Mayo 24, 2007
Declaration, Rome, Italy
15th May 2007
Adopted at the
“Third International Conference for Trade Union Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility in Cuba” organized by the International Group for Corporate Social Responsibility in Cuba
in cooperation with the Transnational Radical Party
We, the undersigned participants of GIRSCC’s “Third International Conference for Trade Union Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility in Cuba”, wish to thank the Transnational Radical Party for its long struggle for human rights, freedom and democracy in Cuba, and for the successful demonstration held in Havana on March 18 by members of Parliament and Transnational Radical Party representatives.
We hereby call for the urgent and necessary strengthening of non-violent responses to the prevailing repression in Cuba.
We welcome and support the decision of some of the most important representatives of the Cuban opposition to issue a joint appeal for “Unity for Freedom”. This appeal is the first of its kind that the peaceful opposition to the Cuban Government articulates, in recognition that this is the only political strategy that can guarantee a sustainable democratic future in Cuba. We hereby state our commitment to support this initiative and to promote it both inside and outside Cuba.
We believe that the European Union’s Common Position on Cuba, which includes direct relations both with the Cuban Government and with NGO's and civil society, should include a greater and more substantial support from European Union member states towards the Cuban opposition.
To this end, we ask the Italian Government to support the parliamentary initiative of Rose in the Fist congressmen Sergio D'Elia and Bruno Mellano, that calls for Italy’s embassy in Cuba to offer assistance such as access to their Internet facilities and financing of democracy education and information projects to Cuban NGO's and to the democratic opposition.
We feel that any improvement in political and diplomatic relations with the Cuban Government should be contingent upon the liberation of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience and the formal start of a pro-democracy dialogue, on the one hand; and to a firm European Union commitment to support independent Cuban NGO's on the other.
We call on all friends of the Cuban people to express their friendship, empathy and solidarity for the campaign to persuade the Cuban Government to ratify – to ratify and respect – without reservation all international instruments on respect and protection of fundamental human rights. Foremost among these instruments is the United Nations international covenant on civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights.
We call on Italian and European trade unions to press the Cuban Government directly and through the pertinent international organizations, including the United Nations, for the unconditional and immediate release of the seven independent union leaders currently imprisoned in Cuba. The Cuban Government imprisoned these seven men solely for establishing independent trade unions, a right guaranteed under Article 87 of the ILO Convention. In this regard, we also call for the enforcement of all appropriate legal instruments in the context of the International Conference of the ILO at the United Nations in Geneva.
We call on the members of the Italian Parliament to start an investigation aimed at examining the violation of basic workers rights by Italian corporations in Cuba, in particular the grave incidents of suppression of freedom of expression by TELECOM Italia through its partnership with the Cuban Telephone Company ETECSA.
Also, we state our commitment through the work of the Transnational Radical Party, to promote a campaign before all pertinent European Union institutions to protect human rights in Cuba, taking into consideration the current political situation and placing particular emphasis on the need for a moratorium on the death penalty in Cuba.
We call on European States, NGO's and public opinion to put pressure on all foreign investors, particularly those in their own countries, in order that they respect those fundamental human rights recognized in international law in all their commercial endeavours in Cuba. The present commercial relations deny and violate human rights in the island. We ask, also, for respect of the following rights and issues:
1. The right to establish trade unions freely;
2. The right to strike;
3. The right to collective bargaining;
4. The right to freedom of expression;
5. The abolition of all labour exploitation of Cuban workers both in Cuba and abroad;
6. The abolition of mandatory employment of minors;
7. The abolition of worker discrimination based on political beliefs, race, religion and sex;
8. Support for environmental protection in the conduct of business and commercial activities.
Signed in Rome, May 15, 2007
