MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Government crackdown on protests and citizens in Cuba
14.9.2021 - (2021/2872(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure
Anna Fotyga, Karol Karski, Hermann Tertsch, Bogdan Rzońca, Elżbieta Rafalska, Jadwiga Wiśniewska, Assita Kanko, Ryszard Czarnecki, Elżbieta Kruk, Emmanouil Fragkos, Jan Zahradil, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Adam Bielan, Witold Jan Waszczykowski, Angel Dzhambazki, Carlo Fidanza, Veronika Vrecionová, Ladislav Ilčić
on behalf of the ECR Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0436/2021
B9‑0443/2021
European Parliament resolution on Government crackdown on protests and citizens in Cuba
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Cuba, in particular those of 17 November 2004 on Cuba[1], of 2 February 2006 on the EU’s policy towards the Cuban Government[2], of 21 June 2007 on Cuba[3], of 11 March 2010 on prisoners of conscience in Cuba[4], of 5 July 2017, on the draft Council Decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Cuba, of the other part[5], of 15 November 2018 on the human rights situation in Cuba[6], of 28 November 2019 on the case of José Daniel Ferrer[7], and of 9 June 2021 on the human rights and political situation in Cuba,
– having regard to the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) between the European Union and Cuba (PDCA) signed in December 2016 and provisionally applied since 1 November 2017,
– having regard to the third official dialogue on human rights between the European Union and Cuba, held under the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement on 26 February 2021,
– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international human rights treaties and instruments,
– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Cuba is a signatory,
– having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
– having regard to the universal periodic review of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) on Cuba of 16 May 2018,
– having regard to the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba and the Cuban Penal Code,
– having regard to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1984, to which Cuba is a State Party,
– having regard the Report of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted on 6 October 2020,
– having regard to the reports of human rights defenders such as Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Foundation and Prisoners Defenders, and Communication AL CUB6 / 2019 of the Mandates of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, and the Special Rapporteur on human trafficking,
– having regard to the final communications of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) on the request for urgent measures of 27 January 2020 on the 37 days of enforced disappearance of José Daniel Ferrer, of the urgent petition dated 23 January 2020 on the enforced disappearance for 63 days of Fernando González Vaillant, and the report of the CED of 5 October 2020 on requests for urgent measures filed under Article 30 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances,
– having regard to the report of the HRC Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, presented on 30 September 2020 and adopted on 6 October after the 88th session of the Working Group on the more than 100 arbitrary detentions,
– having regard to the reports of the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights from the 12 months to May 2021 on repressive actions and arbitrary detentions,
– having regard the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions ratified by Cuba,
– having regard the statement of the Organization of American States (OAS) General Secretariat of 16 October 2019,
– having regard to the definition of ‘civil society organisation’ in the Official Journal of the European Union,
– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas since the adoption on June 9, 2021 the Resolution by the European Parliament on human rights and the political situation in Cuba, the situation in the country has dramatically and systematically worsened:
B. whereas the EU – Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) includes a suspension clause in case of violations of human rights provisions;
C. whereas the latest legislation by the Cuban government, especially the decree by Law 35/2021 on Telecommunications, Information and Communication Technologies and the Use of the Radioelectric Spectrum of August 17, 2021 and Resolution 105 on the National Action Model for the response to Cybersecurity Incidents, establishes sanctions, and criminal offenses of counterrevolutionary actions for opposing, questioning, criticizing and/or attempting to modify the dictatorial regime model prevailing in the country;
D. whereas the Republic of Cuba is a unitary, one-party communist state, governed by the Communist Party of Cuba (CPC), which is committed to Marxism–Leninism; whereas as such it does not share democratic values, i.e. individual freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of religion;
E. whereas under the six decade long and uninterrupted rule of the Communist Party of Cuba, the country has impoverished its citizens, robbed their human rights and possessions, witnessed countless and incessant cases of torture, forced disappearances, assassinations and the elimination of any political dissidents whilst using brutal repression to retain power;
F whereas in October 2019 the Organization of American States insisted on the already historical denunciation by international democratic forces that the current destabilization of the Iberoamerican political systems has its origin in the strategy of the Bolivarian and Cuban dictatorships which finance, supports and promotes the political and social conflict in the Iberoamerican region;
H. whereas a series of mass demonstrations occurred on July 11 2021, in various Cuban cities, which was conducted in a free, spontaneous, civic and peaceful manner; whereas the primary purpose was to strictly exercise the right to assembly and freedom of expression; whereas the demonstrators were calling for respect of the following: freedom, democracy, decent food, as well as the resignation of president Miguel Díaz-Canel,
I. whereas in response the regime mobilised its supporters to violently oppose the demonstrators;
J. whereas the regime cut off the Internet for several days so that the citizens were disabled from publicly reporting acts of repression and human rights violations they were suffering; whereas Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez described the U.S. attempt to reinstate the Internet signal to the island, as an "aggression”.
