Cuban Communists Burn U.N. Human Rights Declaration, Attack Dissidents

Anti-communists in Cuba have officially denounced communism, claiming Cuban soldiers pretending to be civilians were behind the attack of the Ladies in White group headquarters, as well as the burning of copies of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The attack on the Ladies in White group occurred early Thursday morning when a mob of communists gathered around the group’s headquarters shouting insults. The group members responded to the mob by throwing pamphlets about international human rights laws of the window, as well as copies of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Angel Moya, the husband of the Ladies in White group’s leader, claims the mob consisted of soldiers dressed as civilians, and not a single person from the actual community. The mob used the pamphlets and U.N. Human Rights information to create a bonfire outside of the headquarters.

The Ladies in White group consists mainly of women whose male relatives are prisoners of conscience within Cuba. The group attends church masses and are frequently arrested, abused and then released. Members of the group have said they have been arrested unfairly and beaten by communist agents in Cuba repeatedly.

Berta Soler, the group’s leader, does not agree with Obama’s decision to normalize relations between the Cuba and America saying, “This won’t do us any good. We demand that violence against human rights activists cease, especially against women. There have not yet been any statements from either government about this.”

The U.S. State Department admits that Cuba has not made any changes to its human rights policy since the warmer relationship has been announced. One report even acknowledged that Cuba puts healthy prisoners in with mentally ill inmates as punishment.

Although U.S. officials hope Cuba will make changes, the Cuban government has maintained their stance that no changes are needed and they will not be open to negotiation with the U.S. on their human rights situation.