“World Report 2014: Cuba” Human Rights Watch online (June 25th, 2015)
Recently, America has been in talks to remove or at least lessen the embargoes on its Cuban neighbors that it has maintained since 1961, and one of the few remaining remnants of the iron curtain are finally being lifted. With these new discussions, many topics regarding Human Rights will come into play, namely the treatment of Cuban dissidents by the Cuban government, the treatment of Cuba by the American government, and the treatment of prisoners in the American held prison in Guantanamo Bay.
Human Right Watch is an international watchdog for human rights, and it tries to produce an unbiased congregate of knowledge regarding the state of human rights. Given that it intends to lead to a progression of human rights, it will tend to be critical of any nations where it can see potential for improvement (which encompasses virtually every nation to some degree). Human rights will be given the highest priority by the watchdog organization, and it can be argued that this prioritization develops neglect for other important matters such as national security.
This article is helpful because it is a document that comes directly from an active human rights activist group. It’s criticism of the United States regarding the human rights violations it has helped enable in Cuba is a bold declaration that many U.S. based journalists would tend to avoid
Cuban human rights activism has been shrouded in mystery for half a century to the American public due to economic embargoes placed during the Cold War. Due to the one party system in place in Cuba, there is little opportunity for political dissidence. (photo: PA)
