OSWALDO JOSÉ PAYÁ SARDIÑAS
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Proposed Law for National Reunification - 2008/01/09 18:27
CITIZEN PETITION TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF PEOPLE’S POWER
PRESENTATION OF A PROPOSED LAW FOR NATIONAL REUNIFICATION
Havana, December 18, 2007
Mr. Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada
President of the National Assembly of People’s Power
Deputies of the National Assembly of People’s Power
Esteemed compatriots:
We, the Cuban citizenry, supported by article 63 of the Constitution of the Republic, present to you this Citizen’s Petition, with the following considerations on which it is based.
CONSIDERING: That the Cuba Republic is signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that in Article 13 affirms that “all individuals have a right to move freely and to choose their residence in the territory of their state…and to leave from whatever country, including their own and to return to their country.”
CONSIDERING: That the states that are signatories to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are committed, in cooperation with the United Nations, to assuring universal respect for the fundamental rights and liberties of man.
CONSIDERING: That the Cuban state proposed and sponsored in December 1998, at the General Assembly of the United Nations, a resolution entitled “Respect for the right to the universal freedom of travel and importance of the reunification of families,” that was approved by a broad majority of member states of the United Nations.
CONSIDERING: That some current regulations and practices violate the rights of Cuban citizens to travel, to leave and to return to Cuba freely, and at the same time deny those rights to Cubans that reside permanently outside of Cuba.
CONSIDERING: That many Cuban families suffer separation because some of their family members live in other countries and because of the restrictions of the regulations and practices of official institutions that impede the freedom of reunification in their own country.
CONSIDERING: That article 42 of the Constitution prohibits “discrimination on the basis of race, skin color, sex, national origin, religious beliefs and any other offense against human dignity.”
CONSIDERING: That there are regulations and practices that violate article 9, clause b) and 43 of the Constitution by impeding free access for Cubans to hotels, beaches, keys, and other sites of recreation and leisure, as well as the free movement of Cubans in all of the national territory and their right to reside in any province or neighborhood in Cuba.
CONSIDERING: That article 63 of the Constitution guarantees that “all citizens have a right to direct complaints and petitions to the authorities and to receive adequate attention or reply within an appropriate timeframe in accordance with the law.”
CONSIDERING: That article 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba expresses that “the State carries out the will of the working people and…guarantees the freedom and full dignity of man, the enjoyment of all rights, the exercise and fulfillment of duties, and the full development of his personality.”
WE ASK: That the National Assembly of People’s Power discuss and approve the following proposed Law for National Reunification.
Wishing all Deputies, their families, and all Cuban families peace and happiness this Christmas and in the following year of 2008.
Respectfully,
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas
Peñón No. 221 between Monasterio and Ayuntamiento, Cerro,Havana CI: 52022900800
Minervo Lázaro Chil Siret
Bldg. 19 Apt. 1106
Pastorita Neighborhood, Cienfuegos
CI: 72030211546
HEREDIA LAW PROPOSAL
PROPOSED LAW TITLED IN HONOR OF OUR EXILED
CUBAN POET AND PATRIOT, JOSE MARIA HEREDIA
PROPOSED LAW FOR NATIONAL REUNIFICATION
WHEREAS: Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic states that “Cuba is a socialist state of workers, sovereign and independent, organized by all and for the good of all, as a unitary and democratic republic, for the enjoyment of political freedom, social justice, individual and collective welfare and human solidarity.”
WHEREAS: Article 42 of the Constitution prohibits “discrimination on the basis of race, skin color, sex, national origin, religious beliefs and any other offense against human dignity”.
WHEREAS: That the Cuban state proposed and sponsored in December 1998, at the General Assembly of the United Nations, a resolution entitled “Respect for the right to the universal freedom of travel and importance of the reunification of families,” that was approved by a broad majority of member states of the United Nations.
WHEREAS: It is necessary to enact a law that recognizes and guarantees the universal right of freedom to travel, that facilitates the reunification of Cuban families within the country, and that overcomes discriminatory practices against Cubans as Cubans, for being from certain regions of the country or for their political and religious ideas.
