On Wednesday, the UN’s 54-nation Economic and Social Council nominated the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Program and Coordination, which meets next month to shape policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention. ECOSOC’s nomination is effectively decisive, as the UN General Assembly customarily rubber-stamps such nominations without a vote.

In addition, ECOSOC by acclamation elected China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan to the influential Committee on NGOs, which oversees the work, accreditation and UN access of thousands of human rights and civil society groups that enjoy consulative status at the world body.

The United States was the only ECOSOC member to object, saying that Iran, Cuba and Nicaragua were “unfit.”

UN Watch today called on all democratic ECOSOC member states — Canada, France, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, and Finland — to explain why they joined in the election of serial abusers of human rights to key UN bodies that oversee human rights.

“Appointing China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia to oversee the work of human rights activists is like putting Al Capone in charge of fighting organized crime,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “It’s truly indefensible, and puts lives at risk.”

“As an organization accredited with special NGO consultative status at the United Nations, and which regularly gives a platform to dissidents from China, Cuba, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Nicaragua, we are gravely concerned that brutal dictatorships were elected to oversee our work and credentials — and it is scandalous that Western democracies put them there.”

“This means dictatorships will have a majority on the committee in order to deny United Nations accreditation to independent organizations that call out their human rights violations, and to accredit more fake front groups created by the regimes,” Neuer said.

“It harms the ability of pro-democracy dissidents to protect the most vulnerable victims and to advocate for human rights inside the United Nations.”

“By their cynical actions at the UN, major Western states have betrayed their own human rights principles, severely undermining the ruled-based international order that they claim to support.”

“We note that Western states did take action in recent years to stop Russia from getting elected to similar ECOSOC bodies, and we deeply regret that they failed to do the same now to stop the election of serial violators such as Iran, China, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan,” said Neuer.

Activists Issued Warning Before ECOSOC Election

Ahead of the election, 70 civil society and human rights groups warned that countries with poor records were at risk of being elected. The group International Service for Human Rights gave a failing grade to China, Cuba, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua and others. Yet their warning was ignored.

Key Documents and Sources

• Video showing ECOSOC’s nomination without objection of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Program and Coordination: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k12/k12k3u0ohr?kalturaStartTime=4582
• UN document listing election by acclamation of China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan to the Committee on NGOs:
  https://press.un.org/en/2026/ecosoc7225.doc.htm
• UN website showing that ECOSOC members currently include Canada, France, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, and Finland: https://ecosoc.un.org/en/about-us/members
• U.S. statement dissociating itself from ECOSOC decisions, the only one of 54 ECOSOC members to do so: https://usun.usmission.gov/explanation-of-position-on-the-ecosoc-election-of-the-committee-on-non-governmental-organizations-and-the-committee-on-program-and-coordination/

About UN Watch

United Nations Watch is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva whose mission is to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter. UN Watch holds the UN accountable to its founding principles by exposing hypocrisy, bias, and abuses. For more information, visit www.unwatch.org.

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“Electing Saudi Arabia to a women’s rights commission is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the independent non-governmental organization UN Watch, based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Commission on the Status of Women, according to its website, is the “principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

The Commission describes itself as “instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

EXPOSED: Saudi Arabia was elected by acclamation to the U.N. Women's Rights Commission. None of our democracies on ECOSOC—not Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, New Zealand, Portugal, UK or USA—called a vote. https://t.co/xTQbQ3B9Dp pic.twitter.com/RmdzVh2zie

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 14, 2022

BREAKING: 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia was just elected to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.

The Saudi regime has one of the world’s most horrific records on women’s rights, and on all human rights. #LiftRaifTravelBan

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 13, 2022

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CLICK HERE FOR TEXTS & VOTING SHEETS ON 2020 UNGA RESOLUTIONS

Three Comments by UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer:

1. Iran Resolution Includes 9 Sections of Praise

Today’s UNGA resolution on Iran, co-sponsored by Canada, UK, France, Germany and all other EU countries, opens with nine separate sections of undue and false praise for the oppressive regime, even as the rest of the text calls out Tehran’s abuses.

The sections of praise include:

• The resolution’s Paragraph 5 showers praise on Iran’s “continuing efforts…to host a large number of Afghans,” even as Iranian border guards tortured and drowned dozens of Afghan migrants in May.

• Paragraph 6 “welcomes the commitments made by the Iranian authorities with regard to improving the situation of women,” even though the regime systematically represses women with the compulsory hijab law, and just sent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotudeh back to prison to complete a 38-year sentence for defending women who removed their headscarves.

• Paragraph 8 “welcomes the engagement” of Iran with different UN human rights bodies, even as the regime has denied entry for a decade to the UNHRC’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

• Paragraph 3 commends Iran’s “reduction in number of executions” even though in September it executed wrestler Navid Afkari for protesting the regime and, just last week, hung dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam in what France called a “barbaric” act.

This excessive and undue praise supported by the EU co-sponsors is especially inappropriate just days after EU leaders postponed an online Europe-Iran Business Forum in protest of the killing of Ruhollah Zam.

2. UNGA ends 2020 session with no action on China

With today’s votes, the General Assembly concluded its 2020 legislative session on specific country situations without adopting a single resolution on China’s gross and systematic violation of human rights.

In October, this same body absurdly elected China’s Communist regime to the Human Rights Council, which it will formally join as a voting member beginning January 1st.

The UNGA is failing to uphold the world body’s own human rights declaration when it turns a blind eye to China herding more than 1 million Uighurs into camps, giving a free pass to a regime that arrested, crushed and disappeared those like Dr. Li Wenliang, who tried to sound the alarm about the coronavirus, and which is suffocating freedom in Hong Kong.

