A/67/44
Non-refoulement and access to a fair and expeditious asylum procedure
(9)
The Committee is concerned about the lack of an appropriate legal framework for
the protection of refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless persons. While noting the
information provided by the State party to the effect that persons identified as refugees by
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are permitted to remain
in the country while their resettlement is arranged, the Committee is concerned that this de
facto temporary protection does not include recognition of refugee status on the part of the
Cuban authorities. It also notes with concern that, although refugees and asylum seekers
have access to free health services and education, they are unable to obtain a work permit
and have no access to housing and other public services. The Committee is concerned that,
since there is no prospect of local integration, resettlement in a third country is the only
permanent solution possible for refugees in Cuba. The State party should also ensure that
all cases of forced deportation are carried out in a manner consistent with the provisions of
the Convention. The Committee expresses its concern about the lack of information
provided on the circumstances in which the repatriation of illegal Haitian immigrants takes
place. It also regrets the lack of information about any existing migration management
mechanisms that facilitate the identification of persons requiring international protection
(arts. 2, 3, 11 and 16).
The Committee recommends that the State party should:
(a)
Adopt the legislative measures necessary to ensure the protection of
refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless persons. To this end, it urges the State party to
consider ratifying the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol
relating to the Status of Refugees, as well as the Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;
(b)
Establish mechanisms for the identification and referral of refugees and
other persons who have specific requirements in the context of mixed migration flows,
so that their protection needs can be met;
(c)
Facilitate the process of local integration of refugees in Cuban territory,
working in association with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees;
(d)
Amend the current legislation governing migration (Act No. 1312 on
Migration and Act No. 1313 on the Status of Foreigners, both of 1976).
Detention conditions
(10) The Committee notes that the State party has study programmes for all educational
levels in detention facilities and that a programme of investment in the prison system has
been approved. It regrets, however, that precise figures on occupancy levels in detention
facilities have not been provided. The Committee is still extremely concerned about reports
that the prison population allegedly experiences overcrowding, malnutrition, lack of
hygiene, unhealthy conditions, and inadequate medical care. These reports also recount
unjustified restrictions on family visits, transfers to detention facilities located a long way
from detainees’ family and friends, solitary confinement in degrading conditions and
physical and verbal abuse of prisoners. For all these reasons, the Committee regrets the lack
of data, disaggregated by age and sex, on the number of complaints and grievances filed by
prisoners or members of their family and on the corresponding inquiries and their outcome
(arts. 11 and 16).
Taking into account the voluntary commitments assumed by the State party in the
universal periodic review in February 2009 (A/HRC/11/22, para. 130, (45)), the
Committee recommends that the State party should take all necessary steps to ensure
that conditions of detention in prisons and other detention facilities conform to the
GE.12-44492
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