Hypocrisy on Cuba
OUR OPINION: U.N. VOTE ON EMBARGO AN INSULT TO POLITICAL PRISONERS

November 14, 2006
The Miami Herald
Original Source: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16005928.htm

Now and then, the insufferable hypocrisy that pervades international policy toward Cuba becomes undeniably evident. One such moment occurred last week when the U.N. General Assembly voted 183-4 with one abstention to condemn the U.S. embargo on trade with Cuba.
This annual ritual has become an absurd farce that allows U.N. members to protest U.S. foreign policy in a meaningless vote. It has nothing to do with sound diplomacy, common sense or moral judgment. But in its anti-U.S. zeal, the assembly this year also managed to insult Cuban political prisoners. For that it deserves a kick in the pants.
The issue was an Australian amendment calling on the Castro government to free political prisoners and respect human rights. The proposal lost by a vote of 126-51 with five abstentions.
There's room for argument over the embargo. But surely a call for the Cuban government to ''respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and comply fully with its obligations'' under human rights treaties should be a no-brainer.
Cuba always refuses to cooperate with U.N. human rights resolutions and ranks among the worst human rights violators in the world. U.N. human rights monitors have been among Cuba's sharpest critics.
The vote against the Australian amendment is proof that this annual U.N. vote on Cuba is simply a vehicle to blow off some steam against U.S. foreign policy in general. It's not really about the embargo, nor can the Castro regime derive any comfort from it.
Now, Oswaldo Payá, the Cuban human rights campaigner, has launched a drive urging the U.N. Human Rights Council to demand that Cuba release all political prisoners. Mr. Payá is a brave man. He deserves U.N. support lest hypocrisy once again is allowed to prevail over courage and decency.