WHEREAS: Article 70 of the Constitution establishes that National Assembly of People’s Power “is the only entity with legislative… authority in the Republic;”
WHEREAS: Article 75 of the Constitution enumerates among the responsibilities of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the “approval...of laws.”
NOW THEREFORE: The National Assembly of People’s Power, in wielding the authority which it is conferred in article 75, clause b) of the Constitution of the Republic, adopts the following:
LAW FOR NATIONAL REUNIFICATION
CHAPTER 1
GENERALITIES
ARTICLE 1.1 – The purpose of this law is to recover some citizen rights that are enshrined by the Constitution of the Republic, yet up to now have not been recognized or respected either by the laws or in practice; and to achieve other rights that are not expressed nor denied in the Constitution, but are proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international mechanisms for the protection of human rights, to which the Republic of Cuba is a signatory.
2 – Accordingly with the aforementioned section, this law facilitates free contact and reunions between Cuban family members and their voluntary reunification in our country; it guarantees freedom of movement and of choosing a place of residence for all Cubans within our country; it guarantees Cubans the right to leave Cuba freely, to enter Cuba freely and to remain at will, enjoying the rights of citizens that are recognized in the Constitution and the laws; and it recognizes and guarantees the civic rights of Cubans living abroad and their children.
CHAPTER II
ON CITIZENSHIP
ARTICLE 2 – All exiles and immigrants, as well as their children, are proclaimed to have full status as Cubans and are restituted all of their full rights as Cuban citizens, including the right to return and to settle in their Homeland. The regulations will be established in order to facilitate the exercise of this right as quickly as possible, in an orderly and secure way, and ensuring that no Cuban is ever denied that right.
ARTICLE 3 – The children of Cuban citizens have the right to request Cuban citizenship. They only have to request it.
ARTICLE 4.1 – Cubans who have lost their citizenship are able to recover it by means of an official request.
2 – Once the law is approved, Cuban official institutions will establish the regulations that will guarantee in practice the facilities for Cubans in relation to the previous sections of this article, as well as articles 2 and 3 of this law, to obtain a Cuban passport and other documents that guarantee their status as Cuban citizens, within a timeframe of no more than 30 day from when the person in question presented their request in writing to consular authorities or the authorities inside Cuba by means of a family member or legal representative. The citizenship or passport application will only require that the applicant prove with another country’s passport, a birth certificate, or a sworn declaration that he/she was born in Cuba or one of his/her parents was born in Cuba. If the individual applicant is a minor, the application should be made by at least one parent.
CHAPTER III
ON EQUALITY
ARTICLE 5 – All Cuban citizens, men and women, that reside in Cuba or abroad, temporarily or permanently, enjoy all of the civic rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic and in the laws, and they are equally subject to the same duties.
ARTICLE 6 – All discriminatory practices against citizens because of their Cuban status will cease. All Cubans will be able to frequent all hotels, beaches, resorts, restaurants and recreational centers. They can also use all public means of transportation without segregation and will have free and equal access to the Internet, e-mail, basic phone and cellular service, satellite and cable television, and other technological advances. Violation of this article will be penalized by law.
ARTICLE 7 – All discriminatory practices against citizens on account of their political opinions or religious beliefs will cease. All Cubans have the right to occupy whatever position of employment or responsibility according to their capacities and to pursue university studies at any of the centers of higher learning in the country. The discriminatory and excluding practice of “universality for revolutionaries only” will cease. Violation of this article will be penalized by law.
CHAPTER IV
ON MOVEMENT
ARTICLE 8 – Cubans can move freely throughout the country and establish residence in the province or zone of their choosing. No Cuban can be declared illegal in his own country.
ARTICLE 9 – Internal exile will be prohibited. No Cuban can be excluded from residing, visiting, or traveling to any province of zone in the country.
ARTICLE 10 – The “Frozen Zone” category, which is applied to exclusive residential neighborhoods and areas that are restricted for the majority of Cubans, will be prohibited, as they constitute a form of discrimination against Cubans in their own country and are a violation of the Constitution and the rights of citizens.
ARTICLE 11 – All Cuban citizens have the right to establish a working contract inside and outside of Cuba, with state as well as private entities; and to receive in full the salary that is granted as the fruit of their labor, in accordance with the taxes imposed by law; and to have his labor rights respected.
