Mr. President,
Once again, the Benelux delegations have become a regrettable example of what should not happen in this Council.
They have intervened in this dialogue by presenting themselves as judges and, from a position of supposed superiority, have assumed the role of judging other States. They have taken on a role that no one has asked them to assume and that no one recognizes.
We respectfully make a request to the Benelux delegations: if they genuinely wish to contribute to the cause of human rights, they should start at home. They should show a minimum of modesty and humility. Before evaluating others, they should at least be self-critical regarding their own human rights challenges.
No country, including those comprising the Benelux, is exempt from challenges in the promotion and protection of human rights. None has the authority to consider itself a paradigm in this regard, much less to use human rights for political purposes to stigmatize other States.
Multiple cases of reprisals in those countries against persons who denounce serious human rights violations against migrants have been well documented.
There is likewise ample evidence of practices of racial discrimination, ill-treatment and excessive use of force by law enforcement officials in Benelux countries.
The Human Rights Committee has repeatedly expressed concern over the arbitrary detention of migrants and asylum seekers in those countries.
If the Benelux is genuinely concerned about human rights in Cuba, let them denounce the criminal economic blockade imposed by the United States against Cuban families, which has been tightened to extreme levels in recent months, including through a brutal fuel blockade.
Let them support the calls made by the High Commissioner, Special Rapporteurs and Experts of this Council, who have demanded an end to the collective punishment to which the Cuban people are subjected, which costs lives and has an enormous humanitarian impact.
Let them demand that the Government of the United States put an end to its flagrant, massive