Speaking at UN Watch’s press conference today concerning next week’s elections to the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council, Cuban rights activist Rosa Maria Paya urged countries not to elect Cuba. See her remarks below. UN Watch published a detailed report on the elections which examines the pledges and human rights record of each country running. Click here for the report.

Greetings to you all, and a special thanks to Hillel and UN Watch for providing this opportunity.

In 2013, Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary-General, received and circulated a petition to create an international committee in order to conduct an independent investigation into the killing of Cuban political activist Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas. July 22 will mark nine years since my father, Oswaldo Payá, was assassinated by the Cuban communist regime. The investigation has yet to be conducted by the UN while the Cuban regime is again seeking a seat on the Human Rights Council, from where they pretend to protect their impunity and ensure sure that the multiple accusations against them, or against the rest of their criminal friends, in Venezuela, China, Russia, Belarus, etc. do not prosper.

We know that as a fact, because that impunity has been guaranteed each time the Cuban regime has been seated in the Council. Personally, I have been publicly interrupted, attacked, and even threatened by the ambassadors of the dictatorship in coordination with representatives from other regimes such as Russia, China, and Venezuela while addressing the plenary session of the Human Rights Council. All of these regimes act in gangs, conspiring together to cover their backs and deplete the mission of the Human Rights Council of content and effectiveness.

 The existence of a candidacy without competition of the Cuban dictatorship is not only an outrage against the Cuban people, but also a shame on the governments that sit in the United Nations. So, my words today are especially addressed to the member states of the European Union and the democracies of the Americas which should not legitimize with their vote the presence in the Human Rights Council of the longest dictatorship in our hemisphere. We urge you to vote against the Cuban dictatorship in the highest human rights body.

Actually, the 60-year tolerance of totalitarianism in Cuba demonstrated by the free world has impeded the stability of democracy in our continent and caused serious threats to the national security of several states. As has been widely documented, the Cuban intelligence apparatus of the Castro regime infiltrated the entire hemisphere, from social movements to guerrillas and criminal organizations. During these years, Cuba has served as a center for the dissemination of authoritarian models, such as the so-called “21st century socialism.” The Cuban dictators are involved in criminal and terrorist activities: drug trafficking, trafficking persons through the Communists Medical Brigades, corruption, and providing sanctuary and support to terrorists as recently denounced by the Colombian government.

 In fact, last year, the attacks on democratic regimes in Latin America have been especially intense and even violent, according to the allegations of the OAS General Secretariat. That entity that was forced to make itself available to “the member states in their efforts to confront the destabilizing actions organized by the Venezuelan and Cuban dictatorships.”

Solidarity is crucial now because Cuba is in crisis. Families are living through a deep humanitarian crisis and political repression, a crisis caused by the existence of a corrupt and criminal regime and aggravated by the Covid-19. However, amid hunger and medicine shortages, Cuban regime authorities have been blocking the release of humanitarian aid sent by the Cuban exile community in a citizen-led initiative to help their brothers and sisters on the island. For months now, Castro and Diaz Canel have been arbitrarily withholding the cargo, demonstrating that the dictatorship is the true blockade between the aid and the Cuban people.

We are talking about a regime that imposes a single-party system and prohibits the exercise of politics, freedom of expression and association, and even religious freedom.

All the democracies of the world, especially those that sit in the OAS and in the European Union, must vote against the Cuban dictators.  Josep Borrell and Michelle Bachelet must publicly protest against this candidacy. To do otherwise would be an act of complicity with criminals, an act of treason to the Cuban people and, frankly, a sabotage of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.

It is imperative that all of the nations in the free world support the Cuban people’s fight for change because the victory of democracy in Cuba is essential to open the path to peace, prosperity and stability in the whole hemisphere.

The post Rosa Maria Paya Opposes Cuba’s Election to the UNHRC appeared first on UN Watch.

GENEVA, May 2, 2019 — UN Watch announced today that Rosa María Payá, one of Cuba’s leading pro-democracy activists and the daughter of the late dissident Oswaldo Paya, will receive the Swiss organization’s highest human rights award at the 2019 UN Watch Annual Gala Dinner on Thursday, June 13th in Geneva.

