were killed in what appears to have been an operation by Cuban state security. Today one of the survivors of that day, Angel Carromero will for the first time speak on the matter at an official UN meeting. There is an appeal for an international investigation into the deaths of Oswaldo and Harold please consider signing it.

 

Published by UNWatch.on June 17, 2014 in Cuba and Venezuela 

Testifying: Venezuelan student protest leaders Eusebio Costa & Alejandro Teppa; and Angel Carromero, driver in the suspicious crash that killed legendary Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá

GENEVA, June 17, 2014 – For the first time ever, the UN will hear testimony from leaders of the Venezuela protest movement, as well as from the survivor of the suspicious car crash that killed legendary Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya.

The hearings on human rights in Venezuela and Cuba, organized by a NGO coalition as an official event inside the United Nations Human Rights Council, will take place today in Geneva, Tuesday, June 17th.

The event is organized by the Geneva-based rights group UN Watch, and co-sponsored by German NGO International Society for Human Rights, Iniciativa por Venezuela, Human Rights Foundation, Humano y Libre, and Directorio Democrático Cubano.

For more information on the content of the Venezuelan panel, click here; for the Cuban panel, click here. 

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

Eusebio Costa – 22-year-old student activist, President of the Student Center at the Catholic University Santa Rosa in Caracas. Member of the protest camp in Las Mercedes.








Alejandro Suarez Teppa – 33-year-old activist and graduate student of Philosophy.  National Board Member of the Active Youth Venezuela United (Juventud Activa Venezuela Unida – JAVU). Leader of protest camp in Stanta Fé.




Julieta Lopez -  Aunt of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has been imprisoned since February. When Ms. Lopez addressed the Human Rights Council plenary in March, the Venezuelan delegate interrupted her speech and tried to stop her from testifying. (See video here).






CUBA
“The Situation of Human Rights in Cuba—And What Really Happened to Oswaldo Payá”


Ángel Francisco Carromero Barrios, Spanish politician, driver of the car in deadly accident of Cuban democracy leader Oswaldo Payá







Regis Iglesias, Cuban poet, arrested with 74 other dissidents during the notorious 2003 Black Spring crackdown, Amnesty International prisoner of conscience. Exiled to Spain in 2010, he is spokesman for the Christian Liberation Movement

Legitimizing Tyranny: The Price of Hypocrisy at the UN

Human rights defenders protesting election of abusers to HRC / AP

How abusers trumpet their HRC election to silence dissent

By U.N. Watch

On November 12, the UN General Assembly elected 14 new members for the Human Rights Council. Among the 14 elected were 6 countries that UN Watch evaluated as unqualified for membership: Algeria, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Vietnam. Their newfound membership of the UN’s top human rights body will be yet another occasion for these abusers to spew propaganda and silence dissidents and civil society – often the only ones who dare to tell the truth about these regimes. Since Tuesday’s election, members of the respective governments and representative of their UN Missions have commented on the election explaining that their victories were due to the international recognition of their commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights.

China
“The Chinese government attaches great importance to the promotion and protection of human rights. It has made remarkable achievements and has vigorously developed international cooperation in the field of human rights …China is fully qualified to be elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council. China’s election to the UN Human Rights Council Tuesday also serves as the international community’s acknowledgment of China’s significant achievements in the field of human rights.”
Wang Min, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, 13 November 2013 (Source)

Cuba
“Cuba’s selection is nothing less than a recognition of its consistent stance of rejecting double standards and the persistent efforts by Western powers to use the Council for political ends, to manipulate the issue of human rights in service of its interests and to convert this body into an inquisitor tribunal for the nations of the (global) South who don’t submit to their designs.”
Anayansi Rodriquez, Cuba’s UN ambassador in Geneva, 13 November 2013 (Source)

Saudi Arabia
“The Kingdom’s election to the Human Rights Council for the third time in a row is yet another confirmation of its pioneering role in the council and the service of human rights issues.”
Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Ma’alami, Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, 12 November 2013 (Source)

