Monday, March 20, 2017

Cuba should be removed from UN Human Rights Council until Castro frees Eduardo Cardet

"So long as the Castro government jails Eduardo Cardet, a prisoner of conscience, we call for the complete removal of Cuba from this Council." -  Hillel Neuer of UN Watch, addressing the UN Human Rights Council, March 20, 2017

Sentenced today to three years in prison
Eduardo Cardet Concepción, prisoner of conscience and Christian Liberation Movement national coordinator, was sentenced to three years in prison today. Meanwhile at the United Nations Human Rights Council his plight was referenced in an oral statement by Hillel Neuer of the nongovernmental organization UN Watch. Speaking out for the Cuban dissident drew an angry protest from the Castro regime's diplomats that interrupted the courageous speaker.

MCL leader Eduardo Cardet condemned to three years in prison
From the Christian Liberation Movement website:

Today Eduardo Cardet was informed of the sentence to three years in prison that was dictated by the court that tried him on March 3, 2017 in Gibara, Holguin. Eduardo Cardet told his wife, the sentence is based on manipulated data, without taking into account the testimony of defense witnesses. Cardet's family will appeal the ruling

Listen to Yaimaris Vecino's testimony in Spanish.

Eduardo Cardet has been jailed since November 30, 2016 for speaking critically of Fidel Castro following his death. Amnesty International declared him a prisoner of conscience on January 31, 2017.

Yaimaris Vecino, Eduardo Cardet and their two sons

Dictatorships at UNHRC try to silence UN Watch's Hillel Neuer

UN Human Rights Council, debate under Agenda Item 8, Vienna Declaration of Human Rights
delivered by Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch

Today we ask: Is the world living up to the Vienna Declaration, which reaffirms basic human rights?
We ask the government of Turkish President Erdogan, if it cares about human rights, why did they just fire more than one hundred thousand teachers, university deans, judges, prosecutors, religious figures and public servants?

We ask Pakistan, when will they release Asia Bibi, the innocent, Christian mother of five, now on death row on the absurd charge of blasphemy?

We ask Saudi Arabia, when will you end gender apartheid? When will you stop oppressing all religious practice that is not Wahhabist Islam? When will you release Raif Badawi, serving 10 years in prison for the crime of advocating a free society?

We welcome the Secretary-General’s new pledge of UN reform. That is why today, pursuant to Article 8 of Resolution 60/251, we call for the complete removal of Saudi Arabia from this Council.

So long as 1.3 billion people are denied their basic freedoms, we call for the removal of China. So long as human rights are abused by Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Congo, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, and UAE, we call for their removal.

So long as the Maduro government imprisons democracy leaders like Mayor Antonio Ledezma of Caracas, and causes its millions of citizens to scavenge for food, we call for the removal of Venezuela.

So long as the Castro government jails Eduardo Cardet, a prisoner of conscience, we call for the complete removal of Cuba from this Council.

Mr. President, we have the right to cite the suspension provision of this council’s own charter. They can silence human rights defenders at home, but they cannot do so at the United Nations.

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