BY ORLANDO ORAMAS LEÓN —Special correspondent—

GENEVA (PL).— Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque has affirmed that only by changing the world from the roots could there be a Human Rights Commission (HRC) free of selectivity, politicization, blackmail, double standards and hypocrisy.

This formed part of his statement to the High Level Segment of the 61st Session of the HRC, where the announcement of his contribution led to a standing ovation, a somewhat unusual occurrence at the Assembly of Nations where the forum takes place.

He stated that Cuba does not believe achieving such challenges is a pipe dream, but a cause for which it is fighting today and for which it will continue to fight in the future.

"The Human Rights Commission that brings us together today reflects the unjust and unequal world in which we live," he emphasized.

In that respect, he predicted that Cuba will not tire or make concessions, much less in the face of maneuvers which – he denounced – the U.S. is imposing in order to attempt to condemn the Cuban government.

He referred to the administration of President George W. Bush, stating that "it fears the Cuban example."

"We are a dangerous example, a symbol that only in a just, solidarity-focused, socialist society can there be the possibility of all citizens enjoying their rights," stressed Pérez Roque.

In that way, he urged the HRC to try and find an extrajudicial execution, a "disappeared" person, a murdered journalist or a tortured prisoner in Cuba.

The foreign minister stated that Washington is aiming to return its Caribbean neighbor to its "colonial condition", by privatizing health and education and auctioning off the national wealth, as contained in the so-called plan of assistance for a free Cuba.

He advised that Havana will not cooperate with a representative of the High Commissioner of this body "nor with the spurious resolution from which the suggestion arises."

Later he asked why this "prestigious representative of the High Commissioner" has not been appointed to the Guantánamo Naval Base.

He also questioned why the HRC remained silent over the violations suffered by "five courageous and noble Cubans imprisoned in US jails" who are serving long and unjust sentences, paradoxically, for fighting terrorism.

He condemned the partiality of the Commission, in which the European Union has refused to co-sponsor and vote in favor of a resolution to investigate the torture and abuse of hundreds of prisoners at the military base occupied by the Pentagon in Guantánamo.

He also mentioned the conclusion reached by the High-Level Segment concerning the threats to, challenges for and changes within the UN. In his report, he recalled that this panel recognizes that "the commission cannot be credible if it considers applying two distinct measures when dealing with human rights issues."

And he questioned whether the United States and its accomplices would then be capable of exercising self-criticism and committing itself, along with the Third World, "to rescuing the HRC from discredit and confrontation."

The Cuban foreign minister’s speech had aroused expectations, in particular from developing countries and accredited NGOs, who provided the most resounding ovation heard so far in the commission.

Pérez Roque mentioned the United States by name on 10 occasions, not counting his references to President George W. Bush. "Cuba is the voice of millions who are silent," commented to me an African man who occupied one of seats reserved for the NGOs.