The damage done by President Obama’s single-minded focus on his legacy—at the expense of the Cuban people—was examined this afternoon by those who have lived through it at a hearing entitled “The Castro Regime’s Ongoing Violations of Civil and Political Rights.” Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee tasked with addressing human rights, blasted the “deplorable and deteriorating” prospects for civil and political rights on the island.

“Disregard for civil and political rights has gotten worse, not better, since President Obama visited Cuba in March,” said Smith. “The regime continues to jail and beat political dissidents, with even extrajudicial killings apparently sanctioned. The Obama Administration cannot allow concerns over its ‘legacy’ to muffle its voice when it should be insisting that the Castro regime respect the rights of the Cuban people.” Smith’s full statement can be viewed here.

Renowned dissident Dr. Oscar Biscet of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, who like many dissidents opposing the Castro regime is Afro-Cuban, noted that President Obama’s actions violated the animating values of the United States. “The US Administration established diplomatic relations with the dictatorship in communist Cuba,” said Biscet. “It undermined the American values of freedom shown in the Bill of Rights and its Constitution.” Biscet’s full statement can be viewed here.

Sirley Avila, a one-time local government official whose advocacy on behalf of her constituents led to her assault by a machete-wielding assailant who cut off her hand and left her for dead, warned that unless something is done, the outlook for the country is bleak: “Cuba remains a military dictatorship. In Cuba, human rights continue to be violated and at this moment the people of Cuba are more alone than ever behind the curtain of foreign investors and North American tourists.” Avila’s full statement can be viewed here: here.

“The Cuban government violates–both in practice and in the letter of Cuba’s laws–most universally recognized civil and political rights,” according to Werlau. Her Free Society Project’s Cuban Archive initiative has catalogued over 6,200 deaths and disappearances attributed to the Castro regime. She noted that while since 2003 there has been an official moratorium on application of the death penalty, since Fidel Castro transferred power to his brother Raul 10 years ago, there have been some 34 documented extrajudicial killings. Werlau’s full statement can be viewed here: here.

Both Smith and Werlau noted in their remarks that July 13 is the 22^nd anniversary of the Tugboat Massacre when 37 victims, including 11 children, were killed by the regime.

To watch the start of the hearing on the video below, advance player to the 3:37pm mark, or click here.

“While the Administration is touting improvements in its relationship with the Castro brothers’ regime, it seems little has changed for the Cuban people. The human rights situation is both deplorable and deteriorating,” according to Smith.

Smith is the author of the Cuban Human Rights Act of 2015 (H.R. 1782), which links any improvement in ties with Cuba to the Castro regime meeting basic human rights milestones, and the Walter Patterson and Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act (H.R. 2189), which calls upon the Administration to prioritize the return of fugitives from justice such as Joanne Chesimard, convicted of killing New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. 

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