Even after the UN committee against racial discrimination found credible reports of China’s restricting Uighur cultural and religious practices, and of disproportionately targeting them with mass surveillance, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances, the General Assembly in 2020 chose to remain silent on Beijing, and instead installed the regime on the UN’s highest human rights body, starting on January 1st. It’s morally obscene.

3. UNGA turns blind eye to gross abuses worldwide

Wrapping up its 2020 agenda item on “promotion and protection of human rights,” the UN General Assembly today addressed only five country situations, while ignoring human rights abuses in more than 175 other countries around the globe.

While nearly all EU countries backed 13 out of 17 UNGA resolutions singling out Israel this year, they failed to introduce even one resolution for women’s right activists jailed and tortured in Saudi Arabia, dissident artists arrested in Cuba, journalists thrown behind bars in Turkey, religious minorities attacked in Pakistan, and opposition members persecuted in Venezuela, where more than five million people have fled government repression, hunger and economic collapse.

CLICK HERE FOR UNGA RESOLUTIONS & VOTING SHEETS

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Dissidents To Contest UNHRC Candidates Ahead of Tuesday’s Elections,
Opposing China, Russia, Cuba, Saudi Arabia & Pakistan

NEW YORK, October 7, 2020 — Ahead of next week’s election of 15 new member states to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the independent human rights group UN Watch invites journalists to register for an online briefing and press conference on Friday, October 9th, at 10:00 am Eastern time, featuring leading human rights dissidents from five of the candidate countries: China, Russia, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.

Program: Briefing On UNHRC Elections and Candidates

• Hillel Neuer, UN Watch Executive Director, to present the Joint NGO Report on UNHRC Elections
• Yang Jianli, President of Initiatives for China, former political prisoner
• Rosa Maria Paya, Cuban human rights activist, daughter of late dissident Oswaldo Paya
• Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian democracy activist and vice president of the Free Russia Foundation
• Taha Siddiqui, Award-winning Pakistani journalist exiled in Paris, attacked for criticizing the military
• Saudi Arabian dissident TBD

REGISTRATION: This event is exclusively for accredited media. To request access to the online video press conference, please contact Hilary Miller at media-NY@unwatch.org.

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Abuses by those candidates are detailed in a new 30-page joint NGO report published today by UN Watch, Human Rights Foundation and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, which is being circulated to UN diplomats.

“Electing these dictatorships as UN judges on human rights is like making a gang of arsonists into the fire brigade,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights group based in Geneva.

As shown in the report, Cuba and Russia have no competition in their regional groups. While technically they still must obtain 97 positive votes, in practice their election is virtually certain.

The Asian regional group is the only one being contested, with five candidates vying for four available seats. “Yet because China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are so powerful at the United Nations, it’s almost certain they will be elected as well,” said Neuer.

“It’s logically absurd and morally obscene that the UN is about to elect to its top human rights body a regime that herded 1 million Uighurs into camps, arrested, crushed and disappeared those who tried to sound the alarm about the coronavirus, and suffocated freedom in Hong Kong,” said Neuer.

“Saudi Arabia carried out a record 184 executions in 2019. Russia assassinates journalists and poisons dissidents. Cuba is a police state,” said Neuer.

UN Watch has filed formal protests at the United Nations, published last week as official UN documents, against the election of China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

Irwin Cotler, head of the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, and former Canadian minister of justice, added: “Regrettably, when the UN itself ends up electing human rights violators to the Human Rights Council, it indulges the very of culture of impunity it is supposed to combat. The world’s democracies must join in the preservation and protection of the Council’s mandate, and not end up accomplices to its breach.”

Despite the lack of competition in almost every regional group, Neuer emphasized that there is a myth among UN diplomats that they are obliged to vote for all candidates on a clean slate. “Yet as made clear in our report, voting nations can and should refrain from electing rights abusers to the UN’s highest human rights body. We need to hear the EU’s high commissioner Josep Borrell and member states lead the call to oppose the worst abusers. So far, they have been silent.”

The report also listed Bolivia, Cote d’Ivoire, Nepal, Malawi, Mexico, Senegal and Ukraine as having “questionable” credentials, due to problematic human rights and UN voting records that should be improved.

“Sadly, all signs are that the UN will disregard its own rules and principles next Tuesday by rubber-stamping the election of China, Russia, Cuba, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia — even though these regimes systematically violate the human rights of their own citizens,” said Neuer, “and consistently frustrate UN initiatives to protect the human rights of others.”

UN Watch Call to Scrap Elections if Criteria Ignored

UN Watch is proposing a major reform to the election system. “If our own democracies continue to disregard the election criteria by voting for abusers,” said Neuer, “then we should just scrap elections altogether, and make every country a member, as is the case in the General Assembly’s human rights committee. Non-democracies could no longer hold up their UNHRC election as a shield of international legitimacy to cover up the abuses of their regime.”

“Regrettably,” said Neuer, “the EU has not said a word about hypocritical candidacies that only undermine the credibility and effectiveness of the UN human rights system. By turning a blind eye as human rights violators easily join and subvert the council, leading democracies will be complicit in the world body’s moral decline.”

“It will be an insult to their political prisoners and many other victims — and a defeat for the global cause of human rights — if the UN helps gross abusers act as champions and global judges of human rights. When the UN’s highest human rights body becomes a case of the foxes guarding the henhouse, the world’s victims suffer,” said Neuer.

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DICTATORSHIPS VYING FOR UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SEATS FOR 2021-2023 TERM

Report by UN Watch
29 April 2020

Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia are running for seats on the UN Human Rights Council for the 2021-2023 term, as revealed today by UN Watch. This report evaluates their candidacies based on the membership criteria laid down in UNGA Resolution 60/251, and examines the claims of the candidates.

