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CHAPTER
IV STATUS
OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES
Under its mandate to promote the observance and defense of human
rights, the IACHR has been reviewing the status of human rights in the
countries of the hemisphere and has drawn up special reports on some of
them.
These reports have been prepared on the Commission’s own
initiative. Other reports originated in a mandate the Commission
received from the OAS General Assembly. Some reports were drawn up after
the Commission visited the country in response to an invitation from the
government.
In its Annual Report for 1983-1984, the Commission included in
Chapter IV updated reports on Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Haiti, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay. The Commission also noted that
it had drawn up in October 1983 an extensive report on the situation in
Cuba (OEA/Ser.L/II.61, doc. 29, rev.1). The Commission pointed out at
that time that it would not include an additional report on Suriname,
because it had received an invitation from the Government of that
country to make a new on-site observation visit, which was scheduled for
1985 and was carried out at that time.
The Commission feels that there are no reasons to warrant the
inclusion at this time of a special section on Argentina and Uruguay.
Both countries have demonstrated during the period covered by this
report their vigorous dedication to strengthening the rule of law and
the democratic system of government, thus consolidating a system
ensuring full observance of human rights.
The Commission also wishes to express its gratification that the
Government of Uruguay has deposited its instrument of ratification to
the American Convention on Human Rights with the General Secretariat of
the OAS on April 19, 1985. This ratification was made with the express
declaration that Uruguay recognizes the competence of the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights for an indefinite time and the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights on all matters relating to the interpretation or
application of that Convention, on the condition of reciprocity,
according to the provisions of Article 45, paragraph 3 and Article 62,
paragraph 2.
The Commission has felt it necessary to draw up a special report
on Chile, in view of the deterioration in the human rights situation the
IACHR has observed in that country.
The Commission has likewise felt it necessary to draw up a
special report on Suriname, recording the findings of its on-site
observation visit in January 1985, to update its previous report of
October 1983.
For the above reasons, this chapter will not include sections on
Argentina, Chile, Suriname and Uruguay, and will have sections only on
the status of human rights in Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti,
Nicaragua and Paraguay, all of which have been the subject of previous
IACHR reports. Notwithstanding the special section on the on-site observation visit made by the Special Commission of the IACHR in Guatemala in May 1985, the Commission will later draw up a broader and more extensive report on that country.
In 1983, the Commission drew up a broad and comprehensive report
on the situation of human rights in Cuba, which was published in
December of that year. The report covered civil and political rights,
and economic, social and cultural rights, for the entire period of the
present Cuban regime, that is, 25 years.
The information the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has
received in the last year indicates that the status of human rights in
Cuba has changed very little from the assessment made in that report.
Consequently, the two main features that have characterized the
nonobservance of civil and political rights in that country continue:
concentration of power in a small group since the present regime came to
power and the nonexistence of the rule of law because individuals do not
have the remedies that would protect them from government action.
The Commission wishes to note that the Cuban Government’s
failure to respond to numerous IACHR requests for information and the
complete absence of contact between both parties are factors that have
made, and continue to make difficult the tasks of promoting and
protecting human rights that the OAS Charter has assigned to the
Commission in relation to the member countries. To this must be added
the strict control exercised by the Cuban Government over the flow of
information, which prevents making a precise and up-to-date assessment
of the status of human rights in Cuba as the IACHR would wish.
The Commission has carefully observed the development of
negotiations between the Governments of Cuba and the United States to
regularize some of the situations brought about by the massive flight of
people through the Port of Mariel in 1980. The Commission regrets that
obstacles have again prevented total normalization and reiterates to the
Government of Cuba that is international obligations require it to
permit emigration from the country of any of its citizens that wish to
leave.
In addition, the Commission has continued to receive information
about numerous persons that have been sentenced to long periods of
imprisonment for ideological reasons or conduct that the government has
regarded as representing a danger for the security of the State. The
Commission has been informed also that in September 1985 the Cuban
Government decided to release 70 political prisoners in response to a
request from a group of United States Catholic Bishops that visited the
country in January 1985. The Commission hopes that this type of measure
will also be applied to those known as “unbreakable prisoners”
(presos plantados), who, according to information provided to the
Commission, total 132. The status of these prisoners is a cause of
serious concern to the IACHR, because they have been in prison for an
average of 22 years under extremely harsh conditions, and most of them
suffer from various physical ailments.
The Commission wishes to reiterate its interest in obtaining
information from the Government of Cuba, both on the status of human
rights in general and on the individual cases being processed. The
Commission also hopes that domestic and international conditions will be
established that will allow former political prisoners to leave Cuba if
they wish and to settle in whatever country they select. The Commission
also feels it would be a highly positive action if the Cuban Government
continued to free prisoners accused of crimes against the security of
the State, particularly the “unbreakable prisoners” who are still
held in Cuba.
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