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Ilia Bailey
Cuba - ECOSOC
Protection of Cultural Property
It is obvious that there is a fundamental importance for the protection of cultural heritage and cultural exchanges and it is important to promote understanding between peoples, and the dissemination of culture for both the well-being of humanity and progress of civilization. Cuba is concerned by the illicit trade of cultural objects and the irreparable damage frequently caused by this, both to the objects themselves and to the cultural heritage of national, tribal, indigenous or other types of communities, and the heritage of all peoples; in particular by the pillage of archaeological sites and the resulting loss of irreplaceable archaeological, historical, and scientific information. Cuba is determined to contribute effectively to the fight against illicit trade in cultural objects by taking the important step of establishing common, minimal legal rules for the restitution and return of cultural objects between countries with the goal of improving the preservation and protection of the cultural heritage in the interest of all parties.
A Convention should be created to facilitate the restitution and return of said cultural objects, and provide any other remedies, such as compensation, needed to effect full restitution and return between States. The Convention by itself, however, will not provide a solution to the problems raised by illicit trade, but it will initiate a process that will enhance international cultural co-operation and set a precedent to maintain proper role for legal trading and international agreements for cultural exchanges. The proposed Convention should be accompanied by other effective measures for protecting cultural objects, such as the development and use of registers, which is the physical protection of archaeological sites and technical co-operation. The Convention should be based on the past work of various bodies to protect cultural property, particularly the 1970 UNESCO Convention on illicit traffic and the development of codes of conduct in the private sector. Cultural objects should be defined as any object with an importance in archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science. Said objects should be returned to the State in which the removal, legal or illegal, took place in the past fifty years. However, a claim for restitution of a cultural object that forms an integral part of an identified monument or archaeological site, or belongs to a public collection, should not be subject to said time limitations. A “public collection,” is defined as a group of inventoried or otherwise identified cultural objects owned by: a Contracting State; a regional or local authority of a Contracting State; a religious institution in a Contracting State; or an institution that is established for an essentially cultural, educational or scientific purpose in a Contracting State and is recognized in that State as serving the public interest. The possessor of a stolen cultural object required to return it should be entitled, at the time of its restitution, to payment of fair and reasonable compensation.
Ilia Bailey
Cuba - ECOSOC
Transnational Crime and Kidnapping
Cuba affirms that it is important to combat the trafficking of persons, but we believe this issue has not been a growing concern within the State of Cuba itself. According to the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, even though the traditional institution of slavery is degrading, a modern form of slavery is manifesting. Some sources would report at least 700,000 persons annually, primarily women and children, are trafficked within or across international borders. However, Cuba feels that these statistics are most likely a skewed projection. There are really no reliable estimates available on the extent of trafficking in any country.
It is known that traffickers primarily target women and girls, who are disproportionately affected by poverty, the lack of access to education, chronic unemployment, discrimination, and the lack of economic opportunities in countries of origin. Traffickers lure women and girls into their networks through false promises of decent working conditions at relatively good pay as nannies, maids, dancers, factory workers, restaurant workers, sales clerks, or models. Traffickers also buy children from poor families and sell them into prostitution or into various types of forced or bonded labor. It is also said that traffickers often transport victims from their home communities to unfamiliar destinations, including foreign countries away from family and friends, religious institutions, and other sources of protection and support, leaving the victims defenseless and vulnerable. It is important to note, though, Cuba is not a destination nor an example of a State involved in the aforementioned claims of transport. In cases of international trafficking, it is reported that victims are often forced through physical violence to engage in sex acts or perform slavery-like labor. Such force includes rape and other forms of sexual abuse, torture, starvation, imprisonment, threats, psychological abuse, and coercion.
In order to combat international trafficking of persons, the U.N. should address the proliferation of organized, sophisticated criminal enterprises. In such organizations, trafficking is the fastest growing source of profits for organized criminal enterprises worldwide. Trafficking in persons is often aided by official corruption in countries of origin, transit, and destination, such as the United States. It is necessary to lessen the trafficking of persons internationally because it substantially affects interstate and foreign commerce. In Cuba, the prostitution of children and the activities of brothel owners, clients, and pimps are all criminalized and carry penalties of from four to ten years in prison. In recent years, there have been several crackdowns against prostitution and related activities. In fact, there have been 881 trials for procuring prostitutes and 1,377 convictions. Thus, Cuba has made the conclusion that the issue of transnational trafficking and kidnapping is not a great concern nationally, but it is important to address the international concerns.
