The Sounds of Crickets: The long silence when Canadian and U.S. diplomats were being harmed in Cuba

Governments waited too long to warn their diplomats, and the lawsuits are now flying.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office criticized the State Department for how it handled an Accountability Review Board (ARB) following the harm done to U.S. diplomats in Havana, Cuba. The reports were downplayed, and did not become public until eight months later, because impacted diplomats were complaining. The same process has played out over in even longer span of time with Canadian diplomats and their foreign service.

Their respective governments waited to long, and underestimated the harm done. Perhaps their mistake was listening to the assurances of the Cuban government.

Twenty six (26) American diplomats and their family members were harmed in Havana, but Cuban officials claimed that the diplomats had preexisting conditions.

In the Canadian case it has been reported that "nine adults and five children from diplomatic families have developed unusual illnesses in Havana, with symptoms including nausea, dizziness, headaches and trouble concentrating." These are the same symptoms reported by the Americans.

If the warning had gone out earlier, and family and essential personal been recalled, perhaps five children would not have been impacted.

The Castro regime has tried to claim that no harm has been done to diplomats in Cuba. The dictatorship claimed they are victims of mass stress and the sounds that they are hearing are crickets.  These charges have been echoed by others that should know better.  Canadian and U.S. diplomats have been harmed in Havana.

We have filed 1st lawsuit involving US #diplomats injured in #Cuba. @MarkSZaidPC reps 8 victims from @StateDept. Tonight we filed #FOIA lawsuit for @JMadisonProject & @adamentous of @NewYorker for docs pertaining to ARB Report (internal investigation).https://t.co/zqGkEwQwcq

— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) February 8, 2019

These attacks began in November of 2016 and were reported on to official channels in December of 2016. The State Department knew that diplomats were suffering brain trauma in Havana in February of 2017 and evacuated 40 Americans over the next two months.  On January 29, 2018 the news broke that 19 U.S. tourists had also suffered brain trauma in Cuba.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a preliminary report on February 15, 2018 and an accompanying editorial studying health impacts on 21 U.S. government employees in Havana between December 2016 and August 2017. These individuals had severe injuries and the bottom line on medical findings are that:

Concussion-like symptoms were observed in U.S. government personnel in Cuba after they reported hearing intensely loud sounds in their homes and hotel rooms and feeling changes in air pressure caused by an unknown source. The symptoms were consistent with brain injury although there was no history of head trauma.

Castro regime officials on October of 2017 said talk of acoustic strikes was “science fiction” and accused Washington of “slander.” investigating U.S. complaints of attacks that sickened American diplomats in Havana.  Denials continued later in October 2017 but now their narrative was that the alleged noise behind the “sonic attacks” was coming from cicadas and crickets. Cuban scientists convened by the government argued that the symptoms were the product of a "mass psychogenic illness"(MPI). However the JAMA report said MPI was unlikely because some of the individuals had no idea others had been affected and it "is often associated with transient, benign symptoms with rapid onset and recovery often beginning with older individuals.”

Diplomats file $28M suit against Canada over injuries suffered in Cuba https://t.co/aIHHBLxoOs pic.twitter.com/cE0KQhcWhE

— National Post (@nationalpost) February 7, 2019

Canada and the United States waited too long to warn their diplomats, and the lawsuits are now flying. Meanwhile  the State Department is contracting a team of scientists and medical doctors to try and find out what happened.

Wonder when someone will be able to sue the Cuban government for failing to protect diplomats on their soil, and discounting the threat not only to the diplomats, but also their families? Waiting for an answer one can expect to hear crickets.

Front Line Defenders on attacks against the children of human rights defender Damaris Moya Portieles

Frontline Defenders issued a call to action on behalf of Damaris Moya Portieles and her five year old son and eight year old daughter. The Cuban government has engaged in violence against these children and has a long and dark track record with regards to the treatment of children in Cuba that is a reflection of the regime's underlying ideology.

7 January 2014

Cuba – Physical attack against the children of human rights defender
Ms Damaris Moya Portieles

On 2 January 2014, the 5-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter of human rights defender Ms Damaris Moya Portieles were beaten by Cuban state security agents in Santa Clara. Damaris Moya Portieles is a member of the Movimiento Femenino por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks (Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights), and president of the Coalición Central Opositora (Central Oppositional Coalition), an organisation that works against evictions carried out by state agents and protects the well-being of children and the elderly.

On the morning of 2 January 2014, the son and daughter of the human rights defender were on their way to visit the president of the Movimiento Feminino por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks, Ms Yris Pérez Aguilera, when they were beaten by the National Revolutionary Police. Damaris Moya Portieles had to bring them to a medical centre for immediate attention. At this moment, the children are physically recovered but are suffering from psychological trauma.


