HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 20 (ACN) Rodolfo Benítez Berson, ambassador and permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland, denounced that the cause of human rights is being used as a business and political instrument and stressed that Cuba opposes any punitive and politically motivated resolution not based on the consent of the States concerned.
The diplomat also pointed out that these types of mandates by no means improve the human rights situation because they build walls instead of bridges and damage the credibility of the Council and the cause of human rights while wasting resources, and referred to the recent disclosure of the United States government's practices of dedicating millions of dollars to fund organizations, media outlets and communication platforms disguised as protectors of human rights but proved to be champions of the U.S. hegemonic agenda.
Furthermore, Mr. Benítez described as unacceptable the attempts to turn this body into a tribunal against certain nations, which are always from the South.
"Today we have heard several representatives make extensive lists of countries that allegedly violate human rights. Absent from many of these lists is any denunciation of the genocide being committed against the Palestinian people. The hypocrisy could not be any more evident. (…) Cuba will defend the Council's institutionality against any attempts to impose a single human rights model on the world”, he assured.
In his speech, Mr. Benítez also denounced unilateral coercive measures such as the U.S. blockade of Cuba as being a flagrant violation of the human rights of the affected peoples
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“The only effective way to promote human rights in all countries goes through respectful dialogue and genuine cooperation”, he concluded.