The report finds that while each of these governments has submitted pledges or reports to the United Nations claiming to protect and promote universal human rights, their candidacies should be rejected as they fail to meet the basic criteria for UNHRC membership.

The presence of gross and systematic abusers of human rights on the UN Human Rights Council contradicts its own charter. According to UNGA Resolution 60/251, which established the Council in 2006, General Assembly members are obliged to elect states to the Council by considering “the candidates’ contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto.” The resolution further provides the consideration ought to be given to whether the candidate can meet membership obligations “to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights” and to “fully cooperate with the Council.”

Our evaluations applied these membership criteria to evaluate the candidacies of Cuba, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

In Part I of the report, UN Watch performed a fact-check on five of each country’s claims.

In Part II,  UN Watch examined each candidate’s record of domestic human rights protection, and its U.N. voting record.

I. Fact-checking Candidate Countries’ Pledges & Claims

FACT-CHECKING THE CANDIDACY OF CUBA

Cuba’s pledge to the UNHRC includes the following claims:

Cuba’s UN Pledge #1: “Cuba remains committed to promoting consideration of the just historical demands of the peoples of the South and the rest of the world on such issues as…combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance…”

Fact-Check: FALSE. The U.S. State Department reports that Afro-Cubans suffer racial discrimination and have been subject to racial epithets and beatings by security agents in response to political activism. State agents threatened antiracist activist Norberto Mesa Carbonel after he published an open letter to the government on structural racism in Cuba.

Cuba’s UN Pledge #2: “As part of its policy of cooperation with the human rights treaty bodies, Cuba systematically complies with requests for information from the special procedure mandate holders of the Human Rights Council.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. According to a U.N. special procedures database, Cuba has barred entry to the Council’s human rights experts on torture, free assembly, free expression, and arbitrary detention, rejecting their requests to visit the island and report on the situation of human rights.

Cuba’s UN Pledge #3: Cuba commits to promoting democracy by highlighting “the exercise of power by the people” and “the participatory and democratic nature of the Cuban political system.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Freedom House reports that Cuba is an authoritarian one-party system that  excludes the public from any genuine and autonomous political participation. Cuba arbitrarily detained leading rights activist and anti-government opposition figure Jose Daniel Ferrer in October 2019 on false charges and subjected him to brutal torture in prison, from which he was just released after six months.

Cuba’s UN Pledge #4: “Cuba will continue to promote its traditional initiatives on such vital issues as the right to food and the promotion of cultural rights as essential requirements for the enjoyment of all human rights.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Cuba institutionalized censorship of independent art and culture by passing Decree 349 in December 2019, which established violations for art that was not regulated or recognized by official cultural institutions. Because of Cuba’s failed policies, including centralized control, its citizens lack basic foods.

Cuba’s UN Pledge #5: “Cuba seeks to…prevent the Council’s work from being tainted by the political manipulation that discredited and put paid to the Commission on Human Rights.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Cuba is more responsible than any other country in the world for the political manipulation of the UNHRC, sponsoring resolutions that seek to erode the meaning of individual human rights and to empower dictatorships. When Cuba came up for mandatory Council review in 2013, the regime committed a massive fraud on the Council by orchestrating 454 front groups to officially register 93 statements falsely praising Havana’s policies and practices. In addition, Cuba systematically opposes UN resolutions that speak out for human rights victims in Iran, North Korea and Syria. Cuba has backed human rights abusers through a resolution denying the right to sanction such regimes.

The Cuban dictatorship has now launched a campaign to promote its UNHRC candidacy in state-backed media, saying “Cuba has morality and the right to be a member of the UN Human Rights Council.” (We have morality to be a member of the Human Rights Council, Cuban President affirms, Juventud Rebelde, February 29, 2020.)

The regime added: “If we talk about true commitment in the matter of promotion and protection of all human rights for all people and peoples of the world — without double standards, manipulation, politicization and selectivity of the subject — our country proudly exhibits important achievements at international level.” (The undeniable endorsement of Cuba to integrate the Human Rights Council, Radio Cadena Agromonte, March 2, 2020).

FACT-CHECKING THE CANDIDACY OF RUSSIA

Russia’s pledge to the UNHRC includes the following claims.

Russia’s UN Pledge #1: Russia commits to countering “attempts to use human rights concepts as an instrument of political pressure and interference in the internal affairs of States, including with a view to destabilizing them and changing legitimate governments.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Russia itself systematically interferes in the internal affairs of other countries, waging global disinformation campaigns against Western democracies, including one deployed now during the Coronavirus pandemic. Russia disseminates fake news and contradictory reports, in six different languages, while orchestrating thousands of social media accounts to spread fake conspiracy theories. Russia seeks to undermine the very ability to distinguish between truth and fiction, as an attack on the democratic system.

Russia’s UN Pledge #2:  Russia seeks to “ensure protection of human rights and freedoms under international law and in strict compliance by States with their international human rights obligations.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Russia tramples international law by invading Ukraine, swallowing Crimea, and bombing civilians, hospitals and schools in Syria on a systematic basis, as the New York Times documented in great detail. A report from the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria explicitly accused Russia of direct involvement in war crimes for the “indiscriminate” bombing of civilian areas that killed 43 people and injured at last 109 others.

Russia’s UN Pledge #3: Russia commits to involving “civil society institutions in addressing international issues.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Freedom House reports that in 2019 the government deemed 74 domestic groups and 19 foreign NGOs as “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations, giving authorities a range of sanctions to stifle their activity.

