|
National Report Submitted In Accordance With Paragraph 15
(A) Of The Annex To Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1
Cuba*
Geneva, October 31, 2008.
CONTENTS
I. METHODOLOGY AND CONSULTATION PROCESS
................................................2
II. BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY ...................................................................................2
III. POLITICAL SYSTEM IN CUBA .....................................................................................3
IV. JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN CUBA .......................................................................................5
V. CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS ....................................................................................7
Other points of interest .......................................................................................................7
VI. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS ....................................................11
VII. PROTECTION OF CITIZENS’ RIGHTS ....................................................................13
VIII. PRISON SYSTEM ........................................................................................................15
IX. CUBA’S COOPERATION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS
HUMAN RIGHTS MACHINERY .........................................................................................17
X. OBSTACLES AND PROBLEMS ....................................................................................18
XI. CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................20
I. METHODOLOGY AND CONSULTATION
PROCESS
1. This report is the outcome of a process
involving a large number of ministries and Government and
State institutions, Parliament, more than 300 non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and other concerned bodies. The Ministry
of Foreign Affairs coordinated the national group set up to
conduct the process of broad and inclusive consultation that
led to the adoption of this document.
2. The scope of this report does not extend
to the territory illegally occupied by the United States naval
base at Guantanamo, where the Cuban people is deprived of
sovereignty and within whose bounds the universally reviled
centre of arbitrary detention and torture has been installed.
II. BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY
3. With the triumph of the Revolution on
1 January 1959, the Cuban people achieved true independence
and were able to create the conditions for full and universal
enjoyment of all human rights. The profound economic, political
and social changes undertaken made it possible to do away
with the structural injustices inherited from colonial and
neocolonial rule in Cuba. The foundations of a democratic,
fair, inclusive, equitable and compassionate society were
laid and continuous progress has been made.
4. When the Revolution triumphed, Cuba found
itself in a state of total and absolute dependence on the
United States, underdevelopment, corruption, political and
administrative fraud, chronic malnutrition, arbitrary detention,
torture, disappearances and extrajudicial executions, illiteracy,
neglected and inadequate health services, widespread poverty,
discrimination against women, and racism. In short, the absolute
negation of individual and collective rights.
5. The Cuban people, by its sovereign will,
established a political, economic and social system, as enshrined
in the 1976 Constitution. It did so in the light of the failure
of successive models and prescriptions imposed by the powers
that had dominated Cuba. It had suffered humiliating experiences:
military interventions and constant interference by the United
States, the pernicious impact of clearly unfair free trade
agreements and the collapse of the so-called liberal bourgeois
democracy. The Governments of the United States, with the
connivance of the dependent and corrupt Cuban oligarchy, imposed
brutal dictatorships to prevent the Cuban people from exercising
their right to self-determination.
6. The Cuban people embarked on its project
of freedom, solidarity and social justice in the face of a
policy of intense hostility, aggression and blockade on the
part of successive United States administrations. Cuba has
suffered the adverse effects of economic warfare, mercenary
invasion and terrorist attack by the United States.
7. Cuba has undergone and continues to undergo
a process of permanent and profound change as it works to
improve the socialist system endorsed and built up by its
people, and strives to create a society that is ever fairer,
freer, more independent, more compassionate, more equal and
more productive, that ensures sustained economic growth and
sustainable development and that develops as far as is humanly
possible the democratic nature of its institutions, laws,
policies and programmes, which are clearly people-oriented
and inclusive in nature.
III. POLITICAL SYSTEM IN CUBA
8. Cuba’s democratic system is based
on the principle of “government of the people, by the
people and for the people”. The Cuban people participate
in the exercise and active control of Government through its
political and civil institutions and in the framework of its
laws.
9. Cuba is an independent and sovereign
socialist state of workers, organized with all and for the
good of all as a united and democratic republic, for the enjoyment
of political freedom, social justice, individual and collective
well-being and human solidarity.
10. Sovereignty is vested in the people,
from whom all the power of the State originates. That power
is exercised directly or through the people’s assemblies
and other State bodies that derive their authority from those
assemblies.
11. The Cuban political system is the expression
of the will of its people. It is a truly Cuban undertaking,
based on its rich history of struggle for equality and solidarity
between men and women, for independence, sovereignty, non-discrimination,
unity, participation, people’s power and social justice.
12. In 1976 the socialist Constitution was
approved in a general referendum with a turnout of 98 per
cent of all voters, 97.7 per cent of whom voted in favour.
This made it possible to consolidate Cuba’s institutional
framework with the creation, among other things, of the organs
of People’s Power.
13. In 1992 a reform of the Constitution
and of the Cuban electoral system consolidated the system’s
democratic foundations and made possible, among other things,
the direct election of deputies to the National Assembly and
of delegates to provincial assemblies by secret ballot. The
high turnout in elections attests to Cubans’ overwhelming
support for their political system (1). The Constitution was
again amended in 2002, with the votes of more than 8 million
Cubans, thereby reaffirming, by the will of the overwhelming
majority of the people, the socialist nature of the Cuban
Revolution.
14. The apparatus of the Cuban State is
made up of legislative, executive, administrative, judicial,
fiscal, control and defence bodies. Each group of bodies has
a specific function in the apparatus of power.
15. The People’s National Assembly,
a single-chamber representative body, is the supreme organ
of State power. It represents and expresses the sovereign
will of the whole people, as established in article 69 of
the Constitution. It is the only body in Cuba with constituent
and legislative power.
16. The Council of State is the body of
the People’s National Assembly that represents it in
the period between sessions, executes its resolutions and
performs other duties assigned by the Constitution. For national
and international purposes it represents the Cuban State at
the highest level.
17. The Council of Ministers is the highest-ranking executive
and administrative body and constitutes the Government of
the Republic.
18. The National Defence Council is constituted
and prepared during peacetime to lead the country in war conditions
or during a war, a general mobilization or a state of emergency.
The law regulates its organization and activities in accordance
with article 101 of the Constitution.
19. The function of administering justice
devolves from the people and is carried out on the people’s
behalf by the People’s Supreme Court and the other courts
that the law establishes.
20. The Office of the Attorney-General of
the Republic is the State body whose primary responsibilities
are to monitor and uphold legality and to institute criminal
proceedings on behalf of the State.
