F R O M T H E DE SK O F

N E L S ON W.

May 3, 2017

Mr. Castro
Council of The State of Cuba
388 Main Street
Ottawa, K1S 1E3

Dear Mr. Castro,

For two weeks in April of 2017, I had the pleasure of taking part in an international
program with the University of Matanzas, in Varadero, Cuba. This program is part of a
Canadian outreach strategy designed to facilitate positive relations and a deeper
understanding of Cuban culture in Canadian youth. Though I thoroughly enjoyed my
stay in your country, and learning about different elements of Cuban Culture, I did
also learn about elements of Cuban society which I found rather distasteful.
Specifically, it was the lack of Human Rights which are present in Canada. I realize that
our countries are very different, but also am aware that that tourism is a large part of
the Cuban economy, and from a Canadian perspectiveI I feel that the neglect to
recognize specific human rights may be a factor taken into consideration for socially
conscious individual who may choose their travel destinations based upon the
political condition of nations. As I feel as though Cuba is a beautiful country which
many should visit, I am writing this letter as a global citizen, in order to address areas
regarding civil rights which I feel could be improved upon. These areas include the
disregard of respect for freedom of expression, the right to be tried, the ignorance of
the legal right of habeas corpus, the ability to exercise freedom of assembly, and the
illegality of same sex marriage.

I would first like to address the inability for citizens in Cuba to exercise the Canadian
entrenched freedom of expression. While visiting a cafe in the heart of Matanzas, I
found the local, and only Cuban newspaper, Granma. Upon speaking with locals, I
discovered that everything written in Granma is state owned and must adhere to the
platforms of your government. Continuing with the topic of freedom of expression in
the media, I became aware that though bloggers and small independent journalists
are becoming more prevalent in Cuba, authorities are preventing them from
publishing anything that contradicts the government. Though authorities do their
best, in order to prevent the publishing of messages which are not coherent to your
governments platforms, some journalists are able to circumvent the forces of these
authorities. When this happens your government then works on removing these
publications before large numbers of people are able to view them. Mr. Castro, this
directly violates Section 2 (b) of the Charter of Canadian Rights and Freedoms which
states, Everyone has the fundamental freedom of thought, belief, opinion and
expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.
Furthermore, I have heard through speaking with locals about the extrajudicial
prosecution of an artist who was merely trying to express his opinions. This ties
directly into my second point, that your government utilizes prejudicial prosecution as
a method of controlling citizens abilities to express themselves.

In December of 2014, Cuban artist Danilo Maldonado, under the pseudonym of El

Sexto made a plan of releasing two pigs into the streets of Havana. These pigs were
painted and labeled with the names Fidel and Ral, and were supposed to be a
protest of what Maldonado believed to be an oppressive socialist regime. Before the
pigs were released, Maldonado was caught and jailed by the police until October 20,
2015, a ten month detainment which was fulfilled without a trial or any legal process.
This not only disregards the right to the legal principle of habeas corpus, which calls
for an accused individual to be brought before a court of law, and for that to be done
so in a reasonable time, but also Section 10 (c) of the Charter of Canadian Rights and
Freedoms which entrenches this right into Canadian society. It states, Everyone has
the right on arrest or detention to have the validity of the detention determined by
way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful. In addition,
through the unlawful detainment of individuals the Cuban government also violates
Section 11 (b) stating, Any person charged with an offence has the right to be tried
within a reasonable time. This right, very similar to the right encompassed under
Section 10 (c) is infringed upon because many individuals such as Maldonado did not
even receive a trial, let alone receive one during an acceptable time frame. In fact, the
Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, an independent
organization responsible for addressing human rights violations in Cuba received over
6200 complaints of arbitrary arrests in the year 2015 alone. By not adhering to the
basic legal principle of a trial before imprisonment, Cuba is severely violating this
Canadian right.