Russia’s UN Pledge #4: Russia opposes “religious and ethnic intolerance.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Last year in the city of Surgut, authorities subjected seven Jehovah’s Witnesses—a religious group banned by the government in 2017—to torture including electric shocks, suffocation, and beatings.

Russia’s UN Pledge #5: Russia says that pays “considerable attention” to “interaction with the UN Human Rights Council’s system of Special Procedures.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Russia has denied entry to U.N. human rights experts on enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion, who were seeking to visit in order to issue reports. However, Russia did give $50,000 to fund the work of a discredited UN expert who described Russia as a victim of human rights violations, in the form of sanctions imposed by Western democracies.

FACT-CHECKING THE CANDIDACY OF SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia declared its candidacy for the UNHRC’s 2021-2023 term at a summit of the 56-nation Islamic group, enshrined in a resolution adopted by the OIC. Riyadh has not yet published its campaign pledges, but its most recent submission to a UN human rights review is replete with false claims about its record:

Saudi Arabia’s UN Claim #1: “The death sentence is only handed down for the most serious crimes and under strict conditions.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. According to the BBC, Saudi Arabia put to death 184 people in 2019—a record number for the kingdom. The U.S. State Department reports that Saudi Arabia carries out the death sentence for offenses of apostasy, sorcery and adultery.

Saudi Arabia’s UN Claim #2: “Civil society organizations work in partnership with the relevant bodies to prepare and monitor implementation of bills and draft regulations and assist with the publication of reports on human rights.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. The Saudi government denies licenses to new organizations and disbands existing ones that “harm national unity,” restricting many civil society groups and other non-governmental institutions. In 2016, the kingdom jailed nearly all the founders of the banned Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA). The country’s terrorism tribunal convicted ACPRA activists Abd al-Aziz al-Shubaily and Issa al-Hamid to eight and nine years in prison respectively, in addition to lengthy travel bans based solely on their peaceful pro-reform advocacy.

Saudi Arabia’s UN Claim #3: “The laws of the Kingdom guarantee freedom of opinion and expression, on which there are no restrictions save those stipulated by law and the need to respect the rights and reputation of others, protect national security and safeguard public order, public health and public decency…”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Dissidents who dare speak out and advocate democracy or human rights are thrown into prison and tortured. Human rights activist and blogger Raif Badawi, who advocated for a more free society, was jailed in 2014 for “insulting Islam through electronic channels” and brought to court on several charges including apostasy. He has languished behind bars for more than seven years.

Saudi Arabia’s UN Claim #4: Saudi Arabia is “concerned with the promotion and protection of women’s rights and the empowerment of women.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Saudi Arabia has carried out mass arrests of women’s rights activists, a number of whom have allegedly been sexually assaulted and suffered torture including whipping and electric shocks. The regime jailed women’s rights activist Lina al-Hathloul for calling on the government to lift the ban on women driving and end male guardianship laws.

Saudi Arabia’s UN Claim #5: “The Kingdom is keen to comply fully with the provisions and rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. As such, it affirms that all military operations by the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen are conducted in a manner fully consistent with those provisions and rules.”

Fact-Check: FALSE. Saudi Arabia has committed war crimes as head of the coalition against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, where Saudi forces continue to bomb civilian areas and contribute to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

II. Examining Candidates’ Human Rights & UN Voting Records 

HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD OF CUBA

Cuba commits serious human rights violations, including:

• Neither free nor fair elections
• Systematic political arrests
• Government threats, arrest and violence against dissent
• Severe violations of freedom of association
• Arbitrary arrest of civil society members and independent journalists
• Continuous and systematic violations of freedom of expression
• Gross limitations of the right of free media
• Circumscribed academic freedom
• Severely restricted worker rights, including a ban on labor unions
• Lack of independent judiciary

Discussion

The Cuban people have no ability to select their political representatives, under a one-party system. Any political organization outside the Cuban Communist Party (CCP) is prohibited. The people can only cast a ballot in municipal elections — where the candidates must be approved by political commissions.[1]

The Cuban Constitution establishes a system of subordination and a lack of independence within the powers of the State, which legally subordinates the entire judicial system and the exercise of any fundamental right to the will of the Communist Party secretary-general. The Cuban Constitution does not recognize the judiciary as an independent organ separate from the executive and the legislative branches of government, nor as the organ responsible for interpreting the Constitution in an objective, independent, and impartial manner, or even for conducting the constitutional review of laws or the acts of the executive.[2]

The Cuban judiciary is entirely subordinate to the CCP. The law deprives judges of the guarantee of stability and tenure by stating that the “professional judges and their professional permanent substitutes are elected without being subject to an end of term.”  This provision allows the judges to be appointed and removed arbitrarily by the authorities.

Additionally, all Cuban attorneys must be registered with the National Organization of Collective Law Offices (ONBC) as a condition for practicing their profession. The only attorneys authorized to practice law in Cuba are those admitted within the ONBC. However, the ONBC’s Code of Ethics provides that attorneys, in the exercise of the profession, must “consciously assume and contribute — within their duties — to defend, preserve and be faithful to the principles comprised in the nation, the Revolution and Socialism,” and this should be done “imbued with the righteous, noble and humane ideas of Socialism and inspired by the example set by the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.”