21. The provincial and municipal people’s
assemblies set up in the political-administrative divisions
into which the country is divided are the highest local organs
of State power. They are invested with the highest authority
for the exercise of State functions in their respective territories.
There are 169 municipal assemblies, comprising 15,236 delegates,
most of whom are not professionals and all of whom are elected
by majority vote for a two and half year term.
22. The bodies of people’s power are
not the sole expression of democracy in Cuba. Other forms
of direct democracy are encouraged, as well as a participatory
culture, which includes social and grass-roots organizations
representing the plurality of Cuban society. Important decisions
are taken only when the broadest social consensus has been
reached.
23. The Cuban State recognizes and encourages
the grass roots and social organizations that have emerged
from the historic struggles of its people, and which bring
together various sectors of the population, represent their
specific interests and involve them in the tasks of building,
consolidating and defending society.
24. Basic features of the Cuban electoral
system:
a) Public electoral rolls, with automatic,
universal registration without charge for all citizens aged
16 and over who have the right to vote;
b) Direct nomination of candidates at electoral assemblies;
c) No discriminatory, lucrative and costly election campaigns;
d) Transparency - the votes are counted publicly;
e) Requirement of majority support - more than 50 per cent
of the valid votes cast are required in order to be elected;
f) The vote is free, equal and secret. All Cuban citizens
have the right to vote and be elected, except as provided
by law. Since there are no party lists, voters vote directly
for the desired candidate;
g) All members of the representative bodies of State power
are elected and may be re-elected;
h) All those elected are held accountable at regular intervals
and are subject to recall at any time during their term of
office;
i) Deputies and delegates are not paid to perform their duties;
j) High voter turnout - 96.89 per cent in the 2008 National
Assembly elections;
k) The Cuban Parliament is representative of the widest range
of sectors of society. One deputy is elected for every 20,000
inhabitants or fraction greater than 10,000. All municipal
territories are represented in the National Assembly. Up to
50 per cent of the deputies must be delegates from the constituencies
and live in their constituency;
l) The National Assembly elects the Council of State and the
Council president from among its deputies. The President of
the Council of State is the Head of State and Head of Government.
The Head of State and Government must go through two elections:
first one for deputy and then one held in the National Assembly,
also by free, secret, direct ballot;
m) The right to propose legislation rests with society as
a whole and not only with deputies. Trade unions, student,
women’s and social organizations and individual citizens
may propose laws, provided in the last case that the proposal
has the support of at least 10,000 qualified voters;
n) Laws are put before the deputies and passed by majority
vote. A law is not discussed in plenary until it is clear,
following repeated consultation with deputies and taking their
proposals into account, that there is a majority in favour
of discussion and approval. In practice this process includes
public participation in the analysis and discussion of strategic
issues;
o) There are no political parties in an election; the role
played by parties in other countries is taken by the people,
either directly or through their representatives. The Communist
Party plays no part in the electoral process but is the guarantor
of its quality and transparency. It is not necessary to be
a member of the Communist Party of Cuba in order to be nominated
or elected. Of the 15,000 or more constituency delegates,
34.24 per cent are not members of the Communist Party. The
people nominate and elect their local representatives. Deputies
to the National Assembly and delegates to provincial assemblies
are nominated by the delegates to municipal assemblies, after
intensive consultations with social organizations.
25. Cuba does not claim to be a perfect
society. The principal quality of Cuba’s political system
is its capacity for constant improvement as necessary to achieve
full, genuine and systematic participation by the people in
leading and directing society.
IV. JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN CUBA
26. The Constitution of the Republic of
Cuba is the supreme law and lays the political, economic and
social foundations of the State and the Government. It sets
forth the principles for the organization of State bodies
and establishes citizens’ basic rights, duties and guarantees
and the obligation of compliance.
27. The Constitution establishes the principles
of Cuba’s electoral system and the procedure for complete
or partial amendment of the Constitution. If such amendment
relates to the composition and powers of the National Assembly
or its Council of State, or to rights and duties enshrined
in the Constitution, it also requires ratification by majority
vote of citizens with electoral rights, in a referendum called
for that purpose by the Assembly itself under article 137
of the Constitution.
28. The system of legal protection for human
rights in Cuba is not confined to a description in the Constitution;
human rights are duly developed and guaranteed in other substantive
and procedural provisions. Acts, decree-laws, decrees, decisions
of the Council of Ministers and resolutions of ministers and
heads of the central organs of State, all establish benefits
and supplement the principles, rights and duties established
in the Constitution, which define the relationship between
individual members of society and between individuals and
the State.
29. Act No. 59 of 16 July 1987 (Civil Code),
Act No. 49 of 28 December 1984 (Labour Code), Act No. 81 (Environment
Act), Act No. 14 of 1977 (Copyright Act), Act No. 24 of 1979
(Social Security Act), Act No. 1289 of 1975 (Family Code),
Act No. 16 of 1978 (Children and Youth Code), Act No. 62 of
1987 (Criminal Code), Act No. 7 of 1977, as amended by Decree-Law
No. 241 of 26 September 2006 (Civil, Administrative, Labour
and Economic Procedure Act), Act No. 5 of 1977 (Criminal Procedure
Act) and other laws, all supplement and establish guarantees
of the exercise of all human rights in Cuba. The international
treaties signed in the name of the Cuban State or its Government,
also form part of Cuba’s legal order. Cuba has signed
or ratified the major legally binding international human
rights instruments(2).
30. The bodies with judicial functions monitor
and uphold legality by close surveillance to ensure compliance
with the Constitution, the law and other legal provisions
on the part of State agencies, financial and social institutions
and citizens.
31. The judicial system, which is regulated
in chapter XIII of the Constitution, on “Courts and
the Prosecution Service”, plays an essential role in
protecting human rights. The system meets international standards,
notably the decisions of the United Nations congresses on
prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders and the
Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, which
establish, among other things, the principle of the collective
and individual independence of judges, who, in their role
as dispensers of justice, owe allegiance only to the law.
