MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cuba remains as the country “with the worst human rights record”

Raul Castro has been a “big disappointment” for those who believed human rights conditions would improve in the island.

Cuba remains as the country with the worst human rights record in the western hemisphere and nothing has changed since President Raul Castro took over from his brother Fidel, according to the latest report from the dissident Cuban Commission of Human Rights CCDHRN).

CCDHRN said the number of political prisoners in Cuba rose by three to 208 in the first half of the year and although small “reflects the situation of paralysis and indifference of the Cuban government toward the urgent need to end political imprisonment on the island.”

“During this summer 2009, the situation of civil, political and economic rights, and of certain cultural rights of the first order, continues being the worst of the whole Western Hemisphere” said the illegal, but tolerated group in its semi-annual report.

Those who were hoping for rights improvements under President Raul Castro “suffered a big disappointment,” said the report, signed by commission spokesman and former political prisoner Elizardo Sanchez.

The report criticizes the “appeasement” policy towards the Cuban “totalitarian dictatorship” which prevails in the European Union because of the persistent influence of the Spanish government, and asks for a “more energetic position” from the international community.

“Low profile political repression” in seven months of 2009 has been confirmed by 532 dissidents, although the report believes the number “must be higher” since many are reluctant of recording their experience.

“This is a practice which has been applied during the last six years and consists of systematic arrests for several hours or few days at a time, threats and other forms of harassment against opposition activists”, indicates the report.

Among those jailed this year the report includes some well known dissident names such as Jose Diaz, Ernesto Diaz Esquivel and Darsi Ferrer Ramirez, who “remain interned in high security jails”.

“The Cuban government continues to occupy the dishonourable first place, worldwide, of conscience prisoners adopted by Amnesty International” says the report adding that the current criminal code in Cuba inspired in Stalin, “criminalizes basic civil, political and economic rights”.

The Cuban government views dissidents as mercenaries working for its long-time foe, the United States, which has openly supported members of the Cuban opposition. Cuba's official position has been that it has no political prisoners, only legal ones because everyone behind bars was given a fair trial.

But Raul Castro, who succeeded his aging older brother Fidel Castro as president last year, has suggested that Cuba exchange its political prisoners with five Cuban agents jailed in the United States.

The commission urged the world's democratic governments to demand that Cuba comply with international human rights standards.