Throughout the past year, Damaris Moya Portieles was the subject of various intimidatory acts, sexual abuse in detention, and the threat of the rape of her young daughter. Front Line Defenders previously issued an urgent appeal on her case on 10 October 2013.

In December 2013, particularly in the context of vigils and protests around International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2013, there was an increase in the number of detentions. 1,123 people were arbitrarily detained over the month, amongst these dissidents, political opposition figures, protesters and human rights defenders.

Front Line Defenders expresses its profound concern at the physical attack against the children of Damaris Moya Portieles, especially as it appears to be linked to her legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights in Cuba. Front Line Defenders views this attack as part of an ongoing campaign against the human rights defender, as well as part of a broader campaign to silence critical voices and those working for human rights in Cuba.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Cuba to:

1. Carry out a thorough, impartial and immediate investigation into the attack against the children of human rights defender Damaris Moya Portieles, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

2. Take all necessary measures to guarantee at all times the physical and psychological integrity and security of Damaris Moya Portieles and her family members, including by granting protection measures if necessary;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Cuba are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including police violence.






7 de enero de 2014

Cuba – Ataque físico contra los hijos de la defensora de derechos humanos Damaris Moya Portieles

El 2 de enero de 2014, el hijo de cinco y la hija de ocho años de edad de la defensora de derechos humanos Damaris Moya Portieles, fueron golpeados por miembros de Seguridad del estado Cubano en Santa Clara. Damaris Moya Portieles es miembro del Movimiento Femenino por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks y presidenta de la Coalición Central Opositora, una organización que trabaja en contra de desalojamientos llevados a cabo por las fuerzas del orden y que protege el bienestar de niños y ancianos.

En la mañana del 2 de enero de 2014, el hijo e hija de la defensora de derechos humanos fueron a visitar la presidenta del Movimiento Femenino por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks, la Sra. Yris Perez Aguilera,  cuando fueron golpeados por la Policía Nacional Revolucionaria (PNR). Damaris Moya Portieles los tuvo que llevar a un centro médico para su atención inmediata. En este momento, los niños se encuentran recuperados físicamente pero están sufriendo de un trauma psicológico.

Durante el año pasado, Damaris Moya Portieles fue objeto de varios actos de intimidación,  abusada sexualmente en detención y amenazada con la violación de su hija pequeña. Front Line Defenders emitió un llamamiento urgente sobre su caso el 10 de octubre de 2013 .

En diciembre de 2013, particularmente en el contexto de vigilancias y protestas en el día internacional de los derechos humanos, 10 de diciembre de 2013, hubo una tendencia notoria en el aumento del número de detenciones. 1123 personas fueron detenidas arbitrariamente durante el mes, entre ellos disidentes, opositores, manifestantes y defensores y defensoras de derechos humanos.

Front Line Defenders expresa su profunda preocupación sobre el ataque físico contra los hijos de Damaris Moya Portieles, especialmente al estar vinculado con su labor legítima y pacífica en defensa de los derechos humanos en Cuba. Front Line Defenders incluye el ataque contra los menores de edad como parte de una campaña contra la defensora, y con el fin de una campaña  mas amplia para silenciar las voces criticas y aquellos trabajando por los derechos humanos en Cuba.

Front Line Defenders insta a las autoridades cubanas a que:

1. Inicien una investigación inmediata, exhaustiva e imparcial sobre el ataque físico contra los hijos de defensora de derechos humanos Damaris Moya Portieles con el fin de identificar a los responsables, llevarlos ante un tribunal competente e imparcial, y aplicarles las sanciones previstas por la ley;

2. Tomen todas las medidas necesarias para garantizar en todo momento la integridad física y psicológica y seguridad de Damaris Moya Portieles y su familia, incluyendo otorgando medidas de protección si sea necesario;

3. Aseguren que todos los defensores de derechos humanos en Cuba, desarrollando sus actividades legítimas en defensa de los derechos humanos, puedan operar libremente sin miedo a cualquier tipo de restricciones incluso violencia por parte de la policía.

Original report available here.

How communism treats children

"It's hard to think anyone would abuse children in such a way, but we all know nothing is beyond the sinister, evil ways of the Castros. They have forged a seat in Hell at the right side of the Devil..." - Tanya, commenting on essay on How Castro's Observe Christmas in Cuba

Ukranian child victims of Soviet Genocide in the 1930s

Unfortunately, the abuse of children is not limited to the Castros but is a feature of communism. In the case of Cuba under communism children have not only been abused but also massacred.

Some of the children and youth massacred by Castro regime on July 13, 1994

This is not an isolated occurrence. There is a larger pattern seen across the communist world. For the sake of brevity this entry will touch on five: Romania, China, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Ukraine.

