This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002138 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USMISSION UNESCO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL UNESCO
SUBJECT:  UNESCO:  CUBAN REPRESENTATIVE ATTACKS U.S. IN 
HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING COMMITTEE 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Cuba's permanent representative to UNESCO took 
the opportunity to attack the U.S. today in a UNESCO 
committee charged with monitoring human rights cases. 
Ambassador Oliver responded with a short formal statement 
denouncing the Cuban intervention.   End summary. 
 
¶2. UNESCO's Committee on Conventions and Recommendations 
(CR,) which monitors and responds to human rights violations 
in member states, met this morning, Thursday, 29 March, to 
review communications from a variety of human rights groups. 
Five cases raised today concerned Cuban citizens, all of 
whom were imprisoned for political activities. Over the past 
few days, the committee had reviewed cases from Belarus, 
China, Japan, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Tunisia, and Vietnam. 
 
¶3. The CR committee, after reaching consensus by its 
members, generally sends a formal request to the government 
on behalf of UNESCO requesting the individual be granted 
clemency, or asks for their immediate release based on 
humanitarian grounds.  While the committee has had moderate 
success in improving the situation of some prisoners, other 
cases have been on its agenda for years (e.g., a Chinese 
case from 1991) with little or no change. 
 
¶4.  The Cuban cases concerned the following people; 
communication number 992/99 Francisco Pastor Chaviano 
Gonzalez; communication number 1038/2003 Oscar Manuel 
Espinosa Chepe; communication number 1039/2003 Oscar Elias 
Biscet Gonzales; communication number 1051/2003 Hector 
Fernando Maseda Gutierrez; communication number 1052/2003 
Jose Luis Garcia Paneque.  All of these cases had been 
reviewed the by the CR Committee in previous sessions. 
 
¶5.  The head of the Cuban delegation, Hector Hernandez 
Gonzalez-Pardo, listened to the Director General's 
representative give a short summary of the issues and 
problems of each case as noted in the communications 
received by UNESCO.  Gonzalez-Pardo then responded 
vehemently to the committee's chairman calling the 
communications, "distortions of fact and of truth," and said 
that the people who signed them have been manipulated. 
 
¶6. He went on to say that the US is recruiting and paying 
mercenaries in Cuba, financing activities to undermine the 
legitimate government, and said that the individuals had all 
committed crimes against the state supported by the CIA and 
the US Interests Section in Havana.  Gonzalez-Pardo ended 
his 45-minute tirade by asking the chairman to drop all 
these cases from the committee's agenda.  The silence of the 
committee members following the Cuban's intervention was 
also notable, and was later explained as not wanting to 
dignify the Cuban's remarks by asking questions of him. 
After a break, the committee resumed, and Ambassador Oliver 
took her seat to make the following statement. 
 
¶7.  Begin quote.  Thank you Mr. Chairman.  It is regrettable 
and unfortunate that a committee intended to be a 'good 
offices' committee to push for reconciliation and dialogue 
on communications involving human rights violations should 
have had its time abused this morning for over 45 minutes by 
vituperative language directed against my country.  This is 
not the level of dignified discourse we expect at this 
committee.  The United States does not believe that the 
irresponsible statements made this morning against us merit 
any substantive response.  We would like to have this 
statement reflected in the permanent record.  Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman.  End quote. 
 
¶8.  After Ambassador Oliver's departure from the room, a 
representative from Ecuador, Mr. Juan Cueva, who we were 
told was formerly Ecuador's ambassador to France, delivered 
brief remarks strongly supporting Cuba.  We were told later 
by Ecuador's regular representative that Cueva is a deputy 
at Ecuador's Ministry of Education and was present in Paris 
over the objection of the Foreign Ministry.  We were told he 
was freelancing, though he began his remarks with the 
mention that he was under specific instructions to 
intervene.  DCM Koss responded forcefully to Cueva, saying 
that he regretted Cueva's statement, and that the cases 
before the CR were about Cuba and human rights, and not 
about the United States. 
 
¶9.  Several representatives of other member states, 
including Czech, Mexico, and, notably, India were supportive 
to the U.S. in regards to Cuba's surprising intervention. 
All of the cases were kept on the committee's agenda, and a 
draft letter to the government of Cuba is being prepared 
which will note their representative's presence, without 
mention of his helpfulness or appreciation of the 
information he brought, as is normally done.  Comments from 
various representatives to the committee urged that the 
committee continue to work based on the good faith of its 
members and not fall into the trap of politicizing its 
deliberations. 
 
Oliver