MSG122G/01E CUBA-HUMAN RIGHTS: UN Official Meets with Foreign Minister

HAVANA, Nov 16 (IPS) - United Nations High Commisioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala Lasso, met with Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina on Wednesday for official talks.

This is Ayala Lasso's first visit to Cuba, and it is scheduled to last for four days.

Upon his arrival, he stated that the primary goal of the meetings will be to analyse the topics of the promotion and protection of human rights with the local authorities.

The UN official was invited to Cuba as part of Fidel Castro's government's newly expressed desire to cooperate with the world body on human rights verification.

For the last three years, the United States has pushed resolutions in the UN Human Rights Commission calling for attention to be paid to violations committed by the Cuban government.

The Commission approved a special relateur for Cuba, but Havana has rejected the idea and refused to receive the diplomat, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Miguel Alfonso saying the plan was "political manipulation" by Washington.

He added that his government invited Ayala Lasso because the task of the High Commissioner has universal validity and is not directed specifically against Cuba, and that the UN official will have the freedom to meet with whomever he chooses.

In addittion to government officials, Ayala Lasso will also meet with representatives of Cuban nongovernmental organisations, students, and possibly leaders of illegal human rights groups.

Cuban dissident Elizardo Sanchez Santacruz, president of the National Commission of Human Rights and Reconciliation, said the official invitation to Ayala Lasso was a "positive step," by the government and that the move "will be supported by the vast majority of Cubans."

The visit by the UN High Commissioner coincides with a conference being held in Havana regarding "the rights of peoples for social development," held by Cuban organisations in solidarity with Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

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