For decades, the Cuban State has restricted and systematically violated the human rights of the individuals within its territory. The systematic nature of these violations is evidenced by the continuous attacks and harassment carried out by the Cuban government against any opposition group or individual critical of the regime.^[3] Cuba uses arbitrary detention to maintain political control over civil society and to deter dissent. In 2015 the authorities conducted more than 8,600 politically-motivated detentions.[4]

Political prisoners in Cuba are deprived of basic amenities, and regularly beaten, and tortured. On July 22, 2016, political dissident Guillermo Farinas went on a hunger strike to protest the conditions of imprisonment of political prisoners.[5]

It should be noted that, although different Cuban civil society groups often call themselves “political parties” (e.g. Arco Progressive Party, Christian Democratic Party, National Liberal Party of Cuba, Social Democratic Party of Cuba), they do not have the legal status to operate as such or to compete for public office within the institutions of the Cuban State. These are civil associations of people whose will to participate in the civic and political life in Cuba is legitimate from the standpoint of a democratic society, but that are considered and treated as illegal — even as enemies of the State — under the totalitarian legal system guaranteed by the Cuban Constitution. Individuals who disagree with or are critical of any of the government’s branches, regardless of whether they are organized or not, are not allowed to express their views through the media, which are—as mentioned above—subject to the State’s complete control.  On the contrary: when the totalitarian State’s media refer to dissenting individuals, they do so with the disqualifying and dehumanizing adjectives of “worms,” “wormholes,” and “scum,” or with the criminalizing labels of “antisocial elements,” “mercenaries,” “subversives,” “terrorists,” and “counterrevolutionaries.”[6]

Before President Obama’s visit to Cuba in March 2016, the Cuban authorities intensified the crackdown on dissent. A weekly march by the group “Ladies in White,” mothers of jailed dissenters, was violently disrupted a few days before Obama’s visit, and some 30 activists were detained.[7]

Oswaldo Payá, one of the most prominent Cuban dissidents, died under mysterious circumstances in 2012. On July 22, 2015, the third anniversary of the death of Payá, Human Rights Foundation (HRF) published a legal report highlighting the inconsistencies of the official government investigation following his death. HRF documented numerous due process violations, including damning witness accounts, a grossly inadequate autopsy examination, and other key pieces of evidence that were overlooked by the Cuban judicial system. HRF’s report concluded that the “evidence, which was deliberately ignored, strongly suggests that the events of July 22, 2012, were not an accident, but instead the result of a car crash directly caused by agents of the state.”[8] An international independent inquiry into the events has been demanded by leading world figures. The daughter of Oswaldo Payá, Rosa María Payá, still fights for the truth.[9]

U.N. Voting Record

Negative: Cuba voted against resolutions in the General Assembly that spoke out for human rights victims in Iran, North Korea and Syria. Cuba backed human rights abusers through a resolution denying the right to sanction such regimes. At the Human Rights Council, Cuba voted against resolutions in support of human rights victims in Belarus and Ukraine.

[1] Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 Index, Cuba country report, available at www.freedomhouse.org.

[2] On September 16, 2012, Calixto Ramón Martínez, a journalist for the independent news agency Hablemos Press (a Cuban civil society organization — not recognized by the State — formed by self-taught journalists who work to expose the conditions in Cuba and circumvent the State’s monopoly over media) was arrested at José Martí International Airport in Havana. He had been investigating allegations that medicine provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) to fight the cholera outbreak (which the Cuban government had allegedly tried to downplay since it began in mid-2012) was being kept at the airport instead of being distributed to the Cuban people. Calixto Ramón endured almost seven months of arbitrary imprisonment. He was never officially charged for a crime. See news report from Pen International, Cuba: Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias released; two other writers remain imprisoned, Apr. 11, 2013, available at https://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/cuba-calixto-ramon-martinez-arias-released-two-other-writers-remain-imprisoned/. See also press release from the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ welcomes release of Cuban journalist, Apr. 10, 2013, available at https://cpj.org/2013/04/cpj-welcomes-release-of-cuban-journalist.php#more; press release from Reporters Without Borders, Independent reporter released after seven months in detention, Apr. 10, 2013, available at https://en.rsf.org/cuba-independent-reporter-released-10-04-2013,44361.html

[3] See Néstor Almendros, Nobody Listened (Cuban Human Rights Film Project) (1987), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Me-5wryFDQ. In the documentary, poets, writers, lawyers, ex-members of the PCC, and ex-commanders of the Cuban Revolution military share their experiences as protagonists and witnesses of the abuses and crimes of the judicial system and prisons in Cuba. Jorge Valles (arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1964); Huber Matos (a commander of the Cuban Revolution, accused of “sedition” and sentenced to 20 years in prison); Raúl Carmenate (detained at 16 years old in March of 1965, liberated 14 years later in 1979); Manuel del Valle; Sergio Bravo (a Protestant pastor who preached on the streets and was detained three times, spending a total of 18 years in prison until September 1979); Alcides Martínez and Miguel Torres Calero (detained and sentenced to 20 years for “conspiring against the powers of the State,” released after 12 years); among others, denounced the threats, beatings, torture, mutilations, summary trials, executions, and murders that they witnessed or endured during the decades they spent in prison.

[4] Human Rights Watch, World Report 2016, Cuba Chapter, available at https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/cuba and Amnesty International, Cuba country report, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/americas/cuba/report-cuba.

[5] “Leading Cuban dissident begins hunger strike,” AFP, July 2, 2016, available at https://www.france24.com/en/20160722-leading-cuban-dissident-begins-hunger-strike.

[6] See, e.g., videos and press releases from different sources exposing this practice, available at (some videos and releases are in Spanish only) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiJpfSpCOmk;

https://youtu.be/AATbW3uA_08?t=479;

https://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2013/11/10/obama-habla-de-cuba-entre-gusanos/; https://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2014/01/23/la-patria-grande-un-verdadero-dolor-de-cabeza-para-ee-uu/; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ5Hp5G_dDo (last visited Sept. 2, 2014).

[7] “Protesting wives of political prisoners arrested before Obama’s arrival in Cuba”, New York Times, March 21 2016, available at https://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2016/03/21/protesting-wives-of-political-prisoners-arrested-before-obamas-arrival-in-cuba.

