"You can always count on Cuba to defend that noble effort"

43rd session of the Human Rights Council Urgent Debate on racial discrimination against people of African descent

Statement by the Cuban Delegation. Geneva, June 2020.

Madam President,                    

We thank you for organizing this urgent debate and in particular the African Group for its leadership in this initiative.

Almost two decades after the Durban World Conference, the scourge of racism, discrimination and xenophobia continues to spread in a world that is increasingly unequal and embroiled in multiple and complex crises.

Madam President,

Let us not fool ourselves. The abhorrent murder of George Floyd in the United States is not an isolated fact. It is part of a long-running saga of human rights violations based on skin color and ethnicity, underpinned by centuries of structural racism, and a great economic inequality and income distribution. This perpetuates the political, social and legal system of that country that was built on slavery, elite privilege and the dispossession of the majority.

The reality is that racism and police brutality against people of African descent and minorities are not a failure of that system. They are the system!

We hope that these unfortunate events will mark a watershed for the fight against racism, discrimination and the abuse of people of African descent.

Madam President,

I would like to conclude by reiterating the call to implement the Durban Programme of Action and take actions in order to treat everyone equally once and for all.

You can always count on Cuba to defend that noble effort.

Thank you very much