Human rights in Cuba - transcript

US Department of State Bulletin, Sept, 1984

Freedom of assembly does not exist in Cuba either. No free trade unions are allowed to function. The Communist Party operates a so-called "trade union" federation called the Confederation of Cuban Workers, which acts to enforce labor discipline, encourage higher productivity, and reduce labor costs, rather than to defend workers' interests. The rights to bargain collectively and to strike are not recognized. In the last year, over 200 workers have been prosecuted for trying to organize strikes in the sugar and construction industries. Five trade unionists were condemned to death. But, according to reports, their sentences were reduced to 30 years after their cases became public knowledge. The Cuban Government, after at first denying the facts, has said the "terrorists" received severe sentences. At the recent conference of the World Federation of Trade Unions in Prague, the Cubans defended the sentences, explaining they were necessary to block any possible attempts to set up a Solidarity-style organization.

Antireligious Activities

The Cuban government also enforces an active antireligious policy. In the early years of the revolution, the extensive Catholic educational system was destroyed by the government and hundreds of priests were expelled from the country.

Today, a network of formal and informal restrictions has the effect of limiting religious activity. The official state ideology of atheism is taught on all levels of the educational system. Specific constitutional and statutory provisions are designed to restrict religious observance and education.

Among other restrictions on religious practice enforced by the Cuban governmentj are discrimination against religious believers in educational and employment opportunities, prohibition on religious media, and restriction on the construction of new churches. Political meetings and work obligations are regularly scheduled to conflict with religious observances. Cuban law prohibits the observance of religious events when they conflict with work obligations or patriotic celebrations. The july 26 national holiday, commemorating the attack on Batista's Moncada barracks in 1953, has been promoted as a replacement for Christmas, and the availability of toys for children has been limited to the 26th of July period to the exclusion of Christmas. Similarly, Holy Week observances are preempted by the week-long celebration of the battle of the Bay of Pigs.

Emigration Restrictions

Freedom of emigration also does not exist in today's Cuba. Although Castro claims that Cubans are free to emigrate, and though some left Cuba, as in the Mariel exodus of 1980, the Cuban government routinely refuses to allow citizens to leave the country; there is thus a backlog of some 200,000 Cubans who have applied to emigrate. Those who opt to leave Cuba lose their jobs, ration cards, housing, and personal possessions. Then the emigrants are subjected to government-orchestrated mob attacks call "assemblies of repulsion" and are required to work in agriculture until they leave the island, a period that can extend indefinitely. As an example of the extent to which people will go to leave Cuba, in early 1983 three young Cubans seized a small group of American tourists in Villa Clara province and held them hostage to force the Cuban Government to permit the Cubans to depart the country. The Americans were subsequently freed, and the young Cubans reportedly sentenced to death (later reportedly commuted to 30 years in prison).