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 US says it has responsibility to express human rights concerns
WASHINGTON: US has asserted that it has the right and responsibility to express human rights concerns, after Havana questioned its statement welcoming the release of an activist in Cuba.
The US on Monday welcomed Cuba's release of a paraplegic political prisoner, Ariel Sigler.
Cuba in response said the US does not have the moral authority to applaud its release of prisoners.
"We feel it's a right and a responsibility to express our human rights concerns about any country of the world, including Cuba. We are encouraged by the release of Ariel Sigler Amaya," State Department spokesman P J Crowley, told reporters during his daily press briefing.
The US is committed to a policy towards Cuba that advances our national interests and supports the desire of the Cuban people to freely determine their future, he said.
"We will continue to engage the Cuban Government on issues that are of mutual concern and that advance US national interests," he said.
"I think it is clear that, to the extent that Cuba desires a more normal relationship with the US that will depend upon steps that Cuba takes to open up its society, to respect the human rights and freedoms of their own people.
As Cuba takes these kinds of steps, we will respond appropriately," he said.
Crowley said it is in Cuba's interest to advance their political process, open up their society for greater opportunity for their people.
"We will continue and not hesitate to comment about the human rights situation in Cuba and elsewhere," he said.
Sigler, 44, who is paralysed from the waist down, was freed on medical grounds. One of 75 activists arrested in 2003 during a crackdown by Cuban authorities, he had been serving a 25-year sentence for treason.
(2010-06-17 / Times of India )
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