Posted on 04/29/2003 2:23:55 PM PDT by Pharmboy
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Cuba was reelected without opposition on Tuesday to the United Nations (news - web sites)' top human rights body, prompting a fierce response by Washington that it was "like putting Al Capone in charge of bank security."
The voting took place in the 54-nation U.N. Economic and Social Council, which two years ago ousted the United States from the Human Rights Commission for the first time since Washington helped found it in 1947. The United States was returned to the body in a vote the following year.
In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) told reporters: "Cuba does not deserve a seat on the Human Rights Commission. Cuba deserves to be investigated by the Human Rights Commission."
In the last month, the Cuban authorities have rounded up 75 dissidents and imprisoned them for terms of up to 28 years. As part of the crackdown, Cuba also executed three men who hijacked a ferry in a failed bid to reach the United States.
"Having Cuba serve again on the Human Rights Commission is like putting Al Capone in charge of bank security," Fleischer said. "It is an inappropriate action that does not serve the cause of human rights in Cuba or at the United Nations."
Cuba's U.N. ambassador, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, accused the United States of executing minors and the mentally retarded people and abusing the rights of Afghan fighters long confined without charges in a U.S. base on Cuban territory.
Britain, whose soldiers last month invaded Iraq (news - web sites) alongside U.S. forces, also won reelection to the Geneva-based 53-nation rights commission, easily fending off a challenge from states which opposed the war and defeating Portugal.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS
Human rights groups said this year's elections carried on a trend of increasing domination of the commission by noted human rights violators, many of whom, like Cuba, were proposed on a regional slate without opposition.
"You have a huge powerful and very well organized bloc that doesn't want any country criticized, opposes U.N. human rights monitoring and wants to weaken the office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights," Joanna Weschler of Human Rights Watch told Reuters.
"It's almost a rule now. You get criticized by the commission or you might be, so you get a seat on the commission and you vote as a bloc against criticism," Weschler said.
Among other members with rights records that have come under fire are Democratic Republic of Congo (news - web sites), Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
Countries are nominated for three-year seats on the commission through their U.N. regional groupings. most of this year's candidates were unopposed within their group.
Seats were contested only within the Asian group and the "Western Europe and Others" group, which includes the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Sichan Siv. U.S. ambassador to the Economic and Social Council, briefly walked out of the session following Cuba's uncontested reelection, because, he said, Havana was "the worst violator of human rights in this hemisphere."
Winning a three-year term on the commission were Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mauritania, Bhutan, Indonesia, Nepal, Qatar, Hungary, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Italy and Netherlands.
Reelected to new three-year terms were Britain, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, India, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
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