32. The Cuban State has institutionalized
a system of independent bodies, headed by the Supreme Court,
which are collegial bodies with a membership appropriate to
their competence and which ensures broad popular participation
in the administration of justice. The Cuban judicial system
is based on the following principles:
a) The absolute independence of judges individually
and of the entire court system in the administration of justice;
b) The popular dimension of justice, achieved mainly by opening
up judicial functions to non-professional judges (lay judges),
who sit alongside the professional judges;
c) All judges, professional and non-professional, are elected;
d) The absolute equality of all persons before the law;
e) Collegial courts for all acts of justice regardless of
judicial instance or the nature of the case;
f) The presumption of innocence. Every accused person is innocent
until proved otherwise. The burden of proof lies with the
prosecution;
g) All trials are public, except where provided by law;
h) All court decisions are appealable in accordance with the
law applicable in each case;
i) Every accused person has the right to a defence.
V. CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
33. Chapter VII of the Constitution, on
“Fundamental rights, duties and guarantees”, basically
sets forth the principles and guarantees of human rights and
fundamental freedoms, which are in line with the rights contained
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the other
international human rights instruments. These are complemented
by other chapters of the Constitution and the provisions of
ordinary law.
34. The rights and guarantees recognized
in the Cuban legal system include the right to life, liberty
and inviolability of the person and personal integrity; the
right not to be tried or convicted except by a competent court
under laws that existed prior to the offence and with the
formalities and guarantees established by law; the right to
a defence; the right not to be subjected to violence or coercion
of any kind to be forced to testify; the retroactive application
of criminal law where that is favourable to the accused; the
obligation to observe the law; the obligation to comply with
court judgements and other final decisions; and the monitoring
and upholding of legality by the Attorney-General’s
Office.
35. The legal system is conceived as a form
of protection for human rights, providing as it does a guarantee
of the exercise of human rights and of the public safety demanded
not only by international instruments but also by the Cuban
people, whose enjoyment of that safety is one of its greatest
achievements.
36. The guarantees in the criminal justice
system are based on the fundamental principle of the dignity
of the human person and respect for their status as a subject
of law. The principles of legality, non-retroactivity of more
severe criminal legislation, the presumption of innocence,
reparation for miscarriages of justice, non-discrimination,
the determination of sentence, and the principles of due process,
are part of criminal law. In Cuba all criminal trials are
conducted orally, with all the guarantees that requires.
37. The guarantees established in ordinary
law include: the obligation of officials involved in criminal
proceedings to note for the record any circumstances, whether
favourable to the accused or not, and take them into account
in their decisions, and to inform the accused of their rights;
the presumption of innocence until proved guilty; the requirement
for every offence to be tried independently of the testimony
of the accused, their spouse or their relatives up to the
fourth degree of consanguinity and the second degree of affinity,
which means that, on its own, a statement by the person does
not remove the obligation to furnish the evidence required
to prove the facts; nobody may be arrested except in the cases
and with the formalities prescribed by law; guarantees relating
to detention, the rights of the detainee and the obligations
of the police, the investigator and the prosecutor, as well
as the precautionary measures that may be ordered; the right
to a defence and the powers of defence counsel; pretrial detention
to be served in an institution or wing different from those
used for serving custodial sentences.
Other points of interest
38. Rights to life, liberty and
security of person. These are at the core of the
actions of the Cuban authorities and the functioning of society
as a whole. The law punishes all conduct that jeopardizes
human physical integrity and life. Criminal liability is increased
where such crimes result from abuse of power or authority
or take advantage of a person’s inability to defend
themselves. Violence against persons is not only a punishable
offence but is prevented through other educational measures
and by restrictions on the use of instruments that could endanger
human life.
39. Death penalty. Even
though this is included in Cuba’s national legislation,
it is applied only in highly exceptional cases. It is handed
down by the competent court only for the most serious cases
of those crimes to which it applies. The death penalty cannot
be imposed on persons below 20 years of age or on women who
were pregnant at the time of the offence or are pregnant at
the time of sentencing. In 1999, the National Assembly passed
Act No. 87 amending the Criminal Code and providing for life
imprisonment for various crimes mainly as an alternative to
the death penalty. Since 2000, with a single exception in
April 2003, Cuba’s policy has been not to carry out
any punishment of this kind. A group of convicts had their
death sentences commuted in May 2008. Cuba has incorporated
the safeguards established by the United Nations in this regard
into its legislation and implements them fully.
40. Freedom of religion.
The Cuban revolution respects all churches and all religious
beliefs, without any discrimination whatsoever. The Cuba State
protects the freedom of worship and the Constitution establishes
the separation of church and State. Under articles 8, 42 and
55 of the Constitution, the State recognizes respects and
guarantees freedom of religion (the right to have religious
beliefs or change them and to worship, or to have no religious
beliefs and not to worship), religious institutions are separated
from the State and all belief systems enjoy equal treatment.
41. The 1992 Constitutional reform established
the secular nature of the Cuban State. Religious institutions
freely choose their ordained functionaries and assign them
to different regions in the country; they organize a considerable
number of religious activities, at the local, national and
international level and regularly receive religious literature
and international representatives.
42. There are some 400 religions and religious
institutions established around members’ beliefs. In
addition to Catholicism and the various Protestant and evangelical
churches, other important religions in Cuba are African religions,
spiritualism, Judaism, and the church of the Jehovah’s
Witnesses. All of them have churches and houses of worship
where they can practise, and they do so regularly without
hindrance. Before the Revolution came to power, many of these
religions were outlawed, despite their large followings. The
Revolution recognized them and did away with all legal provisions
discriminating against or punishing believers for their religious
faith.
43. General education is provided by the
State. It is free of charge and based on the discoveries and
benefits of science. Parents are free to give their children
a religious and moral upbringing that reflects their beliefs;
this may take the form of religious instruction given at home
or in theological seminaries.
44. Freedom of opinion, expression
and the press. Article 53 of the Constitution recognizes
this right to all citizens. The material conditions for its
exercise are created by the high standard of education and
culture and the fact that the press, radio, television, cinema
and other mass media are socially owned.
45. There is wide debate in Cuba on topics
of all kinds relating to the political, economic, social and
cultural life of the nation and the planet. Discussion and
artistic creation is encouraged in intellectual, cultural
and academic circles, and this is reflected in the diversity
of publications and the variety of artistic productions available
to the general public. In 2007 more than 70 writers and publishers
attended 26 international book fairs, including the most important
ones, in Frankfurt, Guadalajara and Barcelona. Cuba encourages
very free creation, which results in intense intellectual
activity that is reflected in various publications that regularly
circulate throughout the country, and in the range of work
generated by Cuba’s highly diverse artistic community.
