ACNU dedicates panel to human trafficking in Cuba

Havana, July 21 (RHC) The headquarters of the Cuban Association of the United Nations (ACNU) this Friday in Havana hosted the panel Trafficking in persons: Results and Challenges for its prevention and confrontation in Cuba, to make visible one of the most pressing global phenomena of the 21st century.

The vice president of the Society of Criminal Sciences of the Union of Jurists of Cuba, Arnel Medina Cuenca, pointed out that among the most common characteristics of human trafficking are physical, sexual or emotional violence, restriction of movement of victims or confinement in the workplace, withholding of wages and confiscation of passports and identity documents.

The specialist said that this phenomenon is an evil of modern slavery and although progress is being made regarding the treatment of the issue in Cuba, the main problem is still manifested in the lack of risk perception.

Medina also highlighted that human smuggling and trafficking are not synonymous, but are generally related and the former may lead to the latter.

Mercedes de Armas, an official at the Center for Legal Research, in her study Social perception that the Cuban population has about human trafficking, analyzed the ability to recognize the characteristics, manifestations and criteria of citizens regarding this crime.

Through interviews with more than a hundred people from Havana, Villa Clara and Santiago de Cuba, mostly young people, De Armas came to the conclusion that 95 percent of that sample dominates the subject, but work must continue on the dissemination of existing services for victim care in the country.

Osmayda Hernández Beleño, member of the national secretariat of the Federation of Cuban Women, specified that since its inception in August 1960, this organization has carried out hard work of social prevention and elimination of all manifestations of discrimination against women, including trafficking. She explained that public policies in Cuba are consistent with the problem and each year the actions to combat it are updated.

Human trafficking represents a serious violation of both the physical and emotional integrity of people as well as human freedom and dignity. It also violates the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Source: ACN)