http://www.granma.cu/ingles/cuba-i/1june-UnitedNations.html
Havana. June 1, 2012 Cuba submits report to the United Nations • Sergio Alejandro Gómez CUBA presented a report to the UN (May 22-23) as part of its obligations as a member state of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishment or Treatment backed by the justice system constructed by the Revolution. The Cuban delegation explained with convincing & irrefutable data its implementation of the precepts inspiring the Convention and its full endorsement of its principles rigorously followed by the country. The report recalled that before 1959 torture and abuse on the part of police and military authorities was state policy and it was the revolutionary process which ended those abhorrent practices, 25 years before the UN Convention existed. As is standard practice in country examinations, the Committee concentrates its attention on issues as complex as the state of the penitentiary system, rigor in dispensing and administering justice, guarantees for persons detained and the ethics of the public order system. This UN body is composed of 10 experts from various countries who act in a personal capacity, and its mandate is to make recommendations to member states on implementation of the Convention and preventing torture or related acts in all parts of the world. In spite of the existence of the Convention, the practice of torture is still in existence. Its use by U.S. military and paramilitary forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Guantánamo Naval Base, CIA clandestine prisons in Europe and elsewhere is an official policy openly acknowledged by U.S. governments. At the same time, police brutality, as seen in the repression of peaceful protesters in European countries and deaths of prisoners, is likewise a constant. In contrast to this negative situation, the Cuban report described advances in the penal justice system and penitentiaries to strengthen citizens’ security, which are based on rehabilitation, respect for citizens’ guarantees and rights, and on the most advanced concepts in this context. Cuba defended its report in distinct conditions. It confronts, like no other nation, constant campaigns of defamation and discredit financed and promoted by the United States, which make an examination of this nature politicized, limits its necessary objectivity and impartiality. Biased elements are also introduced as part of persistent internal destabilization attempts by the U.S. government. The Cuban delegation, headed by Rafael Pino Bécquer, Assistant Attorney General of the Republic, clearly demonstrated the Revolution’s adherence to implementing a policy against torture and abuse. He noted that the Cuban Penal Code establishes more than 10 criminal statutes providing adequate protection against mistreatment and is based on the constitutional right of all persons to dignity. He emphasized that officers and agents of the Cuban forces of order are trained to respect the physical and moral integrity of all persons. Human sensibility in the mission to maintain public tranquility is instilled in them, while international legal regulations, including those of the UN Convention are part of all training and continuing education programs. The role of the Attorney General’s Office as a legal supervisory body ensuring the protection and promotion of rights of all internees in the country’s penitentiaries was outlined, as were measures adopted by the Revolution to guarantee that persons serving prison terms attain adequate educational levels and are trained in occupations and professions supporting their personal development and their usefulness to society through dignified and fairly remunerated work. Pino Bécquer noted Cuba’s determination to continue working to strengthen and update penal legislation and to fully implement the UN Convention with secure, effective and responsible mechanisms. Cuba can be proud of its accomplishments in fulfilling the Convention’s stipulations and the objectives for which it was conceived. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