Cuba has 723 periodicals, 406 in print and 317 on digital
media, and 91 radio stations. The seventeenth Cuban International
Book Fair in 2008 visited 42 cities and put in circulation
more than 8 million copies of new titles, of which over half
were purchased by the public in just the 24 days the Fair
lasted, at modest prices reflecting the high priority the
State attaches to this question.
46. Cuban artists and creators belong to
various NGOs (dance, music, design, fine arts, etc.), including
the Hermanos Saíz Association, which brings together,
on a strictly voluntary basis, the most important Cuban writers,
artists, intellectuals and promoters under 35; and the Cuban
Writers and Artists Union (UNEAC), which has 8,454 members
(2007). With the broad democratization of culture in Cuba,
it has been possible to hold numerous conferences of artists
and creators, and these have fostered open and thorough debate
on various topics. The seventh UNEAC Congress in April 2008
broadened the range of topics for discussion, political, economic
and social.
47. A wide-ranging debate on Cuban reality
was recently conducted across the country. More than 5 million
Cubans from all sectors of society attended 215,687 meetings
and more than 1.3 million suggestions, criticisms and proposals
were put forward.
48. Information and communications technologies
are at the service of the whole people(3). Training in their
use is free. The United States blockade affects Internet access,
restricting the bandwidth availability and making for high
connection costs, as connection is currently only possible
via satellite. Cuba observes the principle that available
resources should benefit the largest possible number of Cubans.
Priority is given to facilitating access through social and
community centres and institutions, such as schools, universities,
hospitals and health centres, libraries, research centres,
local, provincial and national government departments and
arts and cultural centres.
49. Right of peaceful assembly,
association and demonstration. Article 54 of the
Cuban Constitution recognizes these rights, which are also
protected by other laws, including the Associations Act (Act
No. 54) and the Labour Code, which guarantees the right to
organize and the right of all workers to meet, discuss and
express their views freely on all issues or matters affecting
them. There are 19 national unions and a Central Federation.
These rights are widely exercised in Cuba. Civil society in
Cuba comprises more than 2,000 organizations, some of the
most prominent being the social and grass-roots organizations
formed by women, peasants, workers, youth, students, pioneers
and neighbourhood residents, and the scientific, professional,
technical, cultural, artistic, sporting, religious and fraternal,
friendship and solidarity associations and any others operating
under the Associations Act.
50. Right to equality, non-discrimination
and the gender perspective. The Cuban Constitution
devotes one chapter, containing several articles, including
articles 41, 42 and 43, to provisions on equality. Equal rights
and duties are granted to all citizens, and all forms of discrimination
are prohibited; discrimination is punishable by law.
51. All citizens are considered equal, regardless
of race, skin colour, sex, convictions or national origin.
The very composition of the National People’s Assembly
reflects the diversity of the Cuban people. The 614 deputies
include representatives of all sectors. More than 28 per cent
are labourers, farmers, service workers, teachers and health
workers; 266, or 43.32 per cent of members of parliament,
are women; 35.67 per cent are black or mestizo; 118 deputies
are aged between 18 and 40; and more than 56 per cent were
born after the triumph of the Revolution. The average age
are 49 and 99.02 per cent having higher secondary education
or higher education?
52. Cuba runs many programmes to consolidate
social justice and equity. Broad public-interest programmes
have particularly benefited those social sectors that suffered
exclusion and discrimination during the colonial and neocolonial
periods.
53. Substantial progress has been made in
gender equality. Women enjoy the same rights and opportunities
as men. There is a legal framework for the protection and
promotion of all their rights, including sexual and reproductive
rights. The Government has demonstrated its political will
and commitment to the advancement of women. One example is
the National Action Plan for Follow-up of the Beijing Fourth
World Conference on Women, whose performance is evaluated
regularly. The Plan guarantees gender mainstreaming in policies
and programmes. The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) is the
national mechanism for the advancement of women.
54. In terms of employment, women account
for 46.23 per cent of the workforce in the civil State sector.
Women account for 38.26 per cent of all managerial positions;
and for 66 per cent of the occupational category of technicians
and professionals in the civil State sector. In the Council
of State elected in 2008, women increased their representation
by 16 per cent to 25.8 per cent. A further step forward in
the advancement of women at work was the adoption of Decree-Law
No. 234, on working women’s maternity arrangements,
which allows the mother and the father to decide which of
them will take parental leave to look after the baby once
the nursing period has ended.
55. Right of complaint and petition.
Under article 63 of the Constitution, “All citizens
have the right to bring complaints and address petitions to
the authorities and to receive proper attention or responses
in a reasonable time, in accordance with the law”. All
State agencies are required to set up an office to deal with
the public. This will receive, consider and answer complaints
from the Public within the required time. Local and regional
people’s bodies, the National Assembly, the Council
of State and political and social organizations, also receive
requests and complaints and respond in timely fashion. The
Attorney-General’s Office has a Department for the Protection
of Citizens’ Rights.
56. Right to participate in government.
This right is protected by article 131 of the Constitution
and the other articles of chapter XIV, on “The Electoral
System”. Under article 131, all legally qualified citizens
have the right to take part in the governance of the State,
directly or through their elected representatives on the bodies
of People’s Power, and to that end to participate as
prescribed by law in regular elections and referendums conducted
by free, equal and secret ballot. This right is guaranteed
under the Elections Act, Act No. 72 of 1992.
57. Each citizen is not only a holder of
political power; they are also beneficiaries and joint owners
of the nation’s resources, wealth and basic means of
production.
VI. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
58. Cuba has made significant progress in
the realization of economic, social and cultural rights.
59. Education: a right of all Cubans.
Cuba eradicated illiteracy in 1961 and is now working on the
universalization of higher education. Chapter V of the Constitution,
on “Education and Culture”, establishes that education
is a public service provided free of charge. This function
is performed by the State as a non-transferable duty and a
right of all Cubans, without distinctions or privileges.
60. The Cuban State has created the material
conditions and human capital to ensure quality education for
all, with universal coverage and free of charge at all levels,
regardless of students’ or their family members’
gender, skin colour, income, religion, opinions or political
ideas.