Romania

10,000 Romanian babies infected with HIV through dirty needles

Imagine for a moment being born and placed in a cage as a newborn washed via a hose with cold water and never experiencing human touch. Fed like an animal and contracting HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases through dirty needles used to inject the child with vitamins. All of this done to sell the children, as one would any other commodity, on the international black-market. Heartless capitalists? No, heartless Marxist- Leninists in the Ceausescu communist regime in Romania. The regime decided it needed to increase its population and in 2013 Scientific American explained how this crime was systematically planned out and its aftermath in the article Tragedy Leads to Study of Severe Child Neglect.

Nicolae Ceausescu decreed in 1966 that Romania would develop its “human capital” via a government-enforced mandate to increase the country's population. Ceauşescu, Romania's leader from 1965 to 1989, banned contraception and abortions and imposed a “celibacy tax” on families that had fewer than five children. State doctors—the menstrual police—conducted gynecologic examinations in the workplace of women of childbearing age to see whether they were producing sufficient offspring. The birth rate initially skyrocketed. Yet because families were too poor to keep their children, they abandoned many of them to large state-run institutions.

 Hundreds of thousands of children were subjected to this.

China

Taken from China's Dying Rooms for Babies and Children

 The opposite approach was taken in China with equally horrible results. The communists there decided that Chinese mothers could only have one child.  The one child policy was introduced by the government in 1979. According to 2007 statistics males make up 51.53%; and females 48.47% of the population. The Dying Rooms and Return to the Dying Rooms broadcast in 1995 and 1996 respectively offered a variety of sources (human rights organizations, doctors who had fled China armed with photographs) which corroborated the claims made in the documentary:

Producers/directors Brian Woods and Kate Blewett uncover the systematic neglect of abandoned babies in Chinese state-run orphanages. They find "dark rooms" where the weakest and least liked children are left to die. These are known as "The Dying Rooms."  China’s one-child policy has created a race where most families desire boys and therefore parents are forced to abandon their babies. Their unfortunate and tragic lives are left at the mercy of these orphanages where their sad fate is ultimately decided by the staff and ignored by the government.

"But the most telling evidence came from government records themselves that document how many of the children in their care have died, and how long it took them and they called it a 'Summary Resolution'".

Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ukraine

Child victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide

Romania and China are two examples were the communists set up macro policies that treated children as commodities while stripping parents of their rights. The results were horrific, however there are worse policies in which communist regimes have engaged in genocide that included children and newborns under a theory of social contamination. Three examples are the genocides in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge (1975 - 1979), Ethiopia under the Mengistu Communist regime(1977-78) and in the Ukraine under the Soviet Union (1932 -1933). One of the survivors of the Cambodian genocide described how the communists selected their victims:

The people on the Khmer Rouge death list were the group called the city people. They were the "new" people. These were any Cambodian men, women, girls, boys, and babies who did not live in their "liberated zones" before they won the war in 1975. 

During 1977-78, a conservative estimate of over 30,000 Africans perished as a result of the Red Terror unleashed in Ethiopia by the communists and their Cuban allies. Amnesty International concluded that "this campaign resulted in several thousand to perhaps tens of thousands of men, women, and children killed, tortured, and imprisoned." Sweden's Save the Children Fund lodged a formal protest in early 1978 denouncing the execution of 1,000 children, many below the age of thirteen, whom the communist government had labeled "liaison agents of the counter revolutionaries."

Genocide in Ethiopia

This pattern of systematic brutalization and mass murder of children goes back to the first communist regime, the Soviet Union.

The genocide in Ukraine is known as the Holodomor and took place between 1932 -1933. Millions of children died in an artificial famine. This crime was ignored by the United States as it formally recognized the Soviet Union in 1933.  The Economist in 2012 reported on the 80th anniversary of this man-made famine:

Holodomor literally means death by hunger. In 1932 and 1933, a vast famine in Soviet Ukraine killed three to seven million people, according to estimates. While people starved, the grain was shut away in barns for export.

Patterns of Filicide
Communists advocate and carry out policies to end families and replace the role of parent with the communist state. This means that the extrajudicial killings of children in communism are acts of state filicide. Filicide is the act of killing one's own son or daughter.

Across the world from Europe, to Asia, to Africa, and the Americas there is a pattern that transcends race and ethnicity but have one commonality: all are communist regimes and they murder their own innocent children. They do this in order to achieve an unachievable utopian ideal using immoral means and forget a profound truth expressed by Mohandas Gandhi:in the publication Young India on July 17, 1924:  

They say, 'means are, after all, means'. I would say, 'means are, after all, everything'. As the means so the end. There is no wall of separation between means and end. Indeed the Creator has given us control (and that too very limited) over means, none over the end. Realization of the goal is in exact proportion to that of the means. This is a proposition that admits of no exception.