“This election confirms the Kingdom’s efforts in the enhancement of justice, equality and the protection and promotion of human rights at both domestic and international arenas, as well as the Kingdom’s firm positions towards issues of fair human rights in the world … This election confirms the Kingdom’s prestigious status and international respect and recognition for its roles in the promotion and protection of human rights.”
Dr Al-Aiban, President of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, 13 November 2013 (Source)

Russia
“The UN election was a ‘good result.’ We will work in order to strengthen cooperation and dialogue and create constructive working atmosphere in the council.”
Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, 12 November 2013 (Source)

Vietnam
“This determination reflects the Vietnamese Party and State’s view of human rights as a common aspiration of human being as well as their consistent policy of respecting and ensuring human rights, and enhancing international cooperation in this field … Vietnam’s election to the UNHRC with the highest vote is of great significance. It shows the international community’s acknowledgement and appreciation of Vietnam’s policies and achievements in its comprehensive renewal process, including the building of a state of law that offers a better guarantee of citizens’ rights.”
Pham Binh Minh, Foreign Minister of Vietnam, 13 November 2013 (Source)

Genuine NGOs and the 2013 UPR Review of Cuba

"Yet is it far better to light the candle than to curse the darkness." W.L. Watkins (1907)

United Nations Human Rights Council

UN Watch in their report "Massive Fraud: The Corruption of the 2013 UPR Review of Cuba" exposed how the Cuban government has corrupted and abused the Universal Periodic Review process. One of the regime's tactics was to flood the NGO process with front groups. In its summary, UN Watch described how:

Cuba used hundreds of front groups to hijack the United Nations compilation of NGO submissions and turn it into a propaganda sheet for the Castro Communist regime. While critiques of genuine NGOs do appear, they are overwhelmed by an unprecedented amount of submissions by fraudulent “NGOs” that, if they do exist, are mere puppets of Cuba and its allies abroad. UN Watch examined 28 recent UPR country reviews. There were 9 NGO submissions on Turkmenistan, 12 on Romania, 23 on Germany, 32 on Russia, and, the highest, 48 on Canada. For Cuba, however, the number soars to an incredible 454. 

One way to counter the abuse and corruption of the process is to highlight the genuine NGOs that offered a genuine critique of the dictatorship in Cuba.  Respected international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the Centrist Democrat International, Human Rights Watch and Reporters sans frontières submitted important reports as did independent groups from inside Cuba such as the Alianza Democrática Oriental, Consejo de Relatores de Derechos Humanos de Cuba, Coalición Central Opositora and the Movimiento Femenino por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks. Outside of Cuba diaspora organizations such as the Cuban Democratic Directorate and the Coalition of Cuban-American Women submitted reports.

The Universal Periodic Review Process

Below is a complete listing of these groups with links to their reports stored by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:

Alianza Democrática Oriental; comunicación conjunta para el examen periódico universal; Cuba
 http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/ADO_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_AlianzaDemocraticaOriental_S.pdf

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSION TO THE UN UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW 16TH SESSION OF THE UPR WORKING GROUP, APRIL-MAY 2013
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/AI_UPR_CUB_s16_2013_AmnestyInternational_E.pdf

ASOCIACIÓN JURÍDICA CUBANA Cuba Información para el Examen Periódico Universal de la ONU
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/AJC_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_AsociacionJuridicaCubana_S.pdf

Contribution de Reporters sans frontières, organisation non gouvernementale dotée du statut consultatif spécial, à propos de la situation de la liberté de la presse à Cuba
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/RSF_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_ReportersSansFronti%C3%A8res_F.pdf

Informe del Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos para el Grupo de Trabajo de la Revisión Periódica Universal (UPR)http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/OCDH_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_ObservatorioCubanoDeDerechosHumanos_S.pdf

Consejo de Relatores de Derechos Humanos de Cuba. (CRDHC). En coordinación con los Círculos Democráticos Municipalistas. (CDM)
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/JS1_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_Jointsubmission1_S.pdf

Coalición Central Opositora y Movimiento Femenino por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks Agresiones contra mujeres defensoras de derechos humanos en Cuba Revisión Periódica Universal de Cuba 2013
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/JS2_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_Jointsubmission2_S.pdf

