Cuba, on human rights day, denies holding political prisoners

Cuba, on human rights day, denies holding political prisoners
AFP

Cuba has no political prisoners, only jailed common criminals who "call
themselves dissidents," Attorney General Dario Delgado asserted Thursday
in an interview marking International Human Rights Day.
"It is sometimes said there are political prisoners here. There aren't,"
Delgado told the official Communist Party daily Granma.
"The majority of those who call themselves dissidents are common inmates
who have been attracted by counter-revolutionary organizations, internal
or external, and receive payments directly or indirectly," he said.
"But they aren't prisoners of conscience."
Among foreigners imprisoned on the island, Delgado said some were common
criminals and a "very few" were "terrorists or someone who came to Cuba
to subvert the political order."
President Raul Castro's communist government in January released 53
inmates whom Washington considered political prisoners, as part of a
historic rapprochement between the two former Cold War foes.
But the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation,
which is illegal but tolerated by the government, says another 60
political prisoners remain in Cuban jails.
International human rights groups say the government routinely harasses
and temporarily jails opposition activists to prevent them from taking
part in public demonstrations or attending private meetings.
In Cuba, all opposition to Communist Party rule is forbidden.
In 2008, Cuba signed UN pacts on civil and political rights, and on
economic, social and cultural rights that have been in effect since
1976. But they have not been ratified by Cuba's National Assembly.
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Source: Cuba, on human rights day, denies holding political prisoners -
Yahoo News India -
https://in.news.yahoo.com/cuba-human-rights-day-denies-165718425.html