Another aspect of Cuban society which I found to be in contradiction to the rights

entrenched in Canada is the right to peacefully protest. Enshrined in the Canadian
constitution under Section 2 (c), the Charter of Canadian Rights and Freedoms states,
Everyone has the fundamental freedom of peaceful assembly. During my stay in your
country I spoke with a professor, one of the worlds leading experts on Jose Marti, and
the topic of the Ladies in White arose. Upon my return to Canada, I completed some
research and discovered that in October of 2015 approximately 300 citizens were
arrested for the peaceful protest of the detention of political prisoners. These activists
were marching in a non-violent manner, in order to display their discontent with the
actions of your government. Despite the fact that they were not causing any societal
harm they were arrested. Not only is this disregard of a human right demonstrated
within the way Cuban society functions, but it is ignored in the very legislation which
defines Cuba. Stated in Article 72 of the Cuban criminal code, your governments
legislature declares, Any person shall be deemed dangerous if he or she has shown a
proclivity to commit crimes demonstrated by conduct that is in manifest contradiction
with the norms of socialist morality. This shows that anything that goes in
contradiction of the government, such as a peaceful protest, is grounds for legal
prosecution. It is my fervent belief that it is cases such as this which often portray Cuba
in a negative light.

Within the past few years citizens of countries such as Canada have seen the evolution
of rights for the LGBTQ community change around the world. During my stay in Cuba,
I had the pleasure of interacting with students from the University of Matanzas, as well
as local citizens. Being paired with a Cuban student, I asked my partner about the
legal status of the LGBTQ community in their country. In asking, I learned that since
the early days of the revolution, the socialist regime you played a major role in did not
respect the rights of these individuals. However, in changing times these views have
evolved to a point in which your brother, Fidel, made a public apology in 2010 for the
prosecution of these individuals. I understand that your daughter, Mariela Castro, is a
major advocate for LGBTQ rights in Cuba, and that the government now sponsors Gay
Pride marches. However, though Cuban society has come to accept and advocate for
LGBTQ rights, the ability for same sex individuals to marry each other is still not legal.
From the research I have conducted, I see that your government aims to legalize gay
marriage by the year 2021, but I would like to advocate for this timeline to be sped up.
The right to gay marriage is an aspect present in Canadian society since 2005, and is
in fact entrenched in our constitution under Section 15 (1) stating, Every individual is
equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal
benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination
based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical
disability. Though I do recognize the noble efforts of your government to facilitate
this process, I still advocate for the timeline leading up to the legalization of same sex
marriage to be hastened.

Throughout this letter I have mentioned a few abuses of Human Rights I have heard
about and seen. Before I conclude, I would like to address one final issue. As part of
the program I was in, I attended lectures facilitated by the University of Matanzas. One
of these lectures was on the electoral system. During the lecture I learned that
prisoners are not allowed to vote in elections. Though I understand that your electoral
system is very different from the one in Canada, I feel as though your electoral system
should be inclusive of all Cuban citizens. Under Section 3, the Charter of Canadian
Rights and Freedoms states, Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an
election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be
qualified for membership therein. By this statute, the right to vote in an election is
guaranteed to every citizen. It is my belief that it is unjust for your government to deny
the right to vote to imprisoned citizens. This is amplified by the fact that your
government prosecutes individuals prejudicially, often without trial.

Mr. Castro, though I have stated many aspects of Cuban society which I feel could be
improved upon, I still love your country. As a result of my admiration for your nation I
feel as though it is my responsibility to inform you of areas which could be improved
upon in order to enhance Cubas reputation among globally conscience citizens. It is
said that one can learn much about a nation through their legal code. While I
understand that Canada is a very different country with our own unique legal status,
many of the aforementioned human rights present in Canada are also represented in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Published by the United Nations,
an international organization of which your country is a member of, the previously
mentioned rights and freedoms are entrenched in their doctrine under Article 7, 9, 19,
and 20 of the UDHR. The fact that many of these rights are stated in the UDHR
demonstrates that the many nations in the international community value these civil
liberties and that these ideas are not specific just to Canada. For these reasons I
request that you amend many of the ways in which your government addresses
occurrences that involve human rights in Cuban society. It is my fervent belief that if
these Human Right abuses are addressed, the image of not only your country, but
your government will improve in the international community.

Sincerely yours,

Nelson W.