61. School enrolment in different forms
in the 0-5 age group in 2007/08 was 99.5 per cent. Enrolment
for 6 to 11-year-olds was 99.7 per cent and for 6 to 14-year-olds
99.2 per cent. Nearly 70 per cent of young Cubans aged between
18 and 23 are at university. Cuba has one teacher for every
30 inhabitants. One hundred per cent of children with special
educational needs receive appropriate attention in special
schools.
62. Education is constantly being improved.
The projects undertaken include: teaching of computing from
primary level on; educational technology such as television
and video in every classroom; creation of two educational
television channels; establishment of special programmes for
university education for older adults; creation of university-level
units in every municipality in Cuba in order to provide universal
access to that level of education. The Social Workers Programme
has enabled thousands of young people to advance up to university
level and perform socially useful work.
63. Of the Cuban State’s budget expenditure
for 2007, 19.3 per cent was earmarked for education. Cuba
has far exceeded the six objectives of the UNESCO Education
for All Programme.
64. Right to culture. Culture
and science in all their manifestations are fostered and promoted
in Cuba, as are freedom of artistic creation, the defence
of Cuba’s cultural identity and the conservation of
the nation’s heritage and artistic and historical wealth.
Culture is in reach of all social sectors and all citizens,
including those living in rural areas, are offered equal opportunities
for developing their full potential. Cuba sees culture as
one of the main sources of development, because of the spiritual,
creative, emotional, moral and ethical richness it brings
to society and to the nation’s material and intangible
heritage.
65. The Cuban system has 72 art schools,
20 of them elementary level and 37 intermediate level, and
15 art instructor training schools. In the 2007/08 school
year the Higher Institute of Art had 1,511 students and there
are also two higher education colleges in two of the provinces,
Holguín and Camagüey. All in all there is a total
of more than 27,000 students who receive free artistic training.
The broad range of teaching throughout the country makes it
possible to raise artistic talent to high levels. There is
a large network of cultural institutions throughout Cuba.(4)
66. Right to work. The
right to work has constitutional status in Cuba. Employment
is not subject to the vagaries of the market. Employment policy
is guided by the following principles: full employment; equal
opportunities for employment, without discrimination of any
kind; freedom to choose employment; employment as the basis
of social security; financial remuneration for retraining
courses; demonstrated suitability for access to employment;
equal pay for equal work; prohibition of child labour; guarantee
of workplace health and safety; continuing training for skills
enhancement.
67. Cuba has ratified 89 International Labour
Organization (ILO) conventions, including seven of the eight
core conventions. Labour and social legislation is consistent
with their provisions and, in some cases, goes beyond the
international standards set by those conventions, granting
more extensive rights, benefits and protection to all workers.
68. At the end of 2007 the unemployment
rate stood at 1.8 per cent. There are programmes to address
the special needs of women, youth, persons with disabilities
and those who have served prison sentences, among others.
69. Cuba has established the function of
social labour inspector, an official who receives special
training to sit on workplace health and safety committees.
Cuba also provides comprehensive preand post-natal facilities
and has one of the world’s most advanced laws on maternity
leave.(5)
70. Right to health. Every
Cuban has guaranteed access to quality health services free
of charge, a right established for all Cubans under the Constitution
(art. 50) and the Public Health Act (Act No. 45, chap. I,
art. 4).
71. The right to health is realized through
the national health system, which is entirely State-funded
and has an extensive network of institutions nationwide staffed
by more than 500,000 health workers. Services range from primary
and preventive care to surgical interventions using the latest
technologies. Cuba’s health indicators are similar to
those of developed countries. One of these is the infant mortality
rate for children under 1, which is 5.3 per thousand live
births, with a life expectancy of 77.97 years.
72. Despite the negative impact of the United
States policy of hostility and blockade on the acquisition
of resources and medical technologies, Cuba makes a colossal
effort to keep its health services up to the highest standards
of excellence. In the short and medium term, it seeks to increase
life expectancy at birth to more than 80 years and reduce
child mortality for children under 5 to less than 5 per thousand
live births. A major investment programme is under way, which
includes the refurbishment of many hospitals, polyclinics
and other health units and the construction of new facilities
such as genetics centres and rehabilitation wards.
73. Priority is given to high-impact programmes
such as cardiology, cancer, nephrology, ophthalmology and
organ transplantation. Progress is being made towards screening
for the entire population for the early diagnosis of disease.
The effectiveness of some other programmes is also being enhanced,
including the mother and child programme; the vaccination
programme, which ensures one of the world’s highest
immunization coverage rates; prevention of communicable diseases;
elderly care; and anti-smoking programmes.
74. International cooperation and
solidarity. Despite the financial difficulties and
resource constraints facing Cuba as a result of its situation
as a developing country subjected to a tight blockade by the
United States and an unjust international economic order,
it has made a modest contribution in support of the cause
of the human rights of other peoples.
75. From 1963 until 31 May 2008 Cuban cooperation
abroad involved more than 341,000 civilian workers in 154
countries, including more than 126,000 health experts and
technicians in 104 countries. At present, nearly 51,000 Cuban
experts and technicians provide services in 96 countries,
including more than 38,000 in the health sector in 74 countries.
76. Operation Miracle an eye-operation solidarity
programme, has helped restore the sight of more than 1.3 million
patients from 33 countries since July 2004 and as at 15 October
2008.
77. In education, methods developed by Cuban
experts, such as “Yo si puedo” (“Sure I
can”) and “Yo si puedo seguir” (“I
can go further”), have proved of great value in making
millions of people literate, notably indigenous and Afro-descendant
populations and women in rural areas. As at 14 October, more
than 3.4 million people in 24 countries have been made literate
with these methods. More than 30,000 young people from 124
countries and five overseas territories are studying in Cuba,
nearly 24,000 of them studying medicine.
78. Between 1961 and the 2007/08 school
year, over 52,000 young people from 132 countries and five
overseas territories graduated from Cuban universities, including
more than 34,000 from Africa.
79. On 19 September 2005 the Henry Reeve
international contingent was created to provide emergency
medical assistance to countries hit by natural disasters.
More than 4,000 workers have been involved in its work since
then, 687 in Guatemala, 2,564 in Pakistan, 602 in Bolivia,
135 in Indonesia, 54 in Mexico, 79 in Peru and 35 in China.
They have provided medical assistance to more than 3 million
victims, carried out more than 19,000 surgical operations
and saved 468,000 human lives.