[8] The Case of Oswaldo Payá, Human Rights Foundation (2015), available at https://humanrightsfoundation.org/uploads/The_Case_of_Oswaldo_Pay%C3%A1-ENG.pdf.

[9] Randall C. Archibold, “Inquiry Is Sought Into Death of Castro Critic,” The New York Times, April 4, 2013, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/world/americas/inquiry-is-sought-into-death-of-oswaldo-paya-cuban-dissident.html

HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD OF RUSSIA

Russia commits serious human rights violations, including:

• Limited ability of citizens to elect their representatives
• Repressive laws designed to suppress political opposition and dissent
• Government restrictions on the freedom of the media
• Restrictions of freedom of expression and assembly
• Prosecution of individuals supporting the government of Ukraine or criticizing Russian policies in the occupied Ukrainian territories
• Politically motivated denial of due process to anti-Putin defendants
• Discrimination against racial, ethnic, religious and sexual minorities
• Government prosecution of LGBTI persons
• Torture at detention facilities
• Overcrowded and substandard prison conditions
• Executive branch pressures on the judiciary
• Human trafficking
• Discrimination against people with disabilities
• Limited workers’ rights
• Harassment of civil society
• Occupation of Crimea and support for pro-Russian militants in Ukraine
• Deterioration of human rights due to the continued occupation and hostilities with the Ukrainian army

Discussion

Due to the international isolation that followed the occupation of Crimea and growing economic disparity, the Russian government sought to consolidate public opinion with notions of patriotism and traditional values. In this context, the Russian authorities cracked down on dissent and opposition that were deemed unpatriotic or opposed to traditional values.[1]

On February 27, 2015, Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader, was shot dead. Nemtsov was reportedly working on publishing a detailed report on the involvement of Russian soldiers in East Ukraine. Attempts to commemorate his death were opposed by pro-government groups and civil authorities.[2]

The judiciary lacks independence from the executive branch and career advancement is effectively tied to compliance with government preferences. Corruption in Russia is extremely common. According to the Panama Papers, even president Vladimir Putin is involved along with many other high-level figures of the Russian establishment.[3]

The government retains strict control over media outlets. The state effectively controls most media outlets in the country.[4]

Russia maintains rigorous control over dissemination of information in other forms. Natalya Sharina, director in a library of Ukrainian literature in Moscow, was arrested after publications by Ukrainian nationalist author Dmitry Korchinsky were found at the library. She was later jailed without access to food, water, or bedding before being released to house arrest.[5]

LGBTI persons are continuously and systematically persecuted by the authorities, and experience societal persecution. In May 2015, the Moscow gay parade was banned by the authorities; in September, the website Deti 404, which provides an online discussion platform for LGBTI adolescents, was blocked by the authorities. Sergey Alekseenko, a former director of a Russian LGBTI organization, was charged with violating the Russian propaganda law.[6]

In March 2014, Russia by force illegally annexed Crimea and started a war in Eastern Ukraine. Under Russian occupation, human rights in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea are systematically violated and serious human rights abuses by the armed groups supported by Russia continued to be reported, including torture, arbitrary and incommunicado detention, summary executions, forced labor, and sexual violence, as well as the destruction and illegal seizure of property.[7]

Violation of the Tatar people’s human rights in the occupied Crimean Peninsula continue with impunity. Russian forces in Crimea practice discrimination, seizure of books and other means designed to repress the Tatar people’s religious rights. In April 2016, Russian authorities arbitrarily arrested 35 Crimean Tatars, and detained and interrogated them without formal charges. Russia continues to violate Tatars’ freedom of expression and freedom of media. In May 2016, Russian-backed authorities blocked a pro-Tatar broadcast of Radio Free Europe.[8]

During the Russia-Georgia conflict in 2008, Russia occupied South Ossetia and militias perpetrated ethnic cleansing of the Georgian population in the area. The Russian Army failed to maintain its obligations as an occupation force, allowing South Ossetian militants to pillage and destroy ethnic Georgian villages. Human rights in the region have continuously deteriorated since the occupation.[9]

U.N. Voting Record

Negative: Russia voted against resolutions in the General Assembly that spoke out for human rights victims in Iran, North Korea and Syria. Russia backed human rights abusers through a resolution denying the right to sanction such regimes. At the Human Rights Council, Russia voted against resolutions in support of human rights victims in Belarus and Ukraine and against a resolution on gay rights.

HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD OF SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia commits serious human rights violations, including:

• Death sentences for offences of apostasy, sorcery and adultery
• Corporal punishment, including flogging and amputation, as forms of judicial penalty
• Judicial branch is not independent
• Court testimonies by women, non-practicing Sunnis, Shiites and other minorities are not considered equal before the law, and may be discounted at the discretion of the judge
• Highest number of executions since 1995, executions are often public
• Frequent arbitrary arrests of dissenters and minorities
• Frequent and systematic restrictions of freedom of speech and of the press
• Apostasy and blasphemy are punishable by death
• Complete state censorship of media
• Suppression of dissent
• Violence and discrimination against women in all fields of life
• Limitation of academic freedom
• No freedom of assembly and association
• Human rights defenders are systematically prosecuted
• Governed by an absolute monarchy
• Strict restrictions on civil society and other non-governmental institutions
• Spousal rape is not criminalized
• Discrimination and violence against LGBTI persons
• Consensual same-sex sexual conduct is punishable by death or flogging

Discussion

Saudi Arabia is governed by an absolute monarchy and theocracy. Citizens have no ability to influence the governing entity through democratic practices. The judiciary is highly influenced by the government, and is dictated by Sharia law.[10]

