EFE (via 14ymedio) Washington D.C., 26 March 2024 — Nine NGOs criticized Cuba for rejecting 28 of the recommendations in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which, among other issues, have to do with political prisoners and the repression of dissent.
The nine groups that sent reports for the UPR – including Cubalex, Article 19, Justice 11J and Pen International – released a statement on the same day that the final report of the Working Group of the UPR mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council was approved.
This UN document indicates that Cuba accepted 292 of the 361 recommendations made – mostly from other states – while it took note of 41 and rejected 28.
“Rejecting 28 recommendations related to the rights to freedom of expression and association shows the lack of commitment of the Cuban authorities to their international human rights obligations,” the NGOs stated.
It was recommended that Cuba allow “the access of independent observers to trials and prisons
Among the rejected recommendations are the “liberation of people deprived of liberty for political reasons, the cessation of repression and the harassment against dissident voices.”