Ilia Bailey
Cuba - ECOSOC
Effects of Economic Sanctions on Developing and Less-Developed Countries
Cuba is very familiar with the dramatic effects of economic sanctions. Since the U.S. trade embargo in 1964, Cuba has noticed a shift in the economy. With the demise of subsidized trade, the absence of aid from the former Soviet Union, and the progressive tightening of U.S. sanctions, our model health care system has become threatened by serious shortages of medical supplies. Several public health catastrophes have occurred, including an epidemic of blindness that was partially due to a dramatic decrease in access to nutrients; an outbreak of the Guillain-Barré syndrome caused by lack of chlorination chemicals; and an epidemic of lye ingestion in toddlers due to severe shortages of soap. Furthermore, the policy of mandatory quarantine for HIV-infected Cubans has evolved into a less rigid system. Although the prevalence of HIV infection in Cuba is low compared with that in the United States and other Caribbean nations, it is threatened by prostitution, which has increased along with tourism. In general, the economic sanctions have a possibly unintended but profound effect on the health and nutrition of the vulnerable populations of Cuba.
Trade sanctions, as a tool of coercive foreign policy, have been very popular in the 1990s. Most take the form of bilateral sanctions by the US, but the number of UN sanctions has also increased and regional groupings of states are also turning to the tool. Fairly comprehensive trade embargoes have been imposed, for example, against Cuba (US). There is now substantive cumulative evidence that trade embargoes cause severe civilian hardship and profound social and economic dislocation. For example, the situations in Haiti (Organisation of American States, UN), Iraq (UN), and Sierra Leone (ECOWAS) all parallel the hardships Cuba faces. Their impact goes beyond humanitarian crisis to induce serious economic recession and social impoverishment. In short, sanctions actually tend to reverse ‘development,’ and their effects cannot be mitigated by humanitarian assistance alone.
Currently there is no specific legal instrument to regulate sanctions but minimally they should respect basic principles in international humanitarian law, such as ‘distinction’ and ‘proportionality’; distinction directs those waging war to focus on military rather than civilian targets and proportionality directs combatants away from targets that are likely to cause civilian harm disproportionate to military benefit. Thus, Cuba strongly believes there should be regulations and laws mitigating the use of economic sanctions against lesser developed countries and that the U.N. should adopt international standards regarding the imposition and maintenance of economic sanctions against developing and less-developed countries.
the end!
Ilia Bailey
Cuba - ECOSOC
Protection of Cultural Property
It is obvious that there is a fundamental importance for the protection of cultural heritage and cultural exchanges and it is important to promote understanding between peoples, and the dissemination of culture for both the well-being of humanity and progress of civilization. Cuba is concerned by the illicit trade of cultural objects and the irreparable damage frequently caused by this, both to the objects themselves and to the cultural heritage of national, tribal, indigenous or other types of communities, and the heritage of all peoples; in particular by the pillage of archaeological sites and the resulting loss of irreplaceable archaeological, historical, and scientific information. Cuba is determined to contribute effectively to the fight against illicit trade in cultural objects by taking the important step of establishing common, minimal legal rules for the restitution and return of cultural objects between countries with the goal of improving the preservation and protection of the cultural heritage in the interest of all parties.
A Convention should be created to facilitate the restitution and return of said cultural objects, and provide any other remedies, such as compensation, needed to effect full restitution and return between States. The Convention by itself, however, will not provide a solution to the problems raised by illicit trade, but it will initiate a process that will enhance international cultural co-operation and set a precedent to maintain proper role for legal trading and international agreements for cultural exchanges. The proposed Convention should be accompanied by other effective measures for protecting cultural objects, such as the development and use of registers, which is the physical protection of archaeological sites and technical co-operation. The Convention should be based on the past work of various bodies to protect cultural property, particularly the 1970 UNESCO Convention on illicit traffic and the development of codes of conduct in the private sector. Cultural objects should be defined as any object with an importance in archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science. Said objects should be returned to the State in which the removal, legal or illegal, took place in the past fifty years. However, a claim for restitution of a cultural object that forms an integral part of an identified monument or archaeological site, or belongs to a public collection, should not be subject to said time limitations. A “public collection,” is defined as a group of inventoried or otherwise identified cultural objects owned by: a Contracting State; a regional or local authority of a Contracting State; a religious institution in a Contracting State; or an institution that is established for an essentially cultural, educational or scientific purpose in a Contracting State and is recognized in that State as serving the public interest. The possessor of a stolen cultural object required to return it should be entitled, at the time of its restitution, to payment of fair and reasonable compensation.
