From Reuters:
“Cuba approves laws granting
greater rights as criticism of protesters' arrests heats up”
Cuba's National Assembly on
Thursday approved a raft of laws broadening citizens' legal rights even as the
Communist-run country comes under fire at home and abroad for a crackdown on
protests earlier this year. The changes stem from the 2019 constitution, which
required reforms to modernize Cuba's judicial and penal codes. But they address
legal voids identified by activists, who allege authorities flaunted due
process following unprecedented protests on the island in July. Cuban lawmakers
and judges said the new laws increase protection for those accused of a crime
and should improve transparency.
They require, for example,
defendants be notified of potential charges against them, and that those
detained be granted the right to an attorney within 24 hours. Citizens will
also be allowed access to their own court files and documents, according to the
new law. Eloy Viera, a Cuban lawyer and legal analyst who lives in Canada, said
the laws were a major step forward in enshrining a citizen's right to defend
him or herself in a court of law. "This law offers more guarantees and
adheres much more to international standards than the regulations currently in
force," Viera said.
But how those laws are
implemented will determine whether or not Cubans see significant changes in
their legal rights, said William LeoGrande, a professor of government at
American University in Washington. "The laws... still give officials
considerable discretion and only time will tell how they use it, especially in
political cases," he said.
Dissidents and human rights
organizations say more than 1,000 demonstrators were arrested after the July
protests, the largest anti-government rallies since Fidel Castro's 1959
revolution. Some prisoners were held without charge, incommunicado and without
representation, rights groups say. The Cuban government says those arrested in
July were guilty of crimes including public disorder, resisting arrest and
vandalism. It has declared opposition marches planned for Nov. 15 as illegal,
saying they are funded and promoted by the United States.
The laws passed Thursday are set
to take effect in 2022. Legal analyst Viera said it was unlikely they would be
retroactive. "I do not believe that this new legislation will have a
definitive influence on the processes already initiated today, and politically
motivated, by the July 11 protesters," he said. Some legal experts said
any advances in the penal code would be overshadowed by the one-party system of
government. "Supreme court justices can still be dismissed easily. No
court may declare unconstitutional a National Assembly act," said retired
Cuban-American scholar Jorge Dominguez. "There is no independent entity to
protect constitutional rights." The reforms nonetheless eliminate a
long-critiqued law that allowed authorities to jail someone they said was
potentially dangerous, a maneuver critics say was often used against
dissidents. They also include a prohibition on unlawful detention. Independent
journalist Yoani Sanchez said that was not enough. "Repressive laws are
still in force that are arbitrarily applied frequently against opponents,
activists and independent journalists, such as home confinement and the
prohibition of leaving the country," she wrote.
^ Cuba may have made these new
laws on paper, but Communists aren’t known for fulfilling their promises on
paper with real-life actions. Cuba has been struggling for 62 years and it
seems the people will continue to struggle. ^
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