Cuba Envoy: Election To UN Council “Important” Victory:

By Royanne Forbes-Darville -
Nassau, Bahamas:

Cuba’s election to the United Nations Human Rights Council is one of the "most important victories for the country in the last 47 years," Cuban Ambassador to The Bahamas Felix Hernandez Wilson said yesterday.

Out of 191 secret ballots cast, Cuba received 135 votes, securing its place on the 47-member council, Mr. Wilson told The Bahama Journal Thursday.

He said even if the elections had been based on receiving two-thirds of the votes, Cuba would have still been elected as a member state based on the results.

"So in a sense this is a victory against the U.S. and against those who did not want Cuba to be elected, and at the same time a recognition of international opinion on the true human rights value that Cuba stands for," Mr. Wilson said.

"Cuba is not there by itself, but [it] represents the thoughts, the feelings of third world countries of the Caribbean. Developing countries that want their voice to be heard on such an important body."

He also attributed Cuba’s election to the council to "growing international support" for a country that has strived despite the embargo placed on it by the United States.

"This is what the U.S. feared, that by secret ballots Cuba may have been elected," Mr. Wilson claimed.

The United States opposed the establishment of the new council, saying it did not go far enough to prevent human rights abusers from winning seats. The U.S decided against being a candidate.

U.S Senator Norm Coleman said Cuba’s election shows the council suffers from the same weaknesses as the commission. He said it "is the perfect example of the U.N.’s failure to reform," according to international news reports.

UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson described the council’s election as a "truly historic occasion," reflecting the will of all 191 Member States of the world body.

Mr. Wilson said it is important for Bahamians to know Cuba’s view on Human Rights.

"Countries like the United States and some western countries make judgments about other countries human rights and they don’t look at their own record of human rights," Mr. Wilson said.

Cuba remains one of the few countries that does not allow its citizens to leave the country without permission.

Saudi Arabia, China and Russia have also won seats on the new U.N. Human Rights Council.

Iran and Venezuela were defeated.

The 47 members elected on Tuesday replace the U.N. Human Rights Commission that was discredited after some countries with terrible human rights records used their membership to protect one another from condemnation.

The United States and Israel were among four countries that voted against setting up the council in a resolution in March. One hundred and seventy countries voted in favor of the council and there were three abstentious, with the U.S. saying that the new body does not go far enough in its reforms.

The U.N. Human Rights Council will be required to conduct a regular review of human rights records of all countries, beginning with those serving on it, according to reports.

This would give its members the chance to show the depth of their commitment to promote human rights both at home and abroad.

Other Latin American and Caribbean states elected to the council include Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

The Council is scheduled to hold its first meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on June 19.

12 May 2006