VII. PROTECTION OF CITIZENS’ RIGHTS
80. Cuba has an extensive and effective
inter-agency system, also involving political and social organizations,
to receive process and answer any complaint or request from
individuals or groups of individuals in respect of the enjoyment
of any human rights, as provided in article 63 of the Constitution.
81. The main guarantor of this right is
the Attorney-General’s Office, which was mandated under
Act No. 83 of 1997 (art. 8 (c)) to address complaints submitted
by citizens about alleged violations of their rights. Under
article 24, paragraph 2, of the Act, the Office is responsible
for ordering the full restoration of legality by means of
a decision from the prosecutor. Where the complaint relates
to the action of a body, the prosecutor will investigate all
the allegations and, if the person is in the right, will order
restoration of their rights and consequently of legality.
The prosecutor is obliged to take the case through to a final
resolution and their action is binding on offenders.
82. In order to strengthen this role, the
Attorney-General’s Office created the Department for
the Protection of Citizens’ Rights and similar departments
in each provincial prosecutor’s office. In the municipalities,
one of the prosecutors is assigned to this area of work.
83. The Attorney-General’s Office,
through the designated prosecutor, considers, investigates
and answers the reports, complaints and claims legally addressed
to it by citizens. The most important complaints are routinely
monitored by a team of specialists from the Attorney-General’s
Office, who look into the cases arising and take appropriate
action to prevent further violations.
84. Cuba has other bodies and mechanisms
to deal with citizens’ complaints and petitions in respect
of human rights, including: social organizations, the National
Revolutionary Police and in particular its mechanisms for
dealing with the public, departments which deal with the public
in each of the bodies of the central State administration,
the Office of the Secretary of the Executive Committee of
the Council of Ministers, delegates to the people’s
municipal assemblies and municipal and provincial administrative
councils as well as the standing committees of the National
Assembly, and the Council of State’s mechanisms for
dealing with the public.
85. Cuba has legal guarantees to ensure
that everyone, whether Cuban citizen or foreigner, can assert
their rights before the courts or the competent authorities
and require that they be defended from violation. This system,
which is thoroughly authentic and adjusted to the needs of
Cuba’s people, has been systematically improved to ensure
its effectiveness and its ability to meet people’s needs
and expectations.
86. Cuba has other home-grown mechanisms
for monitoring and enhancing the realization of human rights.
One example is the system of social workers, who provide services
in the community and identify Cuban families’ support
needs. Social assistance protects 328,462 families and benefits
599,505 people. Of these, 16,180 receive help in the home,
77.6 per cent are older people, 21.8 per cent are persons
with disabilities and 0.6 per cent are working mothers with
children with severe disabilities.
87. Cuba will continue working to improve
its human rights promotion and protection system.
VIII. PRISON SYSTEM
88. The Revolution did away with the prison
regime inherited from the Batista tyranny and has built up
a penitentiary system which is profoundly humane and based
on respect for and strict application of laws and regulations.
It is inspired by the principle of re-educating and rehabilitating
every inmate to rejoin society.
89. The old prisons, which lacked the most
basic amenities, were closed. New prisons were built, some
closed, some open, based on standards and principles developed
by international criminal science and best practices in the
treatment of prisoners.
90. Some of the key elements of the Cuban
prison system are:
a) Improvements in penitentiary law and
regulations, applying the 95 provisions of the Standard Minimum
Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;
b) Adoption and enhancement of a graduated system, whereby
prisoners move through various regimes until they are given
parole, based on their behaviour and the minimum sentence
they are to serve;
c) Establishment of criteria for classification of the prison
population in order to ensure better treatment for groups
and individuals (based on legal situation, sex, age, nationality,
personal characteristics, level of risk, etc.);
d) Building of premises suitable for prison facilities (group
and individual cells, with air, lighting, ventilation, sanitary
facilities and showers);
e) Voluntary participation in socially useful work, paid in
accordance with national pay scales and with workplace health
and safety guarantees;
f) Financial help to prisoners’ families and social
security for prisoners;
g) Introduction of an education subsystem in prisons for general
and technical schooling, including universalization of education;
h) Introduction of a health subsystem for primary and specialized
medical and dental care for prisoners;
i) Artistic, sporting and leisure activities;
j) Technical and vocational training and ongoing in-service
training for prison staff (jurists, psychologists, educationalists,
defectologists, sociologists and administrators).
91. The foundations of the Cuban prison
system are clearly established in the Constitution, the Criminal
Code, the Criminal Procedure Act and the prison regulations.
92. The Interior Ministry, the People’s
and Military Courts, the Attorney-General’s Office and
the Social Services and Prevention Committees are actively
involved in upholding and ensuring legality in the prison
system. The Attorney-General’s role is essential in
this regard.
93. With the graduated approach to prison
treatment, prisoners may earn up to two months a year off
their sentence for good behaviour, transfer from high- to
low-security prisons and have prison terms commuted to non-custodial
sentences.
94. Violence and abuse, both physical and
mental, are totally prohibited and constitute an offence under
the law.
95. Prisoners are given an adequate diet of at least 2,400
kilocalories a day and drinking water. Their families may
also bring them up to 40 pounds of foodstuffs and other items
on every visit.
96. Female prisoners are held in women’s
prisons, where all the staff are female and fully trained.
Young prisoners also receive special treatment. They are held
in juvenile prisons or in areas separate from the adult prison
and are looked after by specialist staff.
97. Prisoners keep in regular touch with
their families through visits, the use of conjugal quarters
(available to inmates of both sexes), telephone calls and
letters. To encourage good behaviour, prisoners may also be
awarded passes or special home visits without a guard. They
are taken to hospitals, funeral homes or burials in the event
of the serious illness or death of a close relative.
98. Visits are conducted with no wire, bars,
glass or barriers of any other kind preventing direct contact
between prisoners and their families. As part of the comprehensive
treatment for the prison population, and with a view to minimizing
the negative effects of social isolation, supervised visits
are made to cultural, sports, historical and economic centres.
Prisoners’ right to profess any faith and receive religious
assistance is respected.
99. All prisoners are guaranteed free medical
and dental care. The prison system has hospitals, health centres
and medical points, and in every province there are ordinary
hospitals with wards for convicts. Prisoners are guaranteed
specialist care in any hospital in the country and medical
teams comprising a range of specialists make regular prison
visits.
