Those Who Defend Human Rights Must Work Together

I am John Suarez, from the Free Cuba Foundation, a student group based out of Florida International University.

I am one of the last speakers, so I am going to try to be brief and sum up a bit, because we have heard so much today: from Falun Gong, from Tibet, from Vietnam, from China; there is also the case of North Korea, which is horrific in terms of human rights violations.

The sad thing is with most of these regimes we are talking about communist dictatorships—so really, what I hear taking place in Vietnam, or in China or in other places, is very similar to what is hear from Cuba. The languages are different, but the repression, and the strategies of maintaining power are the same.

Cuba right now is changing toward a hybrid of a Chinese/Vietnamese system; they are starting to introduce some openness in the economy while increasing repression politically.

So we see that we must study from these other movements, from our brothers in Vietnam and in China, our brothers in Tibet, our Falun Gong brothers and sisters, and learn what they are going through because that is what we face in the future.

Also we have noticed—and I have demonstrated with Falun Gong in different countries and in different cities here in the United States— we have noticed on some occasions where even Cuban officials have been taking pictures of the Falun Gong demonstrators to then hand to their Chinese friends on the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

John Suarez of the Free Cuba Foundation displays his "Free Tibet" T-shirt. (James Fish/The Epoch Times)

In the same way, when we wanted to speak before the U.N. Human Rights Commission, there are times when the Chinese have helped the Cubans and blocked us from being able to speak.

So what we've seen is that these regimes work together. And if the totalitarians are going to work together, and that works, then the democracy advocates and those who defend human rights need to work together.

Just last month in Geneva, the Cuban government, with a number of Middle Eastern Countries that don't have great human rights records, as well as China and Vietnam and the usual group, were able to undermine international free expression standards, through the U.N. Human Rights Council.

So this is a very real problem, and it's a time of change in the U.N. Human Rights mechanism, and we really need to work together—Falun Gong, Tibetans, those fighting for freedom in Burma, Vietnam and elsewhere. Everyone who respects human rights and wants to see human rights standards upheld—we need to work together.

I am here with a T-shirt of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet. Dr. Biscet is currently serving a twenty-five-year prison sentence in Cuba.

Before entering prison to start that sentence he had the time to write a letter to the Dalai Lama, demonstrating his solidarity with the cause of a free Tibet and a free China.

And in that spirit, I also want to show you a T-shirt I got in 2000 in California—a free Tibet shirt.

I got this from one of the Students for free Tibet. I gave him one of my Free Cuba shirts and he gave me one of his free Tibet shirts. I think that type of reciprocal exchange of information, images and solidarity is what's necessary if we are going to be victorious in this struggle for international human rights.

Thank you very much.