New castro, same Cuba.

• Author: Williams, J. Edgar
• Position: Raul Castro

NEW CASTRO, SAME CUBA

http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/11/18/new-castro-same-cuba

By Human Rights Watch

Reviewed by J. Edgar Williams

The Cuban government's continuing violation of human rights recently became the subject of a scathing report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), a non-governmental organization that exposes rights violations all over the world. Beginning substantively with the legal foundations of Cuban repression, the report moves on to violations of due process, the mistreatment of political prisoners, the inhuman conditions in Cuban prisons, and the state of public fear created by the regime's everyday forms of repression. Those who do or say anything considered "dangerous," engage in behavior contrary to "socialist morality," or seem likely to commit a crime in the future may quickly find themselves suffering mistreatment in one of the island's prisons. Journalists and political activists are especially vulnerable to arrest.

The Cuban government did its best to obstruct the creation of this comprehensive and well-researched HRW report. Its Interests Section in Washington and its mission to the UN in New York failed to respond to requests for assistance, and both have similarly turned aside International Red Cross efforts to monitor human rights in Cuba. Refusing to be thwarted, HRW mounted a covert operation within Cuba, found the right people to interview, and spoke with them without arousing suspicion.

Writing for the...