ARTICLE 12 – All Cuban citizens have the right to travel abroad. In order to do so, Cubans will only need to present their current passport in any legally established sea or air port.
ARTICLE 13 – All Cuban citizens have a right to immigrate, without having his status as a Cuban stripped away or it constituting a motive for disqualification or defamation. The ominous and excluding category of “Definitive Exit” will be eliminated for citizens that have migrated or wish to migrate. Properties, bank accounts, and the wealth and goods of all Cubans who immigrate after this law goes into effect will be respected as well as their rights as citizens.
ARTICLE 14 – No Cuban that wishes to immigrate will be punished, in any way, for that reason. Therefore, no work obligations, conditions or waiting timeframes will be imposed in order to exercise the right to leave the country freely.
ARTICLE 15 – The obligation to present an “Invitation Letter,” as well as to request a permit to exit the country and a “Release Letter” or permit from one’s place of work, in order to travel abroad temporarily or to immigrate will be eliminated. No Cuban will have to carry out migration proceedings in government offices in order to travel outside the country, except in cases concerning a minor in order to verify authorization by their parents or legal guardian.
ARTICLE 16 – The practice by the Interior Ministry of opening proceedings and investigations against citizens who want to leave Cuba will cease.
ARTICLE 17 – The proceedings for travel abroad and emigration will be paid in Cuban pesos and in an amount according to a citizen’s purchasing power.
ARTICLE 18 – All Cubans residing abroad, temporarily or permanently, will be able to enter and remain in national territory as well as exit the country, by only presenting a passport or legal document authorizing it. Mandatory visas and special permits to enter Cuba will be eliminated for Cubans residing abroad for whatever reason.
ARTICLE 19 – All Cubans who reside abroad can return to live in Cuba temporarily or permanently, according to their own decision; but they must formalize their residency request in Cuba as soon as they return to the country.
ARTICLE 20 – No Cuban will be expatriated. No Cuban will also be barred entrance into the territory of the Republic of Cuba through legal means or through legally established maritime and air ports of entry. Prohibition to leave the country will only be ordered by a judge or competent tribunal in accordance with the law.
ARTICLE 21 – All methods of classification and discriminatory practice against Cuban exiles or those who have emigrated or will emigrate for whatever reason will be banned.
CHAPTER V
ON PROPERTY
ARTICLE 22.1 – All Cuban citizens will have the legitimate right to continue residing in their home and no one will be able to dispossess them or deprive them of their property or the building they legally inhabit. No one will be able to demand from any family, or from the State as well, a property that the government confiscated from them before the period in which this Law came into effect and that is legally inhabited by another family, to whom compensation can also not be given.
2 – Demands for repayment, indemnity or compensation will not be processed or accepted for houses or other buildings that are legally inhabited by individuals or families and constitute their family housing; nor will such demands be recognized from Cuban citizens through another country.
3 – Properties that have a social function or in which centers or institutions have been established will also not be returned to their former owners or descendants or privatized, including, among others: schools, child centers, centers of education, culture, and of social and human advancement, hospital, policlinics, homes of the family doctor, elderly and maternity homes, centers related to health, housing, or housing communities, parks, social clubs, aqueducts, land that has been given to peasants, beach areas, camp areas, and other natural areas of recreation, media, papers, channels, natural parks, preserved areas, sports areas, watersheds and valleys, springs, mines and mining fields, funeral homes, ports, bus and rail terminals, airports, areas of transit and public use and whatever other land, industry, business, institution or facilities of national interest and collective benefit.
TEMPORARY RESOLUTIONS
FINAL RESOLUTIONS
FIRST: The National Assembly of People’s Power and its ministers as well as relevant institutions from the Central State Government will revise and modify judicial resolutions or regulations related to the rights that are recognized in the present Law, and will dictate how many appropriate measures and regulations will be necessary to guarantee in the most efficient way the exercise of those rights.
SECOND: A repeal will take place of however many judicial resolutions or regulations are in contradiction with what is put forward by the present Law, which will go into effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Journal of the Republic.
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