Cuba avoided a showdown with the United States on Thursday by withdrawing a resolution from the top U.N. human rights body that called for an investigation into the treatment of prisoners at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The resolution alleged widespread abuses at Guantanamo, where few of the more than 600 terrorism suspects being held by U.S. authorities have been charged with crimes or given access to lawyers. But Cuban Ambassador Jorge Mora Godoy told the 53-nation commission he would not ask for a vote on the resolution because U.S. "threats and blackmail" had ensured its failure.
| We threatened to tell the truth again? Dang it, Colin! |
| Did the Cubeheads beat anybody up this time? |
The United States, Mora Godoy alleged, had warned commission members with citizens being held at Guantanamo that voting for the resolution could lead American authorities to block the release or transfer of their nationals. Among the commission members believed to have detainees in Guantanamo are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt and Pakistan.
| Surprise meter didn't twitch on those nationalities. |
"Tangible is the fear of Western countries and some in Latin America to stand up with dignity to the fascist practices of the U.S. administration lest they receive reprimands and retaliations," he said. U.S. Ambassador Richard Williamson, the head of the American delegation, called the Cuban resolution a "goofy, idiotic stunt" and denied Cuban allegations of America strong-arming countries into opposing the resolution. "You know when a Cuban lies. It's when they move their mouth," he told reporters after the meeting. "They tried to withdraw and do it gracefully. But a loss is a loss is a loss."
| Yoikes! That was a diplomatic smash-mouth quote! |
The Guantanamo resolution had been expected to ignite fierce debate at the commission, which ends its annual six-week session Friday. But Mora Godoy and German Ambassador Michael Steiner, who thanked Cuba for withdrawing the resolution, were the only delegates to address Thursday's meeting.
| The others got in a round of golf. |
Germany had been expected to use a "no action" procedural move to block debate on the resolution - a tactic regularly employed by developing countries, such as Cuba, to stop the commission from condemning their human rights records.
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