“Rosa María Payá was chosen for her courageous defense of freedom, liberal democracy and universal human rights,” said Hillel Neuer, UN Watch Executive Director. “Her mission to free the Cuban people from dictatorship has never been more vital.”

Ms. Payá is the daughter of renowned Cuban dissident and democracy advocate Oswaldo Payá, who was killed in 2012 under mysterious circumstances. Today, Ms. Payá carries on the work of her father, who founded the democratic Christian Liberation Movement and received the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

“With this great honor, you give me the opportunity to raise the voice of the Cuban people, who each day, are stripped of their human rights and dignity by the ruling regime,” said Ms. Payá.

“The support of the international community is essential to achieve democracy and liberation for my country,” she added. “This award gives us hope that the change is closer every day.”

Leader of Cuban Democracy Campaign 

Ms. Payá advocates for Cuban democracy both through local efforts in Cuba and  international initiatives.

She is the leader of the Cuba Decide, a non-partisan group calling for a binding national referendum on the question of holding free, democratic elections in Cuba.

Under Payá’s leadership, the group campaigned during municipal elections in November 2017 for voters to annul their ballots to protest the lack of free and fair elections. Following the campaign, more than 30% of voters annulled their ballots at sites that the group monitored throughout the country.

Beyond her efforts on the ground in Cuba, Ms. Payá is a leading voice advocating for international pressure on Cuba and has raised the issue through passionate appeals at the UN Human Rights Council, the European Parliament, the US Congress, the Organization of American States, the Summit of the Americas and several national parliaments.

Her strategic efforts have led to concrete actions including the passing of a U.S. Senate Resolution in 2018.

While in Geneva, Ms. Paya will release a proposed draft resolution on the situation of human rights in Cuba.

Partner With UN Watch

A longtime partner of UN Watch, Ms. Payá has appeared at the organization’s events in parliaments, at the UN and at human rights conferences. Together with the organization, she has testified on the Cuban government’s human rights violations and called for a formal investigation of the regime’s targeted killing of her father.

Also serving as president of the Latin American Youth Network for Democracy, Ms. Payá led a delegation to observe legislative elections in Venezuela to show solidarity with pro-democracy advocates in Venezuela in 2015.

Ms. Payá has written several influential articles, including an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama in 2014 in response to policy changes toward the Cuban regime, and in the Washington Post. 

People en Espanol named her one of the “25 Most Powerful Latin Women” in 2013 and in 2018, she was a finalist for the prestigious Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize, established by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Morris Abram Award & UN Watch

The award, which is UN Watch’s highest human rights distinction, commemorates the legacy of UN Watch’s founder, the late Ambassador Morris Abram, a pioneering civil rights advocate, diplomat and UN delegate, who in 1963 helped win the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that granted equality to the votes of African-Americans.

Previous winners of the prestigious prize include Turkish journalist Yavuz Baydar; Chinese dissident Yang Jianli; Antonio Ledezma, the Mayor of Caracas and former political prisoner; Russian dissident and world chess champion Garry Kasparov; Dr. Massouda Jalal, Afghanistan’s first Minister for Women’s Affairs; and Esther Mujawayo, an activist for victims of the genocide in Rwanda.

UN Watch organized the annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, a key gathering for dissidents, and brings victims to testify before the United Nations Human Rights Council, including victims from China, Cuba, Egypt, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Sudan and Venezuela.

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Thank you, Mr. President. I apologize for the noise in the room but it was necessary to interrupt the statement by the mercenary who has dared to come to this room. We would like to ask, Mr. President, if this debate on Item 4 refers to general questions that may show a pattern of violations of human rights, or whether it is also to be used to address specific issues such as what is being done now by the mercenary, who has been taking the floor at this juncture. We have this concern, Mr. President, and we would be very grateful if you could clarify things for us and if you could show this to the mercenary who is delivering a statement. Thank you.