100. There is 1 doctor for every 300 prisoners,
1 dentist for every 1,000, for preventive, support and specialist
care, and 1 nurse for every 120 prisoners.
101. Pregnant prisoners receive medical
care during pregnancy and are transferred to special wards
for care. The birth takes place in hospital conditions and
is attended by medical staff. They are also put on a special
enhanced diet during pregnancy and until the child is one
year old; during that period the prisoner is with her child
all the time to ensure breastfeeding. Once the year is up,
the baby may be handed over to family members or placed in
a nursery free of charge.
102. Cuba continues to improve its prison
system. Special emphasis is placed on education, with a view
to making prisoners’ rehabilitation and social reintegration
even more effective. Tarea 500 (Task 500), launched in 2000,
is a programme designed to transform prisons into schools,
and help rescue and guide young people and minors who risk
committing offences.
103. Training courses for prisoners have
been set up and are run in 100 per cent of Cuba’s prisons,
and over 90 per cent of those currently serving sentences
attend on a voluntary basis. Courses are taught using video
technology, closed circuit television, educational publications
and additional teaching materials, with advice from Ministry
of Education teachers. School education up to twelfth grade
is given, along with technical training in trades such as
bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing, electricity, handicrafts,
welding and male and female hairdressing. Computing and physical
education courses have been introduced and encouragement given
to libraries and sporting, recreational and cultural activities,
and to specialist festivals and tournaments between prisons.
Prisoners are also offered access to higher (university) education.
104. In 2005 facilities of a new kind were
built, called working and learning centres, to enable persons
deprived of their liberty, selected on grounds of conduct
and discipline to study and work in an open regime, to obtain
a level of all-round culture.
IX. CUBA’S COOPERATION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS
HUMAN RIGHTS MACHINERY
105. Cuba has a long history of international
cooperation in the field of human rights. It has demonstrated
its unequivocal willingness to engage in frank and open dialogue
on all issues, provided that respect prevails.
106. In 1988 the Cuban Government received
a visiting mission of five members, including the president,
of the Commission on Human Rights. The mission report recognized
that there was no human rights situation in Cuba that would
warrant selective treatment.
107. The following year, 1989, Cuba reiterated
its willingness to cooperate with the United Nations Secretary-General
in following up the recommendations contained in the report
of that mission. This process was interrupted by the decision
by the United States to manipulate it for its own hostile
anti-Cuban purposes. Except for 1998, United States pressure
and blackmail barely let up in the anti-Cuban campaign between
1990 and 2005.
108. Despite its principled opposition to
such spurious manoeuvres, the Cuban Government never broke
off its cooperation with those human rights mechanisms that
are applied universally and on a non-discriminatory basis.
Cuba was one of the first countries to receive a visit from
a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in the
person of Mr. José Ayala Lasso, in 1994.
109. In 1995 Cuba invited a delegation of
international NGOs - France-Libertés, the International
Federation of Human Rights Leagues, Doctors of the World and
Human Rights Watch - to visit. The representatives of these
organizations received the full support of the Cuban authorities
and did what they had set out to do, including visiting several
prisons and interviewing prisoners they were interested in.
110. In 1998 Cuba extended invitations to
visit to the Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteurs
on mercenaries and on violence against women, and they did
so in 1999.
111. Cuba has systematically provided the
information requested by the thematic procedures of the Commission
on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council. Cuba has submitted
several periodic reports to the international human rights
treaty bodies. In August 2006 it presented and discussed its
combined fifth and sixth reports to the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women and is preparing to submit
its third periodic report to the Committee on the Rights of
the Child and its fourteenth report to the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
112. Cuba has ratified a large number of international human
rights instruments and is a State party to 41 of the most
important treaties in this field.
113. The elimination in 2007 of the illegitimate
mandate of the so-called Personal Representative of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights
in Cuba allowed Cuba to extend its policy of cooperation on
human rights. In that context it received a visit from Mr.
Jean Ziegler, Special Rapporteur on the right to food (28
October-6 November 2007), and the Cuban Government confirmed
its readiness to extend further invitations to other special
procedures of the Council. Cuba signed the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in February 2008.
114. Cuba participated actively in the Human
Rights Council’s institution-building process and continues
to play an important part in strengthening the Council’s
work both in its national capacity and as Chair of the Non-Aligned
Movement.
X. OBSTACLES AND PROBLEMS
115. Policy of hostility, embargo
and aggression applied by successive United States Governments.
The United States economic, trade and financial embargo constitutes
an act of genocide under article II, paragraph (c), of the
1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide and an act of economic warfare according to the
London Naval Conference of 1909. This economic warfare has
been a constant feature of the United States policy against
Cuba for nearly 50 years. Its purpose, as stated in April
1960, has been “to bring about hunger, desperation and
the overthrow of the Government” of Cuba.
116. Two of the best-known and most widely
reviled components of the blockade are the so-called Torricelli
Act (1992) and Helms-Burton Act (1996). Their provisions are
contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and violate
international law. The direct economic damage caused to the
Cuban people by the application of the United States economic,
commercial and financial blockade of Cuba from the time these
laws were imposed virtually 50 years ago until May 2008 amounts
to more than $93 billion. Taking into account the devaluation
of the dollar and the fluctuations in its value over time,
at current rates this is equivalent to $224.6 billion.
117. During the two terms of President George
W. Bush’s administration hostility towards Cuba has
escalated to unprecedented levels. The May 2004 report of
the so-called Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba and
its July 2006 addendum, which includes a secret chapter on
aggressive actions, expose the intentions of the authorities
in Washington: to impose “regime change” against
the will of the Cuban people, not excluding the use of military
force to that end.
118. The Cuban people has suffered mercenary
invasions; biological assault and attacks by radio and television;
external encouragement of illegal and violent emigration;
plans to assassinate its top leaders; threat of nuclear war
in 1962; as well as acts of sabotage and terrorism resulting
in numerous casualties and major setbacks for Cuba’s
economic and social objectives.
119. The Cuban people have suffered the
scourge of terrorism promoted, organized, financed or simply
permitted with impunity by the United States Government. The
681 terrorist actions against the Cuban people and one mercenary
invasion, all proved and documented, have brought about the
irreparable loss of the lives of 3,478 men, women and children,
while another 2,099 Cubans have been left physically disabled
for life. Yet five young fighters against terrorism and defenders
of the human rights of the Cuban people are still in arbitrary
detention in the United States and subjected, along with their
families, to psychological torture of the cruellest kinds.