Contribución Conjunta del Centro de Información Legal “Cubalex” y la Asociación Cubana para el Desarrollo de la Educación Infantil
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/JS7_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_Jointsubmission7_S.pdf

CUBA: SYSTEMATIC STATE VIOLENCE AGAINST THE CHILDREN OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Coalition of Cuban-American Women
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/CCAW_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_CoalitionOfCubanAmericanWomen_E.pdf

Informe del Comite Ciudadano Contra los Malos Tratos.
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/CCCMT_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_ComiteCiudadanoContraLosMalosTrat_S.pdf

Presentación de la Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional (CCDHRN)* para el Examen Periódico Universal (EPU)
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/CCDHRN_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_Comisi%C3%B3nCubanaDeDerechosHumanosYRecoS.pdf

Comunicación Individual del Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de América Latina (CADAL), ante el Examen Periódico Universal de Cuba.”
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/CADAL_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_CentroParaLaperturaYElDesarrolloDe_S.pdf

Individual report from the Centrist Democrat International for the April-May 2013 Universal Periodic Review of the government of Cuba
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/CDI_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_CentristDemocratInternational_S.pdf

Universal Periodic Review – 16th Session CSW – Stakeholder Submission CUBA
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/CSW_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_ChristianSolidarityWorldwide_E.pdf

Extrajudicial Killings and Suspicious Deaths in Cuba 2009 - 2012
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/DDC_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_DirectorioDemocr%C3%A1ticoCubano_E.pdf

Human Rights Watch UPR Submission Cuba October 2012
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session16/CU/HRW_UPR_CUB_S16_2013_HumanRightsWatch_E.pdf

World leaders and human rights defenders call for inquiry into deaths of Oswaldo and Harold

Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante

Appeal for International Inquiry into the Deaths of Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero


An open letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, and Ambassadors of all Member States

12 March 2013

Excellencies,

We urge you to support our demand for an international and independent investigation into the alleged murder of Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, a world-renowned figure and recipient of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize, who died in a car crash in Bayamo, Cuba, on July 22, 2012, together with fellow activist Harold Cepero.

In dramatic new testimony by the driver of the car, Ángel Carromero describes, in a Washington Post interview dated 6 March 2013, how their vehicle was followed, harassed and ultimately rammed from behind by a car bearing government license plates. Mr. Carromero further alleges that, following the crash, he was drugged, mistreated and coerced by Cuban authorities into making a false confession.


The new revelations corroborate the claims made by the families of the victims and other witnesses, as well as the report by Spain’s ABC news agency about text messages sent contemporaneous with the incident from the mobile phones of Mr. Carromero and another passenger, Aron Modig, indicating that their car was chased and then hit, causing the crash.

Significantly, according to the family of Oswaldo Payá, state security agents had repeatedly threatened to kill him.

Mounting and credible allegations that the Cuban government may have been complicit in the murder of its most prominent critic, a leading figure in the human rights world, cannot go ignored by the international community.

The families of the victims, and the people of Cuba, have a right to know the truth, and they have a right to justice. This can only happen with the creation of an international and independent inquiry. We therefore respectfully urge you to support our call.