The government and courts systematically deny freedoms of expression and of the media. It prosecutes and imprisons dissenters and peaceful critics of government policies or the Islamic religion. Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger, was convicted in 2014 for insulting Islam and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was also flogged 50 times, a punishment executed in public.[11]

In 2015, Saudi Arabia carried out 158 executions, many for non-violent crimes like drug offences. Apostasy and blasphemy are also punishable by death. Al-Nimr’s confession for his alleged crimes of terrorism was reportedly extracted using torture.[12] In 2016, Saudi Arabia seem set on breaking their personal record of annual executions. As of July, Saudi Arabia  has executed 108 people in total, and more than ten percent of the executions were applied for drug trafficking offences.[13]

Same-sex sexual conduct is a crime punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. It is also illegal for a man to have a “feminine behavior.” Because of severe discrimination and violence, no organizations exist that promote LGBTI rights in Saudi-Arabia.[14]

Every woman in Saudi Arabia is required by law to have a male guardian. Male guardians have influence on most walks of life for women. Women need a guardian’s permission to travel outside Saudi Arabian borders. Guardians influence whether a woman may study or work in different disciplines and occupations, and whether an incarcerated woman may exit jail when her legal jail term is over. Women are widely segregated in Saudi Arabia, a nation where women cannot even drive a car.[15]

In Saudi Arabia, converting from Islam is prohibited by law. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world with the official policy of banning all churches. In 2014, 28 people including children were arrested by the religious police for practicing their religion at home.[16]

Saudi Arabia heads the coalition against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Between March 2015 and August 2016, 3,799 civilians have been killed, including many children. Some 8 million people including 3 million women and children are suffering from malnutrition; 3 million people have been forced to leave their homes.[17] In March 2016, Saudi forces bombed a market in the village of Al Khamees in Yemen, killing over 100 civilians, at least twenty-four of them children.[18] Saudi Arabia successfully pressured the UN to remove criticism of its actions harming children.

U.N. Voting Record

Negative: Saudi Arabia abstained on a resolution in the General Assembly that spoke out for human rights victims in Iran, although it supported the ones on North Korea and Syria. Saudi Arabia backed human rights abusers through a resolution denying the right to sanction such regimes. At the Human Rights Council, Saudi Arabia abstained on resolutions in support of human rights victims in Belarus and Ukraine and voted against a resolution on gay rights.

[1] Amnesty International, Russian Federation Report, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/europe-and-central-asia/russian-federation/report-russian-federation/.

[2] Sarah Rainsford, “Boris Nemtsov killing: Grief, fear and anger one year on,” BBC, February 27, 2016, available at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35675221.

[3] Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016, available at https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/russia and Luke Harding, “How to hide a billion dollars,” The Guardian, April 3, 2016, available at https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/panama-papers-money-hidden-offshore.

[4] Freedom House, Freedom of the Press Index 2015, Russia country report. Available at www.freedomhouse.org.

[5] “Russian police detain director of Ukrainian library in Moscow,” The Guardian, October 29, 2015, available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/29/russian-police-detain-natalya-sharina-ukrainian-library-director-moscow.

[6] “Russia: Court Rules Against LGBT Activist,” Human Rights Watch, February 3, 2016, available at https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/02/03/russia-court-rules-against-lgbt-activist.

[7] “Ukraine: “You Don’t Exist”: Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine,” Amnesty International, July 21, 2016, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur50/4455/2016/en and “Human Right’s Abuses in Russian-Occupied Crimea,” Freedom House, available at https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/CrimeaReport_FINAL.pdf.

[8] “Ukraine: Fear, Repression in Crimea,” Human Rights Watch, March 3, 2016, available at https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/18/ukraine-fear-repression-crimea and  “Crimea Realities Chief Says Ban Won’t Stop Website,” Radio Free Europe, August 24, 2016, available at https://www.rferl.org/content/release-crimea-realities-chief-says-ban-wont-stop-website/27731357.html.

[9] “Up In Flames,” Human Rights Watch, January 23, 2009, available at https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/01/23/flames/humanitarian-law-violations-and-civilian-victims-conflict-over-south.

[10] Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2015, Saudi Arabia country report, available at www.freedomhouse.org.

[11] “Saudi blogger Raif Badawi gets 10 year jail sentence,” BBC, May 8 2014, available at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27318400 and Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016, available at https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/saudi-arabia.

[12] “Death penalty 2015: Facts and figures”, Amnesty International, April 6, 2016, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/04/death-penalty-2015-facts-and-figures and “Shia cleric among 47 executed by Saudi Arabia in a single day,” Amnesty International, January 2, 2016, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/01/shia-cleric-among-47-executed-by-saudi-arabia-in-a-single-day/.

[13] “Saudi Arabia: Surge in executions continues as death toll approaches 100,” Amnesty International, May 27, 2016, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/saudi-arabia-surge-in-executions-continues-as-death-toll-approaches-100/ and “Saudi Arabia: Over 100 Executions Since January 1,” Human Rights Watch, July 27, 2016, available at https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/27/saudi-arabia-over-100-executions-january-1.

[14] Brian Whitaker, “Saudis’ tough line on gays,” The Guardian, April 9, 2005, available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/09/saudiarabia.brianwhitaker and Max Bearak & Darla Cameron, “Here are the 10 countries where homosexuality may be punished by death,” The Washington Post, June 16, 2016, available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/13/here-are-the-10-countries-where-homosexuality-may-be-punished-by-death-2.

[15] Human Rights Watch, World Report 2016, Saudi Arabia country chapter, available at https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/saudi-arabia.

[16] Matthew Blake, “Dozens of Christians ‘including women and children’ are arrested in Saudi Arabia after tip-off to state’s Islamist police force,” Daily Mail, September 15, 2014, available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2756134/Dozens-Christians-including-women-children-arrested-Saudi-Arabia-tip-state-s-Islamist-police-force.html.

