UN Authority Figures

UN Commission for Social Development: Cuba

Three Cuban artists went on hunger strike in protest at a Cuban law, described as "dystopian," that will require all artists and musicians to apply for government-issued licences.
Source: The Guardian, December 6, 2018. Photo: Cuban police officers (File photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Mission of the Commission for Social Development: "...the Commission has been the key United Nations body in charge of the follow-up and implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action... Since 2006, the Commission has taken up key social development themes as part of its follow up to the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit." (Commission for Social Development website)

Cuba's Term of office: 2020-2024

Cuba's Record on Social Development:
"Human rights issues included reports of an unlawful and arbitrary killing by police; torture of political dissidents, detainees, and prisoners by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; holding of political prisoners; and arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy. The government engaged in censorship, site blocking, and libel is criminalized. There were limitations on academic and cultural freedom; restrictions on the right of peaceful assembly; denial of freedom of association, including refusal to recognize independent associations; and restrictions on internal and external freedom of movement and on political participation... Government officials, at the direction of their superiors, committed most human rights abuses and failed to investigate or prosecute those who committed the abuses. Impunity for the perpetrators remained widespread... The government continued to hold political prisoners but denied it did so... government officials routinely and systematically monitored correspondence and communications between citizens, tracked their movements, and entered homes without legal authority and with impunity... The government had little tolerance for public criticism of government officials or programs and limited public debate of issues considered politically sensitive. State security regularly harassed the organizers of independent fora for debates on cultural and social topics to force them to stop discussing issues deemed controversial. The forum's organizers reported assaults by state security, video surveillance installed outside of venues, and detention of panelists and guests on the days they were expected to appear... The government does not recognize independent journalism, and independent journalists sometimes faced government harassment, including detention and physical abuse."
(U.S. State Department Country Report of Human Rights Practices 2018, Cuba)