United States:

Thank you Mr. President. We highlight that the US firmly believes that NGOs must be permitted to speak in the Council. The member states, including the United States, may occasionally disagree with the content of a NGO statement. It is essential that civil society voices be heard here in an atmosphere of open expression. Without addressing the substance of what the speaker was saying, we are of the opinion that what we have heard of the intervention so far is addressed to the subject matter at hand before this Council under item 4. Mr. President, we respectfully ask that you rule that the speaker be allowed to finish her presentation. Thank you.

China: Thank you, Mr. President. The Chinese delegation believes that the concern of the Cuban delegation is valid. I hope, Mr. President, that you will seriously consider the request by the Cuban delegation. Thank you.
Russia: Thank you, Mr. President. Our delegation would like to support what is being said by the delegation of Cuba, objecting to the procedure being used for conducting the meeting. We would like to ask you to appeal to the representative of the NGO which is speaking to adhere to the established rules of procedure for the Council and the agenda as established. Thank you very much.
Pakistan: We support the point of order raised by the Cuban delegation. Thank you.
Nicaragua: My delegation is asking for the floor to support the request put forward by Cuba in its point of order. Thank you very much.
Belarus: Mr. President, the delegation of Belarus joins the well-founded statement on the point of order and procedural issues as raised by the delegation of Cuba. Thank you.
President: I would like to remind the organizations that are speaking that we are on Agenda Item 4, the human rights situations which require attention in the Council, and that they confine to that subject matter in their statements.
[Paya then resumed her statement.]
Thank you, Mr. President.
The driver of the car told the Washington Post that they were intentionally rammed from behind. The text messages from the survivors on the day of the event confirm this.
The Cuban government’s state security calls my family home in Havana, saying: “We’re going to kill you.” These are the same death threats that were made to my father.  I want to be clear: The physical integrity of all members of my family is the responsibility of the Cuban government.
Today I wish to present this appeal, signed by 46 political leaders and activists from around the world. We urge the United Nations to launch an independent investigation into the death of my father.
The truth is essential to the process of reconciliation that is necessary for a transition to democracy in Cuba. We do not seek revenge. But we have a right to know:
Who is responsible for the death of my father?
When will the people of Cuba finally enjoy basic democracy and fundamental freedoms?
Thank you, Mr. President.
At the end of the general debate, Cuba took the floor again to exercise a right of reply.
Cuba, exercising right of reply:

An anti-Cuban mercenary addressed the Council today to try to blame the Cuban government for the death of her father, who died last year in a car accident. This mercenary was accredited by United Nations Watch, a reactionary NGO without any credibility. Nobody takes it seriously and it only works for the service of the United States.
Rosa Maria Paya is a created, invented individual — financed and promoted by the US government. She has close relations with the US Interests Office in Havana, which she has visited on many occasions.
As regards to the alleged facts, nobody in their right mind would believe them during the oral and public hearing. And on the basis of abundant proof, including expert proof, it was shown that Angel Carromero was driving at well above 120 kilometers an hour, and it was his lack of attention and care, the fact that he was driving too fast, and a wrong decision to step on the brakes too hard on a slippery surface that caused this tragic accident which cost the life of two individuals. Angel Carromero in fact recognized this.
Both Rosa Maria Paya and Regis Iglesias — speaking on behalf of another phony NGO — are vulgar agents, paid, educated and trained by the US government in order to bring about a regime change in Cuba. They both work for those who are in favor of the blockade and aggression against their own people.

The post Cuba tries to block UN speech by Oswaldo Paya's daughter appeared first on UN Watch.

GENEVA, March 12, 2013 – US intervention prevented Cuba and its allies from blocking a UN speech today by the daughter of Cuba’s top dissident, Oswaldo Paya, allowing her to present an appeal, signed by former world leaders and other public figures, for a UN inquiry into his suspicious death in July.

