Cuba and the Rule of Law
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Cuba and the Rule of Law INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS GENEVA 1962 The International Commission of Jurists is a non-governmental organization which has Consultative Status, Category “ B ”, with the United Nations Eco nomic and Social Council. The Commission seeks to foster understanding of and respect for the Rule of Law. The members of the Commission are : JOSEPH T. THORSON President of the Exchequer Court of Canada (Honorary President) VIVIAN BOSE Former Judge of the Supreme Court of India (President) PER T. FEDERSPIEL President of the Consultative Assembly of the Council (Vice-President) of Europe; Member of the Danish Parliament; Attorney- at-Law, Copenhagen JOSfi T. NABUCO Member of the Bar of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Vice-President) SIR ADETOKUNBO A. ADEMOLA Chief Justice of Nigeria ARTURO A. ALAFRIZ Solicitor-General of the Philippines; former President of the Federation of Bar Associations of the Philippines GIUSEPPE BETTIOL Member of the Italian Parliament; Professor of Law at the University of Padua DUDLEY B. BONSAL United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York; immediate Past President of the Asso ciation of the Bar of the City of New York. PHILIPPE, N. BOULOS Deputy Prime Minister, Government of Lebanon; former Governor of Beirut; former Minister of Justice U CHAN HTOON Former Judge of the Supreme Court of the Union of Burma A. J. M. VAN DAL Attorney-at-Law at the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ELI WHITNEY DEBEVOISE Attomey-at-Law, New York; former General Counsel, Office of the USA High Commissioner for Germany SIR OWEN DIXON Chief Justice of Australia MANUEL G. ESCOBEDO Professor of Law, University of Mexico; Attorney- at-Law; former President of the Barra Mexicana THUSEW S. FERNANDO Judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon; former Attorney- General and former Solicitor-General of Ceylon ISAAC FORSTER First President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Senegal FERNANDO FOURNIER Attorney-General; President of the Bar Association of Costa Rica; Professor of Law; former Ambassador to the United States and to the Organization of American States OSVALDO ILLANES BENITEZ Judge of the Supreme Court of Chile JEAN KREHER Advocate at the Court of Appeal, Paris, France AXEL HENRIK MUNKTELL Member of the Swedish Parliament, Professor of Law at the University of Upsala SIR LESLIE MUNRO Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists; former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations; former Ambassador of New Zealand to the United Nations and United States PAUL-MAURICE ORBAN Professor of Law at the University of Ghent, Belgium; former Minister; former Senator STEFAN OSUSKY Former Minister of Czechoslovakia to Great Britain and France; former Member of the Czechoslovak Government LORD SHAWCROSS Former Attorney-General of England SEBASTIAN SOLER Attomey-at-Law; Professor of Law; former Attorney- General of Argentina PURSHOTTAM TRIKAMDAS Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India; Secretary, Indian Bar Association; sometime Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi H. B. TYABJI Barrister-at-Law, Karachi, Pakistan; former Judge of the Chief Court of the Sind Secretary-General: SIR LESLIE MUNRO, K.C.M.G., K.C.V.O. Former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations Administrative Secretary: EDWARD S. KOZERA Former Lecturer in Government, Columbia University INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS, 6, RUE DU MONT-DE-SION, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND CONTENTS Introduction by the Secretary-General of the International Commission of Ju rists .......................................................... vii N ote on s o u r c e s .............................................................................. xm Part One General Survey I. Chronology of the Most Important Events in the History of C u b a ................................................................................... 2 II. The Land A. G eography........................................................... 9 B. Characteristics of the L a n d ........................................... 10 C. Adjacent Islands................................................................ 10 III. The Economy A. A griculture........................................................................... n B. Mineral Resources .................................. .................... 17 C. In d u s try ............................................................................ 17 D. T r a n s p o r t....................................................................... 19 E. C om u n icatio n s.............................................................. 20 F. Foreign Trade.................................................................. 20 G. F in a n c e .......................................................................... 21 IV. The People A. General F e a tu r e s .......................................................... 22 B. Institutions ..................................................................... 26 1. Political Parties ...................................................... 26 (a) Parties under the democratic regime .... 27 (b) Political life under B a t i s t a ............................. 36 2. Trade U n i o n s .......................................................... 43 3. The A rm y .................................................................. 47 4. The Catholic C h u r c h .............................................. 49 5. Economic groups and business interests .... 51 6 . University graduates, professional workers and intellectual groups...................................................... 52 7. Foreign business firm s.............................................. 53 TTT V. The History of the Cuban Revolution Between Two Speeches A. “ History Will Absolve Me ” ..................................... 55 B. Stages of the Cuban Revolution ................................. 60 C. The Judiciary and the Bar Under the Castro Regime 63 D. Castro’s Speech of December 1, 1 9 6 1 ..................... 69 E. Conclusions....................................................................... 72 A p p en d ices....................................................................................... 73 Part Two The Constitutional Legislation of Cuba I. In tro d u c tio n ......................................................................... 78 II. The 1940 C o n stitu tio n .......................................................... 78 A. Dogmatic Part of the Constitution ......................... 79 B. Organic Part of the Constitution ................................. 81 III. Changes in the Constitutional Order ................................ 82 A. The Constitutional Act of 1952 ................................ 83 B. The Short-Lived Restoration of the 1940 Constitution 84 IV. Constitutional Variations Under the Castro Regime A. Amendments to the 1940 C o n stitu tio n ..................... 85 B. The Fundamental Law of the Republic of Cuba of February 7, 1959 .......................................................... 91 V. Amendments to the Fundamental L a w ............................. 98 VI. Conclusions ............................................................................ 112 Part Three The Criminal Legislation of Cuba I. Substantive Criminal L egislation........................................ 114 A. Regulation No. 1 and Act No. 3 3 ............................. 116 B. Criminal Law of 1896 .................................................. 117 C. Act No. 425 .............................................................. .... 119 IV D. Act No. 664 ........................................................................ 123 E. Act No. 71 9 ........................................................................ 125 F. Act No. 732 ......................................................................... 126 G. Act No. 858 ................................................................. 127 H. Act No. 923 ........................................................................ 127 I. Act No. 988 ........................................................................ 128 J. Act No. 10 1 8 .................................................................... 130 Conclusions .............................................................................. 130 II. Legislation on Criminal P r o c e d u r e ...................................... 131 A. Regulation No. 1 and Act No. 3 3 ............................. 131 B. Criminal Procedure Act of 1882 and Procedural Law of 1896 ................................................................................ .......... 133 C. Act No. 425 ........................................................................ 136 D. Act No. 634 .........................<............................................. 139 E. Act No. 925 ........................................................................ 141 C o n clu sio n s.............................................................................. 141 Part Four Statements by Witnesses I. Introduction ........................................ ............................. 142 II. The Position of the J u d ic ia ry ......................................... 142 III. The Revolutionary Courts in A ction............................ 152 IV. The Case of the Airmen..................................................... 181 V. Violations of Personal F re e d o m ..................................... 191 A. Mass Arrests ............................................................... 191 B. Individual A rre s ts .....................................................