Ilia Bailey
Cuba - ECOSOC
Transnational Crime and Kidnapping
Cuba affirms that it is important to combat the trafficking of persons, but we believe this issue has not been a growing concern within the State of Cuba itself. According to the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, even though the traditional institution of slavery is degrading, a modern form of slavery is manifesting. Some sources would report at least 700,000 persons annually, primarily women and children, are trafficked within or across international borders. However, Cuba feels that these statistics are most likely a skewed projection. There are really no reliable estimates available on the extent of trafficking in any country.
It is known that traffickers primarily target women and girls, who are disproportionately affected by poverty, the lack of access to education, chronic unemployment, discrimination, and the lack of economic opportunities in countries of origin. Traffickers lure women and girls into their networks through false promises of decent working conditions at relatively good pay as nannies, maids, dancers, factory workers, restaurant workers, sales clerks, or models. Traffickers also buy children from poor families and sell them into prostitution or into various types of forced or bonded labor. It is also said that traffickers often transport victims from their home communities to unfamiliar destinations, including foreign countries away from family and friends, religious institutions, and other sources of protection and support, leaving the victims defenseless and vulnerable. It is important to note, though, Cuba is not a destination nor an example of a State involved in the aforementioned claims of transport. In cases of international trafficking, it is reported that victims are often forced through physical violence to engage in sex acts or perform slavery-like labor. Such force includes rape and other forms of sexual abuse, torture, starvation, imprisonment, threats, psychological abuse, and coercion.
In order to combat international trafficking of persons, the U.N. should address the proliferation of organized, sophisticated criminal enterprises. In such organizations, trafficking is the fastest growing source of profits for organized criminal enterprises worldwide. Trafficking in persons is often aided by official corruption in countries of origin, transit, and destination, such as the United States. It is necessary to lessen the trafficking of persons internationally because it substantially affects interstate and foreign commerce. In Cuba, the prostitution of children and the activities of brothel owners, clients, and pimps are all criminalized and carry penalties of from four to ten years in prison. In recent years, there have been several crackdowns against prostitution and related activities. In fact, there have been 881 trials for procuring prostitutes and 1,377 convictions. Thus, Cuba has made the conclusion that the issue of transnational trafficking and kidnapping is not a great concern nationally, but it is important to address the international concerns.
Ilia Bailey
Cuba - ECOSOC
Effects of Economic Sanctions on Developing and Less-Developed Countries
Cuba is very familiar with the dramatic effects of economic sanctions. Since the U.S. trade embargo in 1964, Cuba has noticed a shift in the economy. With the demise of subsidized trade, the absence of aid from the former Soviet Union, and the progressive tightening of U.S. sanctions, our model health care system has become threatened by serious shortages of medical supplies. Several public health catastrophes have occurred, including an epidemic of blindness that was partially due to a dramatic decrease in access to nutrients; an outbreak of the Guillain-Barré syndrome caused by lack of chlorination chemicals; and an epidemic of lye ingestion in toddlers due to severe shortages of soap. Furthermore, the policy of mandatory quarantine for HIV-infected Cubans has evolved into a less rigid system. Although the prevalence of HIV infection in Cuba is low compared with that in the United States and other Caribbean nations, it is threatened by prostitution, which has increased along with tourism. In general, the economic sanctions have a possibly unintended but profound effect on the health and nutrition of the vulnerable populations of Cuba.
Trade sanctions, as a tool of coercive foreign policy, have been very popular in the 1990s. Most take the form of bilateral sanctions by the US, but the number of UN sanctions has also increased and regional groupings of states are also turning to the tool. Fairly comprehensive trade embargoes have been imposed, for example, against Cuba (US). There is now substantive cumulative evidence that trade embargoes cause severe civilian hardship and profound social and economic dislocation. For example, the situations in Haiti (Organisation of American States, UN), Iraq (UN), and Sierra Leone (ECOWAS) all parallel the hardships Cuba faces. Their impact goes beyond humanitarian crisis to induce serious economic recession and social impoverishment. In short, sanctions actually tend to reverse ‘development,’ and their effects cannot be mitigated by humanitarian assistance alone.
Currently there is no specific legal instrument to regulate sanctions but minimally they should respect basic principles in international humanitarian law, such as ‘distinction’ and ‘proportionality’; distinction directs those waging war to focus on military rather than civilian targets and proportionality directs combatants away from targets that are likely to cause civilian harm disproportionate to military benefit. Thus, Cuba strongly believes there should be regulations and laws mitigating the use of economic sanctions against lesser developed countries and that the U.N. should adopt international standards regarding the imposition and maintenance of economic sanctions against developing and less-developed countries.
the end!