Rosa Maria Paya spoke in a UN Human Rights Council debate in Geneva, taking the floor on behalf of UN Watch, the human rights group that organized her UN visit and the petition signed by 46 former presidents, foreign ministers, parliamentarians and human rights activists. Click here for joint appeal to UN signed by former presidents of Peru, El Salvador and Uruguay.

The Cuban delegate interrupted her speech, furiously accused her of being a “mercenary,” and demanded that the Ecuadoran president stop her from speaking. China, Russia, Belarus, Pakistan and Nicaragua echoed the objection. However, following a strong intervention in her defense by the US delegate, Paya was allowed to continue. Click here for transcript of Paya’s UN speech, including the country interventions.

“Rosa Maria Paya is a very brave woman,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, “who clearly inherited a lot from her father. This is the first time we’ve brought a Cuban dissident to speak at the UN who’s not in exile, but who rather has to go back to Havana and assume all the risks that come with taking on a police state in which one still lives. I hope she’ll be safe.”

“The fact that a parade of serial rights abusers rallied behind Cuba to silence a human rights hero only underscored the true nature of Havana’s repressive regime,” added Neuer.

The post Havana tries to block UN testimony of Oswaldo Paya's daughter, US defeats objections by China, Russia, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Belarus appeared first on UN Watch.

See full conference program below

GENEVA, Feb. 19 – In a rare development, the daughter of a famous Cuban dissident who was recently killed in a mysterious car crash successfully flew from Havana to a Geneva human rights summit to call for an international inquiry into her father’s death.

One week before foreign ministers assemble in Geneva to open the annual session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a cross-regional coalition of 20 human rights groups have gathered courageous dissidents and democracy activists in a bid to focus attention on urgent situations of gross human rights abuse.
Famous survivors of North Korean concentration camps spoke this morning. Other speakers today include renowned activists from Cuba, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Sudan, Syria, and Tibet, meeting in a concerted effort to influence the UN human rights agenda. For blog posts and photos, see www.facebook.com/genevasummit.
The speakers are addressing discrimination against women, the jailing of journalists, prison camps, Internet freedom, religious intolerance, and the persecution of human rights defenders. For a full line-up of the parallel summit’s speakers, click here or see below.
Now in its fifth year, the summit has won widespread media coverage. Videos of past speaker testimonies are available at www.genevasummit.org.
 
9:30     Session I: Women’s Rights: The Struggle for Human Dignity
Moderator: Tom Gross, Journalist and international affairs commentator
Colette Braeckman, Reporter on sexual violence in Congo
Mukhtar Mai, Pakistani rape victim, women’s rights activist
Marina Nemat, Iranian author and activist
11:00    Session II: Crimes Against Humanity: Slavery, Genocide and Concentration Camps — In Our Own Time?
Moderator: James Kirchick, Journalist
Abidine Merzough, Mauritanian anti-slavery activist
Shin Dong-Hyuk , North Korean defector
Kang Chol-Hwan, North Korean defector
Mukesh Kapila, Expert on Darfur genocide, Aegis Trust
14:30     Session III: Authoritarianism and Human Rights: The Police State and Its Victims
Moderator: Philippe Robinet, President and Director of Kero editions
Dicki Chhoyang, Tibetan Foreign Minister in Exile
Régis Iglesias Ramirez, Cuban poet, former prisoner of conscience
Randa Kassis, Syrian activist
Rosa Maria Paya, Daughter of killed Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya 
16:00     Session IV: Freedom of Expression Under Assault: From Moscow to the Middle East: The Silencing of Critical Voices
Moderator: Guy Mettan, Executive Director of the Swiss Press Club
Pyotr Verzilov, Husband of Pussy Riot musician now in prison, Russian activist
Lukpan Akhmedyarov, Kazakh dissident, newspaper editor, was stabbed 8 times last year for speaking out
Kacem El Ghazzali, Moroccan blogger and atheist subjected to death threats
The conference is taking place at the Geneva International Conference Center.
For interviews or more information, contact:
Arielle Herzog Hadida, Coordinator
secretariat@genevasummit.org

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ORGANIZED BY AN INTERNATIONAL NGO COALITION:

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