Vol. 568 No. 6
201 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason Ireland voted against an amendment calling for an end to the illegal blockade of Cuba by the United States on the Human Rights Commission in Geneva in April 2003. [17004/03]
Ireland remains opposed to the US economic embargo against Cuba. This fact is reflected in our vote on the issue at annual sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. At the recent session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Ireland, together with all our EU partners on the Commission, voted against the proposed Cuban amendment to the resolution on human rights in Cuba tabled by four Latin American countries. This amendment, in essence condemned, the US economic embargo. However, Ireland and many other countries took the view that the amendment was inappropriate to a human rights context. The amendment was defeated with 17 votes in favour, 24 opposed and ten abstentions.