[17] “High Commissioner Zeid Urges Accountability for Violations in Yemen,” United Nations, August 25, 2016, available at https://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/FBF612BBA464AB6DC125801A00366E21?OpenDocument.

[18] Human Rights Watch, World Report 2016, Saudi Arabia country chapter, available at https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/saudi-arabia.

Candidates for UNHRC's 2021-2023 term

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Saudi Arabia yesterday defended signing a letter supporting China’s practices in Xinjiang province, where authorities detain 1 million Uyghur Muslims in “re-education” camps. Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the UN Abdallah Al-Mouallimi claimed that the letter — which Saudi Arabia signed last week alongside 36 other countries — only focuses on China’s developmental work. (See full transcript below)
“Once again, nobody can be more concerned about the status of Muslims anywhere in the world than Saudi Arabia and these countries out here. What we have said in that letter is that we support the developmental policies of China that have lifted people out of poverty,” Al-Mouallimi said during an informal meeting with the press.
The statement was delivered alongside Yemen’s Ambassador to the UN Abdullah Al-Saadi, the UAE’s Chargé D’Affaires to the UN Saud Alshamsi, and the Arab League’s representative to the UN Maged Abdelaziz.
“The letter talks about China’s developmental work. That’s all it talks about. It does not address anything else,” Al-Mouallimi added.
After reiterating Saudi support for China, Al-Mouallimi ignored questions from journalists about the letter’s claims that China safeguards human rights for ethnic minorities.

____________

Journalist: “… to the Human Rights Council supporting China holding Muslims in these camps. Saudi Arabia, UAE signed this letter. Your allies in the United States have condemned these actions, but you seem to be standing behind China?”
Saudi Arabia: “Once again, once again, once again, nobody can be more concerned about the status of Muslims anywhere in the world than Saudi Arabia and these countries out here. What we have said in that letter is that we support the developmental policies of China that have lifted people out of poverty.”
Journalist: “I don’t think China has spent a lot on development in Xi Jung as you mention, but you don’t see it as a concern that they are holding up to a million people in a camp without a trial? It’s not a humanitarian issue?”
Saudi Arabia: “No, I was just addressing your question on the letter. The letter said that we appreciate the developmental work that is taking place in China, which is lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.”
Journalist: “Just as a follow up to that, some countries have been a little critical, though, that Saudi Arabia signed that letter, given that most of these people who are in these centers are Muslim. What would you say to that?”
Saudi Arabia: “Well, again, I will repeat the same thing that I have said: the letter talks about China’s developmental work. That’s all it talks about. It does not address anything else.”
Journalist: “The letter says that human rights are safeguarded for ethnic minorities in China.”
Saudi Arabia: “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. We appreciate it.”

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Above: Saudi delegates at today’s UNHRC review session

GENEVA, November 5, 2018 – Saudi Arabia today won widespread praise for its human rights record as the fundamentalist regime was examined in a routine UN review, prompting strong protests from human rights activists.
“Sadly, 75 out of 96 country delegations who took the floor at the UN Human Rights Council today expressed praise for the brutal and misogynistic Saudi regime,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, a non-governmental monitoring group.
“It’s a betrayal of jailed Saudi human rights activists like pro-democracy blogger Raif Badawi, who has been wrongfully imprisoned since June 2012. Despite our appeals to Canada, and to Germany, Britain, Sweden, France and others, no one spoke up for Raif Badawi.”
Despite today’s mandatory review of Saudi Arabia, in a standard exercise that all countries undergo every five years, the 47-nation UNHRC has never produced a single resolution, special session or commission of inquiry to condemn Saudi Arabia’s human rights record — not even for their confessed killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“On the contrary,” said Neuer, “Saudi Arabia is an elected member of the UN Human Rights Council.”
In today’s meeting, China praised Saudi Arabia for “its adoption and implementation of the Saudi Vision 2030,” for its “efforts in the area of economic, social development and poverty elimination” and its “judicial reform and fight against corruption.”
And in exchange, said Neuer, “tomorrow when China has its own turn to be examined, I predict that Saudi Arabia will take the floor to hail Beijing’s human rights record.”
Likewise, in today’s session, Venezuela commended Saudi Arabia “for empowering women.” Pakistan praised Riyadh’s alleged efforts to “empower women and promote gender equality.” United Arab Emirates paid tribute to Saudi Arabia “for mainstreaming human rights.”
Yemen applauded Saudi “support provided all levels to the people of Yemen.” Bahrain hailed Saudi Arabia’s “positive steps to protect human rights.” Jordan said that “the Saudi government has made human rights one of its main priorities.”
Malaysia said Saudi “efforts in advancing women’s rights are commendable.” Mauritania said “we applaud progress by Saudi Arabia in the fields of women’s rights.” Eritrea commended “steps taken to ensure equality.”
“We believe that Saudi Arabia places great importance on human rights,” said the Palestinian delegation. “We welcome its efforts in promoting human rights, protecting development and ensuring accountability.”
Only a minority of countries applied real scrutiny, with UN Watch noting statements by Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Neuer called the exercise of dictatorships falsely praising each other a “mutual praise society.”
“What we witnessed today was the spectacle of anti-democratic regimes like China, Venezuela and Myanmar falsely lauding Saudi Arabia for human rights successes, knowing that the Saudi regime will happily return the favor when their own records are under scrutiny,” Neuer said.
“A country with deeply-rooted discrimination against women in all sectors of society should not be praised in a UN human rights review, let alone sit on three separate UN bodies that are meant to protect women’s rights,” said Neuer.

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