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HRC presidency disregards complaint of terrorist presence in U.S. delegation
EFL - from a Cuban perspective so be prepared to excercise the old gag relfex.GENEVA, Switzerland, April 5.â Cuba was applauded today at the UN Human Rights Commission and shortly afterwards was obliged to publicly condemn the presence of terrorist Luis Zúñiga Rey on the U.S. delegation benches, affirmed PL. Cuban delegate MarÃa del Carmen Herrera was responsible for making the islandâs speech on issue 12 at the HRC, dedicated to womenâs rights and gender perspectives. An analysis of the problems faced by women throughout the world won applause from many participants in the morning session of the meeting, a somewhat uncommon occurrence at this type of forum. As if further increase tension in the HRC, the Washington delegation section was once again occupied by Zúñiga Rey, an individual of Cuban origin whose criminal past was presented by Cuba to those chairing the event, as well as a request that he be withdrawn as a delegate. Zúñiga Rey, linked to notorious terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, attempted to respond aggressively to the statement made by MarÃa del Carmen Herrera, who called for a point of order to reiterate that âadmitting that kind of person into the HRC is both shameful and indicative of a lack of decency and respect.â When the request was denied by Australian Mike Smith, current HRC president, the diplomat left the hall at the Palais de Nations in Geneva. Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left ... Beforehand, Herrera had pointed out that poverty throughout the world has many faces, the majority of them being women, who constitute almost 70% of the nearly two billion people without resources and almost two thirds of the 876 million illiterates throughout the world. Herrera emphasized that whilst the world speaks of the âfeminization of poverty,â Cuba is able to speak of âthe feminization of rights,â given that âwomen make up 44.9% of the labor force in the civil state sector.â She also referred to the difficult situation of a specific group of Cuban women - mothers, wives and daughters, namely the relatives of âthe five Cuban patriots unjustly imprisoned in the United Statesâ, whose only crime was to be âtrue heroes in the fight against terrorism.â She pointed out that some of those women were present at the meeting. âThey are not only suffering on account of the unjust and arbitrary imprisonment imposed on their loved ones, but also because Washington has even denied them their legitimate right of visiting them in prison, an event that would at least provide them with the affection of a mother, wife or daughter,â she observed. Touching, truly touching. Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-08 |
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