OAS Comes Down on Cuba (UPDATE)

The human rights branch of the Organization of American States (OAS) has condemned the numerous human rights violations committed by the castro regime in recent years, reports Pablo Bachelet of the Miam Herald.

Unfortunately, the condemnation has virtually no bite to it. Why?

The decision by the commission, a branch of the Organization of American States (OAS), will likely have little immediate impact on the 61 dissidents still in jail or the relatives of the three hijackers because Cuba has not recognized previous commission decisions.

Cuba argues the commission has no jurisdiction over Havana because the country was suspended from the OAS in 1962. It routinely returns IACHR communications unopened.

The online version of this story is pathetic compared to the much greater detail offered in the print version. I guess the Herald didn't want to give it's non-subscribers the "real scoop". Hmmm.

UPDATE: The full version is now available online here.

The print version mentiones that while Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962, the human rights commission argues that Cuba is "still subject to its jurisdiction because it continues to be part of the 1948 Charter of the OAS and the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man of the same year".

On the other hand, Cuba wasn't part of another agreement in 1969 that created the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, therefore neither side can take their case to this court.

Sounds like a typical diplomatic and legislative mess that in the end doesn't resolve anything.