[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 7, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5847-S5848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE CRACKDOWN AGAINST PRO-DEMOCRACY DISSIDENTS IN CUBA

  Mr LEAHY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to denounce, in 
the strongest terms, the recent deplorable actions by the regime of 
President Fidel Castro.
  While the world focuses on the aftermath of the war in Iraq and the 
enormity of Saddam Hussein's atrocities are revealed, we must not 
ignore egregious violations of human rights taking place much closer to 
home.
  I have long believed that the way to encourage democratic reform and 
respect for human rights in Cuba is not through isolation of this tiny 
island nation, but through the normalization of our relationship. I 
totally oppose the restrictions on the right of Americans to travel to 
Cuba.
  But the recent crackdown against pro-democracy dissidents in Cuba is 
not only a reprehensible affront to human decency, it has threatened 
already strained relations between Cuba and the United States and 
between Cuba and the rest of the world.
  My visit to Cuba in March 1999 reinforced my belief in the folly of 
our antiquated policy. I met with President Castro and a number of 
political activists. I saw firsthand the need for ending not only the 
embargo--which simply compounds the misery of Cuba's people and 
provides President Castro with a convenient excuse, but the repression 
and pervasive climate of fear perpetrated by that government.
  On March 18, the Cuban government suddenly launched an attack against 
its political opponents. After storming their houses, seizing their 
computers, typewriters, fax machines and books, the government arrested 
79 people, accusing them of subverting Cuba's government by conspiring 
with James Cason, the head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. 
They were charged with the vague crime of ``collaborating with a 
foreign power against their homeland.''

  Less than 3 weeks later, the Cuban courts had tried, convicted and 
sentenced at least 75 of these people in a whirlwind process of closed-
door trials lasting less than one day in improvised courts where 
undercover security agents who had infiltrated dissident groups 
surfaced as witnesses.
  The punishments for conduct, that in most countries would not even be 
criminal, ranged from 6 to 28 years in prison.
  Those arrested in this crackdown include leaders of independent labor 
unions and opposition political parties, independent journalists, 
librarians, and pro-democracy activists. More than half of the arrests 
were local organizers of the Varela Project reform effort.
  The Varela Project collected more signatures than the 
constitutionally required 10,000 for a national referendum calling for 
electoral reforms, freedom of association, and amnesty for nonviolent 
political prisoners.
  The Cuban government responded with a counter petition, decreeing the 
Cuban socialist system to be untouchable. While local organizers 
received some of the heavier sentences, Osvaldo Paya, head of the 
Varela Project, was not arrested. Mr. Paya said that the crackdown is 
``an attempt to kill the chances of peaceful change in Cuba, but 
[dissidents] will continue seeking peaceful reforms.''
  At a meeting this month of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in 
Geneva, the Swedish foreign minister warned that the crackdown in Cuba 
could harm its prospects for cooperation with the European Union.
  On March 10, the European Commission opened its first diplomatic 
office in Havana. Cuba is applying for membership in the Cotonou 
Agreement--the economic assistance pact between the EU and African, 
Caribbean, and Pacific nations. Cubans would benefit significantly from 
the Cotonou Agreement, but Cuba's entry is now in jeopardy.
  The U.N. Commission on Human Rights also adopted a resolution to send 
a U.N. envoy to Cuba to investigate human rights abuses, but Cuban 
officials have apparently rejected this.
  The Bush administration is reportedly considering punitive measures 
to restrict the flow of American dollars to Cuba by further limiting 
the number of Americans who may travel to Cuba on charter flights, and 
by reducing the monetary remittances that Cubans in the United States 
send back to their families in Cuba. Unfortunately, such measures would 
only hurt the wrong people.
  If this were not bad enough, earlier this month, Cuban authorities 
detained three men who had hijacked a ferry crossing the Florida 
Straits on its way to the United States. Less than 24 hours later, 
these men were summarily executed by a firing squad. No one supports 
the act of hijacking, and people of good conscience disagree about the 
death penalty. But such an outrageous denial of due process should be 
universally condemned.
  As one who strongly opposes the policy of the Bush administration and 
previous U.S. administrations of isolating Cuba, a policy which for 
more than 40 years has failed to achieve any of its goals. I want to 
add my voice to those who have denounced these recent events.

[[Page S5848]]

  Human rights are universal. They are every much the rights of the 
Cuban people as they are the rights of people everywhere. When they are 
denied, we are all diminished. The United States cannot prevent the 
wholesale violation of human rights by the Cuban government or any 
government. But we can speak up.

  We can say to them that this is unacceptable.
  We can say do not trouble us with your farcial explanations and 
excuses.
  And we can say, with confidence, that those whose rights are so 
blatantly denied today will one day show their oppressors the real 
meaning of ``revolution''--one that is based on the rights of man, not 
the brutality of one man.

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