120. Recruitment, financing and
use of mercenaries to further the United States Government’s
anti-Cuba policy. A key objective in the war and
the hostility towards the Cuban nation has been to recruit
and control hirelings of the United States anti-Cuba policy
on Cuba’s own territory and provide them with logistical
and financial support.
121. The mercenaries working for imperialist
policy against the Cuban people have adapted their methods
according to the needs and phases of the strategy of aggression.
They have gone from being invaders to being terrorists and
from being terrorists to being bogus human rights defenders.
Anti-Cuban political and media campaigns use the most sophisticated
techniques and means of disinformation.
122. There has been a colossal increase
in the funds and resources allocated to recruitment and payroll
in pursuit of the United States Government’s anti-Cuba
policy. In fiscal years 2007 and 2008 the Bush administration
put $80 million towards State operations aimed at imposing
“regime change” in Cuba. A great deal more was
channelled into covert actions by its intelligence services.
123. The creation and financing of so-called
“internal dissent” and its coverage by the international
media are a lucrative business not only for the mercenaries
recruited in Cuba to act against their own people, but chiefly
also for the Miami-based terrorist mafia of Cuban origin.
124. The Cuban people defends its Revolution,
which is the guarantee of its freedom and sovereignty and
ensures respect for its Constitution and its laws. The agents
of the foreign Power that seeks to destroy the Cuban nation
are punished for their crimes, always in strict accordance
with the highest international standards of justice and humanism.
125. Climatic phenomena.
The ravages of hurricanes and tropical storms have always
had a more or less adverse impact on Cuba. The combined effect
of recent hurricanes Gustav and Ike as they crossed virtually
all Cuba’s territory is without doubt the most devastating
in the history of these phenomena in terms of the extent of
the damage caused. Though the rapid and efficient action of
the Government of Cuba and its Civil Defence units prevented
a worse disaster and helped to limit the destruction, the
damage was extreme. Losses were initially estimated at around
$5 billion; in addition to agriculture, housing was one of
the hardest-hit sectors, with damage to more than 444,000
dwellings, 63,249 of them completely destroyed.
126. Human rights campaign against
Cuba in the United Nations. Cuba’s undeserved
condemnation over a period of years by the defunct Commission
on Human Rights (1990-2005) and the Third Committee of the
General Assembly (1992-1997) was an essential component of
the anti-Cuba policy of successive United States Governments.
Its purpose was to create a pretext for continuing and intensifying
the policy of hostility, blockade and aggression against the
Cuban nation.
127. The Human Rights Council’s decision
to discontinue the mandate of the so-called Personal Representative
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation
of human rights in Cuba was a historic act of justice and
an acknowledgement of the illegal and discriminatory nature
of 20 years of measures against Cuba.
128. Cuba comes to the universal periodic
review mechanism ready to discuss any subject, provided its
sovereignty and dignity are respected. It will not, however,
recognize the validity of any value judgements based on documents
produced by the anti-Cuban special mechanisms established
under resolutions imposed by the United States on the former
Commission on Human Rights.
XI. CONCLUSIONS
129. Despite the conditions of underdevelopment
inherited from a colonial and neocolonial past, the tight
blockade imposed by the United States Government, an unjust
and unequal international economic order in which Cuba has
been forced to find a place, and the adverse impact of increasingly
frequent and destructive hurricanes and other natural disasters,
the Cuban people has managed to make significant progress
and is still consolidating its revolutionary transformations
with the aim of building an evermore just, free, independent,
fair, democratic, compassionate and inclusive society. The
laws, institutions and functions of the Cuban State are based
on the exercise of power by the great majority of workers,
intellectuals, professionals and artists. Cuba has an extensive
and active civil society. Cubans participate effectively and
systematically in decision-making processes, not only in the
political and electoral arenas but also in economic, social
and cultural spheres.
130. The policy of hostility, blockade and
aggression of successive United States Governments against
Cuba has been a serious obstacle to Cubans’ full enjoyment
of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the rights
to life, peace, self-determination and development. Moreover,
that policy violates several of the most elementary rights
of the Cuban people.
131. Cuba cooperates with all non-discriminatory
and universally applicable procedures and mechanisms of the
United Nations human rights system and is prepared to continue
with international cooperation and genuine dialogue on human
rights.
132. The Cuban people will continue to proclaim
and defend the revolution that made possible the realization
of the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights
of every person in this country. It will work to make the
revolution ever more efficient, productive and sustainable.
It will continue to ensure, with dignity and quiet pride,
its rights to self-determination, development, peace and a
just, democratic and equitable international order. And it
will pursue with determination the good works and universal
thought of its national hero José Martí, who
said “Homeland is humanity”.
Notes
(1) Due to limitations established for the number of words
in drawing up this document, it will not be possible to apply
a gender approach for every article, noun and adjective.
(2) Cuba is a participating State in numerous
international instruments in these matters, such as: the International
Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women; the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
Facultative Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child pertaining to the sale of children, child prostitution
and using children in pornography; Facultative Protocol to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child pertaining to the
participation of children in armed conflict; International
Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime
of Apartheid; UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in
Education; Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; International Convention
against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.
In February 2008, Cuba signed the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
(3) At the close of June 2008, the country
had more than 570,000 computers, equivalent to 5.1 PCs for
every 100 inhabitants, 70% of which were on-line. There are
2,180 domains, just in the .cu extension, and more than 3,500
Internet sites. The social use of the ICTs permits us to have
more than 1,336,000 Internet users, in spite of the limitations
imposed by the blockade on technologies and international
submarine fibre optics; of these, 327,000 users navigate on
the full Internet system.
(4) Among the various cultural facilities,
the country also has 376 libraries, 20 “Casas de Trova”
(venues for troubadour-style music), 514 Video Halls, including
334 in the Youth Video Clubs, 377 public libraries, 290 museums
and 3 circus tents. More than 2,500 cultural promoters are
at work in Peoples’ Councils, electoral districts and
settlements.
(5) The current law guarantees a 100% paid
maternity leave for 18 weeks (six weeks pre-natal), plus a
leave-extension at 60% of full pay for up to a year after
the birth of the child, with the right to job re-incorporation
at the end of the leave.
(Tomado de http://america.cubaminrex.cu).
|
