To promote a peaceful transition to a Cuba that respects human rights
and political and economic freedoms
If forced labor of Cuban doctors is a contemporary form of slavery then are Western Democracies receiving them complicit?
Human Rights Watch has released an important report titled "Cuba: Repressive Rules for Doctors Working Abroad" that highlights the dire conditions Cuban doctors are subjected to by the Castro regime.
“Cuban doctors deployed to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic provide valuable services to many communities, but at the expense of their most basic freedoms,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Governments interested in receiving support from Cuban doctors should press the Cuban government to overhaul this Orwellian system that dictates with whom doctors can live, fall in love, or talk.”
Ms. Urmila Bhoola, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, along with Ms Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children, sent a letter on November 6, 2019, with stronger language then Human Rights Watch, to the Cuban government regarding the regime's medical missions in which the special rapporteurs indicated that "according to forced labor indicators established by the International Labor Organization. Forced labor constitutes a contemporary form of slavery."
CubaBrief has highlighted in the past that it is not only Cuban doctors, but other workers are also subjected to inhumane working conditions that amount to forced labor. Although Human Rights Watch does not use the "s" word in its report it does use the "c" word that stands for complicity: “Governments that accept Cuban assistance that includes the abusive conditions imposed by Cuba risk becoming complicit in human rights violations,” said Vivanco. “Cuba may not be willing to protect its health workers, but other governments should avoid furthering their exploitation.”
If forced labor of Cuban doctors amounts to a contemporary form of slavery as expressed by UN human rights experts then are Western Democracies receiving Cuban doctors in 2020 complicit?
No comments:
Post a Comment