K. whereas the Cuban government has systematically and flagrantly violated the constitutional order of its Magna Carta, namely article 51 stating that: “persons may not be subjected to forced disappearance, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the State recognizes, respects and guarantees individual freedom of thought, conscience and expression; the rights of assembly, demonstration and association, for lawful and peaceful purposes, are recognized by the State provided that they are exercised with respect for public order and in compliance with the precepts established by law";
L. whereas incumbent dictator Diaz-Canel has set in motion a vindictive governmental repressive machinery with countless arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and tortures, with at least one confirmed death by police, Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, who was killed in a protest in Havana on July 12 by a shot from behind; whereas hundreds of citizens were placed under house arrest, thousands of other people imprisoned awaiting trial, deprived of their right to legitimate defense, others already sentenced in summary trials without due process, and others placed in provisional liberty with insurmountable bail charges; whereas among the disappeared detainees were several members of the board of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba, specifically, its president José Daniel Ferrer García, and its vice-president Félix Navarro Rodríguez;
M. whereas the U.S. Government has expanded its list of sanctions against the Cuban dictatorship, including high-ranking officials of the Ministry of the Interior, as well as the Armed Forces Prevention Troops, for abuses against peaceful demonstrators, meanwhile, the EU maintains current agreements with third countries despite the fact that they systematically violate the clauses of respect for human rights, as is the case of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba;
N. whereas the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights has formally requested "the application of the new European Union sanctions regime for those natural persons or state institutions involved" in the serious human rights violations in Cuba;
- Demands the immediate release of all political prisoners including all those detained, prosecuted and tried because of the July 11 2021 demonstrations; reiterates its deep concern over the continuously accumulating reports of persecution, harassment, arbitrary detentions, and continued attacks against any person who attempts to exercise theirs fundamental rights;
- Supports the Cuban citizens protesting against brutal dictatorship of Diaz-Canel;
- Is deeply concerned with findings of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention about the arbitrary deprivation of liberty in Cuba and show a systematic problem of arbitrary detentions, as ratified in reports of; 12/2017, 55/2017, 64/2017, 59/2018, 66/2018, 63/2019 and 4/2020;
4. Denounces the role of Cuba in supporting, financing and promotion of the political and social conflicts in the Iberoamerican region and calls for immediate cessation of such actions;
6. Stresses that contrary to the PDCA, Cuban and European civil society organizations have been systematically impeded to participate in the human rights dialogues between Cuba and the European Union, within the broader framework of the human rights dialogue of the PDCA, such as the one that took place on February 26, 2021, as a consequence of the Cuban Government's refusal to grant them authorization;
7. Reminds that the participation of civil society as an actor in cooperation projects is an essential condition as set out by the PDCA; regrets, however, that such participation is being rendered impossible by the Cuban authorities;
8. Calls on the EEAS and the Council to immediately apply the suspension clause on the PDCA due to repeated and systematic violation of the agreed obligations and commitments; insists that the EU closely supervises and monitors respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba;
9. Requests the immediate cessation of all financial aid from the EU to Cuba, which have been paid consistently and in disregard of past and present serious violations of human rights and that, it has been shown that at no time they are in fact used directly to the benefit of the population; is concerned that neither this direct aid nor the aid dependent on the EU Diplomatic Mission in Havana have been intended to improve the standard of living of Cubans, but rather been used to the benefit of the communist regime and its own ideological and repressive organizations and associations;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commission, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the governments of the Member States of the CELAC countries.