San Francisco Bay Guardian
November 3, 1999
By Pam Montanaro

THE CUBAN LEGAL system has been criticized by U.S.-based human rights organizations for alleged violations of international standards. However, such groups are rarely allowed to visit Cuba and must often base their studies on the testimony of the Cuban exile community. Recently Bay Area residents had an opportunity to learn about the system from the Cuban point of view, a view that emphasizes the historical context in which the system operates, as well as the economic and political threat to which Cuba is subjected by the United States' embargo.

Two members of the Cuban judiciary and legal system were featured speakers at the annual convention of the National Lawyers Guild, held in San Francisco Oct. 15 to 17. Reuben Remegio, the recently elected president of Cuba's Supreme Court, and Mayda Goita, a former provincial vice attorney general and Ph.D. in criminal law, are both Afro-Cubans who exude the engaged and engaging spirit that many have come to associate with Cuba. Remegio is from the province of Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba, and Goita is from the far eastern province of Santiago de Cuba. They were invited by the Guild, a long-time opponent of the U.S. embargo, in preparation for a convention of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers to be held in Havana, Cuba, in November 2000.

A great deal of attention was given to the 40-year-old embargo that the United States maintains against this small island nation. Aspects of the Cuban system viewed as "draconian" by human rights organizations are justified by Cubans as national security measures necessitated by U.S. aggression. The embargo, which Cubans believe is more aptly referred to as a "blockade" due to its extraterritorial aspect, keeps Cuban society in a state of perpetual siege, and is viewed by the Cuban government as an act of war. Even human rights groups concede that the U.S. embargo, a form of human rights abuse in and of itself, impedes Cuba's ability to adopt more permissive polices in the area of political freedoms. Many Cubans view their system as more democratic than what the United States would impose, and view it as amenable to change, where necessary, as time and circumstances permit.

Remegio and Goita presided over a two-hour panel discussion with the Guild as well as a community-sponsored event in the Mission district. Lawyers and the public grilled them on such issues as prostitution, youth crime, labor rights under the new foreign investment laws, prison conditions, the death penalty, and citizens' recourse to abuse of power by authorities. What follows is a summary of their responses to some of these topics over the course of the two events.

Justice system

Remegio said he believes that though different from that of the United States, the structure of the Cuban justice system guarantees equal justice and that "as a result, we do not have cases of continuing discrimination based on race, beliefs, sex, or social origin." Cuban courts include lay judges - peasants, workers, housewives, and others who are elected by the people to serve - as well as professional judges, who are also elected by the popular assemblies that represent the population. Both lay and professional judges have the same rights to make decisions in the cases submitted to their tribunals. "This system guarantees that justice reflects popular will," said Remegio. "That's the reason a person like me, a son of humble peasants, and as you can see, black, can be elected to serve."

Cuban prisons

"Prisons are a necessary evil," Remegio said. "In the best of all worlds, there would be no prisons. But no human society has yet been capable of finding a successful alternative. In Cuba, people are sent to prison only for the most serious crimes. Whenever it is possible to avoid incarceration, the court tries to find another way. We do not view the prisons as warehouses for people being shunned by society. The people being punished are human beings. Since prisons are organized on the principle of rehabilitating those who have lost their way, prisoners work and study to learn skills that will prepare them for their reincorporation into society. They receive a salary for their work, so they can help their families and save for future needs. Ours is a progressive system. At first the rules are very rigid, but little by little the person is given more flexibility to have contact with society and with his family, which plays a key role in the rehabilitation."

"I am not trying to present the prisons of Cuba as a paradise," Remegio added. "These people have committed crimes for which they need to receive punishment. Our enemies attempt to persuade the rest of the world that Cuba itself is practically a prison and that Cuban prisoners are starving and tortured. This propaganda has nothing to do with reality. Starting with the 1990s our country went through a very difficult economic period when it was hard to guarantee the basic necessities of life to our people. Even then, the government made sure that prisoners got the basic items they needed to live."

As a provincial vice attorney general, Goita's responsibilities included prison conditions and prisoners' rights. She is an active member of the Cuban Society of Criminal Law and has published numerous articles on criminal behavior. "As an institution that has the obligation to see that the laws of Cuba are enforced, one of our tasks is to prosecute," Goita explained, "but another is to ensure that the rights of citizens, including prisoners, are protected. There are specialists working within the prisons, whose job is to ensure this protection to those fulfilling their sentences. These specialists can interview any prisoner at any time to find out if there are complaints or signs of abuse. If they detect a violation, they have the authority to correct the situation."

"In addition, throughout Cuba there are departments of government set up to attend to the rights of citizens,[and] through which citizens can submit complaints when they believe their rights have been violated. If a family member goes to this department and complains that the rights of a member of his family in prison have been violated, the authority has the power to investigate the situation and to issue an order to reestablish justice."

Death penalty

Regarding the death penalty, Remegio believes it will eventually be "condemned to death in Cuba. The problem is when this will be possible. The imposition of the death penalty in Cuba is very exceptional. Even more exceptional is for it to be actually carried out. It's always related to crimes that are very, very serious - serial murders, or recidivism with crimes of extreme violence or acts of extreme aggression against the Cuban state. We don't have cases in Cuba like the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal!"

"When a prosecutor seeks the death penalty, there are many safeguards. Immediately following the imposition of such a sentence, a new trial before the Supreme Court is automatically convened. Even their ruling has to be reviewed by the Council of State. However, this doesn't justify our continuing to have the death penalty, in my opinion," Remegio said. "It is very much a contradiction with the humanistic goals of the revolution."

Police abuse

Remegio admits there have been cases of abuse by the Cuban police against citizens. "But there are severe penalties for police misconduct in Cuba. One problem we identified was that formerly, being a police officer was not a well-paid position and people joining the force were not sufficiently trained. This has been corrected."

"However," he is quick to point out, "our situation is not comparable to the police abuse that occurs in the U.S. - four or five police officers beating up one black man or other minority. Were Cuban people to witness such a scene, they would probably take matters into their own hands and attack the policemen who dared to commit such acts in their communities."

Like most Cubans, Remegio and Goita blame the United States embargo for much of the suffering in Cuba today: the lack of basic and vital necessities, such as pharmaceuticals, soap and disinfectants, and some basic foods; the stringent measures the Cuban government often feels forced to take against dissent; and for the lack of understanding between our two countries. Remegio couldn't resist a jab at the Helms-Burton Law, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1996, which tightened the embargo beyond the authority of even the U.S. president to end it.

"Studying Helms-Burton, the U.S. government has determined that when there is a democratic government in Cuba - which means to them when there is no revolution - the U.S. will have to teach the Cuban justices how to administer justice U.S. style. In a way, they are right. They will have to teach us, because in Cuba, judges don't know how to administer a system of justice that tends to favor the rich against the powerless." Then he added, "I don't know when they are going to teach us these lessons because they've been announcing the end of the revolution for forty years and we're still here!"

Pam Montanaro is the coordinator of the Cuban program at Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that promotes people-to-people ties between the United States and the developing world. For a complete transcript of the talks by Remegio and Goita, contact her at (415) 255-7296, ext. 231, or pam@globalexchange.org