UN Human Rights Commission votes against Cuba

US wins resolution by only one vote and with 10 abstentions

GENEVA April 15 - The United Nations human rights body voted narrowly on
Thursday April 15 to rebuke Cuba over its alleged human rights record .

The motion at the Geneva-based Commission on Human Rights, which was written
by the US and presented by Honduras, passed by just one vote - 22 to 21,
with 10 abstentions.

But Cuba can claim a moral victory in that the number of abstentions added
to the votes against means that a clear majority of the commission did not
vote for it.

The motion was supported by the European Union and it is known that the UK
helped the US pressure other countries to support the vote.

The Cuban Ambassador to the UN at Geneva, Ivan Mora, said the United States
was using the "most incredible pressure tactics" against small nations to
force a vote against Cuba.

Not content with a virtual siege of some nations´ delegations in Geneva,
threatening loss of economic aid or application of sanctions, White House
envoys in selected countries were also pressuring their political leaders,
he said.

US President George W. Bush had also been on the telephone, using strong-arm
tactics of bribery and threat to obtain votes for its anti-Cuban resolution.

"We are outraged at the shameful role of the Honduran government," senior
Cuban foreign ministry official Juan Antonio Fernandez told the commission.

The motion calls on Cuba to guarantee "freedom of expression and religion
and to begin a dialogue with Cuban political groups and thinkers in order to
develop democratic institutions and civil liberties."

It urges the island to accept a visit from a special UN investigator.

The Cuban government has refused to allow the investigator, French
magistrate Christine Chanet, who was appointed last year, to travel to the
island.

Cuba accused the commission of double standards and said that instead of
criticizing Havana it should be condemning Washington for running a
"concentration" camp at the Guantanamo naval base on Cuban territory, where
hundreds of suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are being held.