Belarus and Cuba: Castro regime backs the dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko at the UN Human Rights Council

Translating the rhetoric of the Castro regime at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Raul Castro's presidential puppet and dictator Lukashenko

Prensa Latina is an official press agency of the Castro dictatorship, but is in reality part of its propaganda apparatus. Below is a story they published on September 18 that needs to be translated for the sake of accuracy. 

First, Cuba did not ratify anything, it was an un-elected dictatorship run by the Castro family, that on September 18, 2020 at the United Nations Human Rights Council ratified its support for the dictator of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

Second the Castro regime fails to mention that it is Alexander Lukashenko who is requesting and getting the foreign interference from Vladimir Putin. Mr. Lukashenko also wants Russian police, to terrorize the people of Belarus who have spent weeks protesting the attempted theft of their presidential election by the above mentioned dictator.

This should not be a surprise considering that the Castro regime defended the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 by the Warsaw Pact led by Russia, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980.

Third, what the Castro regime actually fears is that the Human Rights Council will hold it accountable for its crimes against humanity against Cubans and Venezuelans. This is why in the past they ignored ideological considerations and backed the military junta in Argentina, that disappeared over 30,000 Leftists, against an inquiry by the prior UN Human Rights Commission.

BELARUSIAN people are fearless. Dozens of thousands took part in the March of Justice today. Authorities did not let protesters march the planned route. However, people moved their way. In the end, the riot police attacked the participants. Hundreds are detained pic.twitter.com/vWszNVSR4N

— Franak Viačorka (@franakviacorka) September 20, 2020

There is a danger both for the Castro regime and Vladimir Putin to confuse the dictator, with the aspirations of the people of Belarus. We have not and will not. We stand with Belarus and in solidarity with the people seeking their freedom and sovereignty.

 Prensa Latina, September 18, 2020

Cuba expresses support for Belarus at the Human Rights Council

Geneva, Sep 18 (Prensa Latina) Cuba ratified on Friday its support for the people and government of Belarus and its legitimate President Alexander Lukashenko in a session of the UN Human Rights Council convened to attack that country.

'We energetically reject foreign interference against the sovereignty and self-determination of that sister nation,' assured Cuban diplomat Lisandra Astiasaran during an urgent debate on the human rights situation in Belarus, where the West is committed to destabilization.

According to Astiasaran, Cuba repudiates the imposition of this type of selective initiatives, directed against sovereign governments and with clear political motivations.

'We are facing an obvious attempt to use the Human Rights Council to legitimize a coup in a sovereign nation, and to advance the interventionist agenda of the United States and some of its allies,' she denounced.

In this regard, she warned that on Friday's debate and the resolution that accompanied it represent new signs of politicization and double standards that prevail in handling the issue of human rights.

Such a stance will only ensure that the Council's credibility continues, she noted.

rly/omr/ga/wmr

European Union continues its retreat on human rights accommodating another dictatorship

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. - Oswaldo Paya, European Parliament, December 17, 2002

Today a majority of the European Parliament rejected the legacy of Vaclav Havel putting profits over principle, abandoning Cuban dissidents to advance a commercial relationship with the Castro regime. By a vote of 567 votes to 65, with 31 abstentions, European Parliament members backed the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) between the EU and Cuba. Previous rapprochements with the dictatorship in Cuba have coincided with a worsening human rights decision and the death of high profile dissidents.

Ideas have consequences and the rejection of Havel's ideas began back in 2014 when Czech deputy foreign minister Petr Drulák argued that a "foreign policy with its stress on human rights was wrong and harmful." This abandonment of human rights did not begin with Cuba but in February of 2015 when the European Union lifted sanctions on the Robert Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. This was followed in February of 2016 with lifting sanctions on the Alexander Lukashenko regime in Belarus. This is the continuation of a decline in human rights around the world that has been going on for over a decade. Empowering and appeasing dictators had terrible consequences in the 20th century and this mistake is being repeated in the 21st century.  The case of North Korea should be a cautionary warning for those advocating this approach.

This latest retreat from a human rights centered policy occurred while Amnesty International has issued two urgent actions in the space of a week on human rights activists on hunger strikes in Cuba protesting harassment, intimidation and arbitrary imprisonment. On Sunday 50 Ladies in White ( EU Sakharov Prize laureates) were arbitrarily detained to prevent them attending Mass and peacefully marching for the release of Cuban political prisoners. Ignoring all this and the murder of 2002 Sakharov laureate Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and youth leader Harold Cepero of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) on July 22, 2012 and the imprisonment of the current MCL leader Eduardo Cardet is a sad testament to the current political climate where the worse are full of passionate intensity and those who know better pay lip service to human rights while legitimizing murderous dictatorships in Zimbabwe, Belarus and Cuba.

If the members of the European Parliament were serious about human rights in Cuba they would immediately suspend the newly announced agreement, because the provisions on human rights are being violated by the Castro regime.

Students at the University of Oslo present dictator of the year prize

Guess who are the only two brothers on the list of nominees?

 

Update 5/15/2013: Dictator of the year with 65 votes is Bashar al-Assad followed by Kim Jong-un with 62 votes and Alexander Lukashenko with 21 votes. Incidentally, the Castro brothers have excellent relations with all three and both Lukashenkko and al-Assad have visited Cuba.

The Dictator of the Year at Oslo Freedom Forum

15 May 2013, 16:45

The Architects of Evil

The Dictator of the Year initiative is an endeavor to complement the most celebrated  peace award in the world: the Nobel Peace Prize.

The idea behind the Dictator of the Year Prize is that it is not enough to celebrate people who have contributed to international peace;  it is just as important to draw attention to the architects of genocide, torture and mayhem –  those who have wrecked livelihoods of millions of people and who remain unpunished to this day.

This initiative is oriented towards both bringing to focus the atrocities committed by political regimes as well as inspiring hope for liberation from oppression and restoration of human dignity in non-democratic countries around the world.

The student community of Oslo University wants to name and shame the totalitarian political leaders in a carnivalesque human rights ceremony, during the Oslo Freedom Forum 2013 festival.

You can vote for the Dictator of the Year 2013 here.

Voting is open from 23. April  – 9. May 2013.

The award ceremony will take place on the 15th of May at 16:45 o’clock, University Square, downtown Oslo.

Candidates

These are the candidates for the 2013 Dictator of the Year Award:
Omar al-Bashir
Robert Mugabe
Kimg Jong-un
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov
Xi Jinping
King Abdullah
Fidel and Raul Castro
Bashar al-Assad
Ali Khamenei
Alexander Lukashenko

Ceremony

The ceremony in which the Dictator of the Year award well be bestowed upon the winning candidate, will take place on the 15th of May 2013, 16:45, in front of the university main building – Universitetsplassen, in Karl Johans gate.

The guest performer is Shabana Rehman Gaarder. The ceremony will be performed in cooperation with the Oslo Freedom Forum.