Cuba weathered the storm of domino collapse of Soviet bloc Communism. The economy, society, and normative order quietly underwent transformation. Cuba “regressed” from Marx’s utopian socialist and communist goals the regime prioritized during the first decade of Castro’s rule. In the early years of the new century Castro, with the support of the Party and government, does not see any considerable importance in building democratic state and remains “committed” to the violation of human rights.
The human rights situation in Cuba from the beginning of the Cold War to 1989 was too far from the ideal. Freedom of speech and association did not exist. All the mass media, both print and electronic, were under Communist party control. Cuban jails held approximately one thousand political prisoners, including several hundred long-term inmates subject to appalling prison conditions and abuse (Gomez 88). This dismal human rights record was only partially offset by the Cuban revolution's accomplishments in the field of economic and social development. The revolution has certainly brought a more egalitarian distribution of income and has broadened access to health care and education. It can be questioned, however, whether these gains could justify the sacrifice of political rights and individual freedom that has been entailed by the Cuban revolutionary process.
Castro's strategy called for the creation of a mobilized society and a strong centralized state, all under the direction of a single revolutionary vanguard party. The vanguard has been organized since 1965 as the Communist party of Cuba (PCC). Decision making in Cuba was dominated by the general secretary of the party, Fidel Castro, and a small circle of his close associates. The formal institutions of government, known collectively as the Organs of Popular Power, included a 500-person National Assembly and local government units at the provincial and municipal level (Gomez 100). In addition, interest-oriented associations, called mass organizations, were responsible for channeling the concerns of workers, peasants, women, etc., to the highest political leadership. There was no freedom to organize independently of the government-sponsored institutions.
Political freedom, understood in the Western sense, did not exist and does not exist now in Cuba. The Cuban constitution mentions freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the rights of assembly, demonstration, and association. All of these rights and freedoms, however, are explicitly limited by Article 61 of the constitution which provides: "None of the freedoms which are recognized for citizens can be exercised . . . contrary to the existence and objectives of the socialist state, or contrary to the decision of the Cuban people to build communism." (Gomez 89). The restrictive constitutional framework is supplemented by various sections of the Penal Code. The most important is Article 108, according to which a person who "incites against the social order, international solidarity, or the Socialist state, by means of oral or written propaganda, or in any other form" risks a prison sentence of from one to eight years (Gomez 78). These restrictions are by no means of merely theoretical significance, but are strictly enforced. Repression of "counterrevolutionary" writings, speech, demonstrations, meetings, etc., is complete and well institutionalized.
This does not mean that all criticism is forbidden. Complaining, both informally to one's neighbors on the street, and formally through government channels, is an accepted part of Cuban life. So long as grousing is focused on specific deficiencies, such as overcrowded buses, dirty beer bottles, and rude treatment at clinics, it is tolerated, and even promoted by the government. For those Cubans, however, who direct their criticism toward the system as a whole, or to particularly sensitive aspects of it, the penalties can be severe.
One well-documented case is that of Ricardo Bofill Pages, once a professor of philosophy at the University of Havana. Bofill was first arrested in 1967, apparently in connection with his involvement in an anti-Castro faction of the Cuban Communist Party (Gomez 112). Released after five years, he worked as a floor-sweeper until 1980, when he was again arrested. After serving another two and a half years in prison Bofill was released, but not permitted to work or emigrate. In 1983 Bofill was back in prison, this time in reprisal for granting an interview to two French journalists concerning the situation of human rights in Cuba.
In the early 1960s, as a consequence of severe security measures, the Cuban government was burdened with a large number of supposedly counterrevolutionary prisoners. By 1965 there were still, by Castro's own estimate, 20,000 political prisoners in Cuba (Gomez 98). Ten years later, again by Castro's estimate, there were about 4,500 such prisoners (Gomez 143). These reductions were achieved through a government-sponsored rehabilitation program which offered early release to those engaging in labor and political study.
There has never been on-site inspection of Cuban prisons by independent outside groups such as Amnesty International, the Red Cross, or the InterAmerican Human Rights Commission. In this respect, Cuban prisoners were more disadvantaged than even those of Chile, Uruguay, or Haiti. Castro denies that he has anything to hide. Outside observers, however, believe that torture was employed in the early 1960s (Gomez 144). Even when outright torture is not employed, mistreatment of prisoners has taken the form of poor prison conditions and severe harassment. Prisoners suffered from overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and inadequate food. Certain prisoners, singled out for special abuse, were subjected to steep deprivation, special punishment cells, lack of medical care, and denial of family visits and mail.
In 1988 the most abused inmates were those several hundred who for political reasons refused to participate in the government-sponsored rehabilitation program. Nicknamed "plantados" from the Spanish for "to stand firm," these prisoners did not accept political reeducation and insisted on their rights under an International Labor Organization (ILO) convention (number 29) ratified in 1930 by Cuba which forbids the use of forced labor as a means of education or punishment (Gomez 33).
One particularly cruel aspect of the situation of Cuban political prisoners was the arbitrary reimposition of sentences on prisoners who have completely served their terms. Amnesty International reported in 1982 that it knew of more than fifty political prisoners who had, since 1977, received additional sentences for having manifested a "rebellious attitude" while in prison (Gomez 45).
The Cuban government has not faced armed internal resistance since the early 1960s till 1989. Thanks to the thorough and efficient labors of the internal security organs, there was no organized underground resistance in Cuba to be rooted out by "dirty war" methods as in Argentina. Nevertheless, arrests for political causes, mistreatment of prisoners, and arbitrary extension of prison terms took place. These, together with the extensive curtailment of individual freedom, enforced through a highly organized system of surveillance, amply justified Cuba's reputation as a major violator of human rights.
The Castro government has not only intensified the use of ordinary techniques of repression, familiar from Cuba's past, but has also introduced forms of regimentation wholly new to Cuba. With the advent of Cuban socialism, every sphere of life formerly deemed private, including the economy, religion, emigration, and even sex, became politicized and subjected to rigid norms of conduct. This politicization is the consequence of a revolutionary ideology which viewed the old division between private and public as no longer legitimate.
The CDR block committees, which originally monitored the political activities and associations of citizens to prevent acts of violence and sabotage, soon became an all-purpose institution for repression. Surveillance became multifaceted, intrusive, and petty. The CDRs were also made responsible for listing inventories of would- be emigrants' furniture and valuables, to prevent their sale before departure (since these items would be confiscated by the state). Admission to university and even technical schools became contingent on a favorable evaluation from the local CDR.
One of the previously private spheres most affected by the revolution's expanded definition of the political was that of religion. On paper, the Cuban constitution "guarantees freedom of conscience and the right of everyone to profess any religious belief and to practice, within the framework of respect for law, the belief of his preference." (Gomez 45) However, with the triumph of the revolution, religion almost immediately became a battleground between the Castro government and more conservative elements of Cuban society.
In the sphere of sexual conduct, the revolution's impulse to purge Cuban society of "capitalist vices" has brought persecution of homosexuals. In late 1965 homosexuals, along with others considered socially deviant, were drafted into the army in special groups called Military Units to Aid Production (Gomez 102). Treatment of the draftees was always harsh and sometimes brutal. Many writers and university faculty at this time were denounced as homosexuals (sometimes at public meetings convened for this purpose) and removed from their jobs. Another potent new mechanism of social control introduced by the Castro government has been restriction of the right to emigrate. No previous government of Cuba, no matter how tyrannical, saw fit to adopt this kind of measure.About the Author:
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