Speaking in the general debate to follow up on the implementation of the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Program of Action, Cuban representative Jairo Rodríguez recalled that this mechanism to reinforce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter includes in its Article 17 a call on the international community to adopt timely measures to promote cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
This section of the text, adopted three decades ago, warns that terrorist acts, methods and practices in all their forms and manifestations are activities oriented towards the destruction of human rights, fundamental freedoms and democracy, threatening the territorial integrity and security of States and destabilizing legitimately constituted governments.
In his speech on behalf of several countries at the continuation of the 54th Ordinary Session of the Human Rights Council, Rodríguez denounced the criminal and unjustified nature of terrorist methods and practices.
The official from the General Directorate of Multilateral Affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry pointed out that it is contrary to the values and principles of the UN Charter to support terrorist organizations and people who incite, plan, finance or execute such crimes, actively or passively.
In this regard, we are concerned about the perpetration of terrorist acts against diplomatic missions, which endanger the right to life and the physical integrity of their staff, the Cuban diplomat noted. At the debate itself, but in its national capacity, the Cuban delegation condemned the September 24 terrorist attack on the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C., which was the target of two Molotov cocktails.
“The advocacy of hatred and intolerance has fueled extremism and terrorist acts against sovereign States, including against their diplomatic representations abroad, which Cuba condemns and denounces vigorously,” Rodríguez pointed out.
Cuba used took advantage of the forum of the Human Rights Council to demand the end of harmful practices in the treatment of human rights, in particular selectivity, politicization and punitive mechanisms, to which some Western countries usually resort.
At the same time, they continue to implement unilateral coercive measures, which are contrary to International Law and the UN Charter, such as the blockade that the United States Government has imposed on Cuba, despite the overwhelming international demand for its lifting, the Cuban diplomat stated.
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