Sincerely,

Sincerely,

1. Armando Calderon Sol, former President of El Salvador
2. Alfredo Cristiani, former President of El Salvador
3. Luis Alberto Lacalle, former President of Uruguay
4. Alejandro Toledo, former President of Peru
5. Luis Alberto Monge, former president of Costa Rica
6. Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice-President of European Parliament
7. Markus Meckel, former Foreign Minister of Germany
8. Irwin Cotler, MP, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
9. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate
10. Zbigniew Romaszewski, former Speaker of Polish Senate, a founder of the Solidarity movement
11. Stanislav Shushkevich, former president of Supreme Soviet of Belarus, a current opposition leader in Belarus
12. Arnold Vaatz MP, Deputy Leader CDU, Germany
13. Emma Henriksson MP, Group leader, The Christian Democrats, The Swedish National Parliament
14. Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson, former Foreign Minister of Iceland
15. Mantas Adomênas MP, Lithuania
16. Laura Alonso MP, Argentina
17. Mbarka Bouaida, former MP, Morocco
18. Philip Claeys MEP, Belgium
19. Michael Danby MP, Australia
20. Mátyás Eörsi, Secretary-General of Parliamentary Forum for Democracy, former MP, Hungary
21. David Kilgour, former MP, Canada
22. Adam Lipinski MP, former State Secretary of Poland
23. Martin Palouš, former Ambassador, Czech Republic
24. Marija Aušrinė Pavilioniene MP, Lithuania
25. Marco Perduca, Italian Senator, co-vicepresident of Nonviolent Radical Party
26. Janelle Saffin MP, Australia
27. Egidijus Vareikis MP, Lithuania
28. Renate Wohlwend MP, Lichtenstein
29. Emanuelis Zingeris MP, Lithuania, President of Parliamentary Forum for Democracy
30. Algis Chaste MP, Lithuania
31. Rimantas Jonas Days MP, Lithuania
32. Corina Fusu MP, Moldova
33. Tadeusz Iwinski MP, Poland
34. Vytautas Juozapaitis MP, Lithuania
35. Liutauras Kazlavickas MP, Lithuania
36. Valeriu Munteanu MP, Moldova
37. Victor Popa MP, Moldova
38. Paulius Saudargas MP, Lithuania
39. Valeriu Saharneanu MP, Moldova
40. Werner Schulz MEP, Germany
41. Aurelija Stancikiene MP, Lithuania
42. Povilas Urbsys MP, Lithuania
43. Fabian Hamilton MP, United Kingdom
44. Patricio Walker, Senator, Chile
45. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, former Congressman, United States
46. Matteo Mecacci, former MP, Italy
47. András Schiffer MP, Hungary
48. Katalin Ertsey MP, Hungary
49. Eligijus Masiulis MP, Lithuania
50. Gintaras Steponavičius MP, Lithuania
51. Albinas Mitrulevičius MP, Lithuania
52. Irena Šiaulienė MP, Lithuania
53. Domas Petrulis MP, Lithuania
54. Algirdas Sysas MP, Lithuania
55. Raminta Popovienė MP, Lithuania
56. Gediminas Kirkilas MP, Lithuania
57. Arūnas Dudėnas MP, Lithuania
58. Orinta Leiputė MP, Lithuania
59. Audronė Pitrėnienė MP, Lithuania
60. Dangutė Mikutienė MP, Lithuania
61. Zita Žvikienė MP, Lithuania
62. Jolita Vaickienė MP, Lithuania
63. Valentinas Mazuronis MP, Lithuania
64. Vytautas Antanas Matulevičius MP, Lithuania
65. Linas Balsys MP, Lithuania
66. Vitalijus Gailius MP, Lithuania
67. Rokas Žilinskas MP, Lithuania
68. Juras Požėla MP, Lithuania
69. János Horváth MP, Hungary
70. Rene Bolio, former Senator, Mexico, President of Concertation Mexicana
71. Rosa Díez González MP, Spain
72. Carlos Martínez Gorriarán MP, Spain
73. Álvaro Anchuelo Crego MP, Spain
74. Irene Lozano Domingo MP, Spain
75. Antonio Cantó García del Moral MP, Spain
76. Francisco Sosa Wagner MEP, Spain
77. Carlo Casini MEP, Italy
78. Annelie Enochson MP, Sweden
79. Alf Svensson MEP, Sweden
80. Penilla Gunther MP, Sweden
81. Bi-khim Hsiao MP, Taiwan
82. Yi-Jin Yeh MP, Taiwan
83. Kun-Tse Lee MP, Taiwan
84. Chun-Yi Lee MP, Taiwan
85. Tai-Hua Lin MP, Taiwan
86. Chia-Lung Lin MP, Taiwan
87. Wen-Ling Huang MP, Taiwan
88. Chien-Kuo Liu MP, Taiwan
89. Tuan Yi-Kang MP, Taiwan
90. Yu Mei-Nu MP, Taiwan
91. Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya President, President of the External Affairs Commission of the Spanish Parliament
92. Ramon Espadaler, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya President of General Assembly, Catalan Minister of Interior
93. Josep Maria Pelegrí, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya Secretary General, Catalan Minister of Agriculture
94. Joana Ortega,Unió Democràtica de Catalunya Vice President, Vice President of Government of Catalonia
95. Salvador Sedó i Alabart, International Relations Secretary, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya, Member of the European Parliament
96. Josep Sanchez Llibre MP, Spain
97. Hillel Neuer, Executive Director, United Nations Watch
98. John Suarez, International Secretary, Cuban Democratic Directorate
99. Carl Gershman, President, the National Endowment for Democracy
100. Ken Wollack, President, National Democratic Institute
101. Lorne Craner, President, International Republican Institute
102. David Kramer, President, Freedom House
103. Zohra Yusuf, Chairperson, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
104. Yang Jianli, President, Initiatives for China
105. Carlos E. Ponce, General Coordinator, Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy
106. Faisal Fulad, Secretary General, Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society
107. Art Kaufman, Senior Director, World Movement for Democracy, National Endowment for Democracy
108. Alessandro Pettenuzzo, European Union of Public Relations
109. Lehlohonolo Chefa,  Executive Director, Policy Analysis and Research Institute of Lesotho
110. Anki Flores, Former Secretary-General of the Antiracism Information Service, Geneva
111. Shauna Leven, Director, René Cassin organization
112. Bhawani Shanker Kusum, Executive Director, Gram Bharati Samiti, India
113. Duy Hoang, Spokesperson, Viet Tan
114. Dickson Ntwiga, Executive Director, Solidarity House International Foundation
115. Nazanin Afshin-Jam, President, Stop Child Executions
116. Atamao B T Kane, President, Southpanafrican International
117. Okay Machisa, Zimbabwe Human Rights Association
118. Obinna Egbuka, President, Youth Enhancement Organization International Multiracial Shared Cultural Organization
119. Zofia Romaszewska, one of the founders of Solidarity movement, Poland
120. Fernando Savater, philosopher, writer and activist, Spain
121. D. José Luis Orella, President, Foro Arbil, Spain
122. Sasha Gosh-Siminoff, Executive Director, Syrian Emergency Task Force
123. Jorge Ocejo Moreno, President, Organización Demócrata Cristiana de América, Former Mexican Senator
124. Viktorija BRAŽIŪNAITĖ, Chair, Young Leaders Forum
125. Mazen Hasan, Chairman, Syrian Expatriates Organization

