Cuba was elected to serve a 3-year term on November 12, 2013 when 148 UN member states, out of 193 UN General Assembly members, voted in favor of Cuba's candidacy. In fact, this is Cuba's third term on the UN Council since its establishment in 2006, amounting to 6 years serving as a UN human rights authority, to date.
This is just some of what the most recent State Department report says about human rights in Cuba:
- "The principal human rights abuses were abridgement of the right of citizens to change the government and the use of government threats, extrajudicial physical violence, intimidation, mobs, harassment, and detentions to prevent free expression and peaceful assembly. The following additional abuses continued: harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrest, selective prosecution, and denial of fair trial. Authorities interfered with privacy, engaging in pervasive monitoring of private communications. The government did not respect freedom of speech and press, severely restricted internet access and maintained a monopoly on media outlets, circumscribed academic freedom, and maintained significant restrictions on the ability of religious groups to meet and worship. The government refused to recognize independent human rights groups or permit them to function legally. In addition, the government continued to prevent workers from forming independent unions and otherwise exercising their labor rights. Most human rights abuses were official acts committed at the direction of the government. Impunity for the perpetrators remained widespread."