Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba requests renewal of the UN

HeCouncil for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC) requested the renewal of the United Nations Organization, after the Human Rights Council of that organizationre-elect Cuba as a member.

The unitary anti-Castro platform showed its dissatisfaction with the failure to comply with the bases that gave meaning to the UN, and considered that the organization should be open to “a deep review and discussion” of these as a preamble to its reform.

In a statement issued in the middle of this week, the CTDC pointed out “deficits” in democracy that are harming the effectiveness of the organization, including that “countries like Cuba, Venezuela or China should not have the option of even running for office.” election to occupy a seat on the Human Rights Council.”

“The Security Council has practically not evolved at all, with the loss of credibility that this entails. And its ineffectiveness and loss of credibility is reflected where citizens should have the most voice and their rights should be better defended on a global scale: the Human Rights Council,” the document said.

The Cuban organization stated that “attempts at reform have been made, but the real fact is that there are many countries without freedoms for whom it is convenient for the Council to be ineffective in order to protect themselves,” and recommended as “encouraging and necessary for this review and subsequent reform” to “institute and expand the real participation and representation of citizens in decision-making; "that of establishing mechanisms for internationally verified consultations with the citizens of the States that nominate the Council regarding the relevance of said nominations and involving the civil societies of the countries that make up the Council."

“That is why a major reconsideration of the membership of the Human Rights Council of those countries that, like Cuba, do not comply with the treaties, do not ratify them, much less implement them, is unavoidable,” he warned in his statement.

From dates before the news of Cuba's re-election to the Human Rights Council - based in Geneva, Switzerland, and made up of 47 member states - was announced,Activists for democracy promoted the hashtag #FueraCubadelConsejodeDerechosHumanos on the social network.

Likewise, the Latin American section of Civil Rights Defenders, an organization that works for the protection of civil and political rights, issued a statement co-written by 10 Cuban and international organizations asking that Cuba not be re-elected.

Established June 11, 2021, the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba has made it a priority to condemn the crimes to which political prisoners in Cuba are subjected. In its main document, the Cuba 11J Initiative, it proposed a bill for amnesty and decriminalization of dissent. Through the collection of signatures, this document seeks to change the laws that protect the criminalization of the human and constitutional rights of citizens.

We reproduce below the full text of thedeclaration of the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba:

The necessary renewal of the United Nations Organization.

The United Nations (UN) can be considered to have been the first successful attempt to create a system of collective security and global governance that discards the use of war as an instrument of international relations.

But some of the main guarantors of this international order have recovered the resource of the war of imperialist expansion, or are willing to initiate it, with the purpose of restoring their imperial version. Supported in this effort by States that represent nations colonized in the past. In any case, the world today is not safer.

The UN must be open to a profound review and discussion of its foundations, as a preamble to its reform. Its critical deficits are those of democracy and focus on global citizenship.

And now it must respond to criticism because these deficits are turning it into an ineffective organization, with an anachronistic institutional architecture that poorly reflects the international order that emerged 75 years ago where the interests of the States, not always congruent with the national interests that They claim to represent, they continue to play a leading role in important decision-making processes. That is why the UN has not been able to prevent inequalities from growing between and within States, despite economic growth, in the absence of coercive mechanisms that allow its resolutions to be translated into actions and its recommendations into effective measures.

The Security Council has practically not evolved at all, with the loss of credibility that this entails. And its ineffectiveness and loss of credibility is reflected where citizens should have the most voice and their rights should be better defended on a global scale: the Human Rights Council.

This has become an organization that does not respond to its name. It has been established as the Council so that the States that most violate human rights can capture its mechanisms almost permanently, impose their vision and violate them in the name of national sovereignty: the concept that makes any claim to respect them impossible. It is precisely the States that are the first violators of human rights.

To live up to their name, countries like Cuba, Venezuela or China should not even have the option of running for office for a seat on the Human Rights Council.

There is no doubt that the UN has achieved successes that are rarely recognized and, on the other hand, that the organization suffers from structural and conceptual problems that hinder its functioning and prevent it from evolving in step with the changes that occur in the world.

We are aware that attempts at reform have been made, but the real fact is that there are many countries without freedoms that benefit from the Council being ineffective in order to protect themselves.

Encouraging and necessary steps for this review and subsequent reform would be to institute and expand the real participation and representation of citizens in decision-making; that of establishing mechanisms for internationally verified consultations with the citizens of the States that nominate the Council regarding the relevance of said nominations and involving the civil societies of the countries that make up the Council.

According to the principles and instruments of the International Bill of Human Rights, the engagement of civil society in the political process is, in effect, a human right protected under its Universal Declaration.

The main mission of the UN is to preserve peace. Unfortunately, and despite their efforts, instead of ending the scourge of war, we are witnessing a worsening of war conflicts, coups d'état and chaos. The deficit of democracy within States once again emerges as one of the causes of the progressive weakening of the United Nations.

If all countries fulfilled the obligations imposed on them by the Charter, the right to peace would be guaranteed and Human Rights would be respected in the world. That is why a major reconsideration of the membership of the Human Rights Council of those countries that, like Cuba, do not comply with the treaties, do not ratify them, much less implement them, is unavoidable.

In the same way that the electoral conception of democracy can weaken it, the impeccable vote between States is weakening and delegitimizing the Human Rights Council.

Only global citizenship can strengthen human rights in the world.

Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba.

Havana, October 11, 2023