https://unwatch.org/3362-2/

UN Watch: On Syria, The UN Human Rights Council Has Been Wrong for So Long

Testimony before urgent session of the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, March 1, 2012, delivered by UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.

Thank you, Madam President.

The nations gathered here, including Syria, have solemnly pledged to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Yet when a government massacres thousands of its own citizens—innocent men, women and children—it violates that declaration's most basic right: the right to life.

When a government turns heavy artillery upon its own cities, day after day, it commits inhuman acts that shock our collective conscience.

When a government announces that it has held a referendum adopting a new constitution, on the same day that it bombards whole neighborhoods, killing 138 people, its cruelty is compounded by cynicism.

We ask: Does Syria believe the UN will be silent while it commits mass murder before the eyes of the world?

If so, perhaps it is because, for too long, this council turned a blind eye to Syria's gross human rights abuses.

Perhaps it is because this council, for too long, turned a blind eye to regimes such as Qaddafi's Libya, whose representative was elected as its chair.

Sadly, this council allowed Syria to play the role of a human rights champion.

For too long, this council adopted Syrian-sponsored resolutions against a neighboring state, a liberal democracy that protects, not attacks, its citizens.

We have just heard several council members defend and justify the actions of Syria's regime. In doing so, they breach their pledge to promote human rights, and place their own membership credentials in question.

Madam President,

The Human Rights Council has been wrong for so long. As a result, millions have suffered. For the sake of Syria's victims, it is time to right this wrong.

As stated in the preamble of the Universal Declaration, a government that shows contempt for human rights, and practices tyranny and oppression, loses its right to govern.

Today, it is time for this council to send a clear message: a government that murders its citizens must go.

Thank you, Madam President.