Authoritarian Regimes Elevated at the UN: Canada Must Stand for Human Rights
April 12, 2026. ONTARIO, Canada. Authoritarianism is consolidating globally. It is increasingly legitimized within United Nations bodies, at times with the complicity of democracies such as Canada.
From DEMOCRATIC SPACES, we raise our voice against the election of the Cuban regime, one of the world’s most egregious human rights violators, to the United Nations Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations . This influential body oversees the work, accreditation, and access of thousands of civil society and human rights organizations within the UN system.
On April 10, 2026, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, composed of 54 member states, elected by acclamation China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan to this committee. We are deeply concerned that Canada, along with other democracies, has voted in favor of the elevation of persistent human rights violators to key UN bodies tasked with overseeing civil society participation.
It is important to recall that in Cuba, a restrictive legal framework governing associations has long been used to criminalize or severely limit independent civil society activity. The Cuban regime has also advanced a systematic strategy to eliminate internal opposition, surveilling, harassing, repressing, and routinely placing journalists, artists, and activists under house arrest. It continues to hold over a thousand political prisoners, a figure that surpasses the combined totals of countries such as Nicaragua and approaches or exceeds those documented in Venezuela depending on the source and period.
It is also important to highlight the position of the United States, which opposed these elections and stated:
“The United States disassociates from consensus on the election of Cuba and Nicaragua to the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations. These governments continue to repress their citizens and suppress civil society. We believe Cuba and Nicaragua are therefore unfit to serve on a body advising Member States on Non-Governmental Organizations.
Also, the United States disassociates from consensus on the nomination of Iran to the Committee on Program and Coordination. The regime threatens its neighbors and has, for decades, infringed on the Iranian people’s ability to exercise their basic human rights. Due to these and other concerns, we believe Iran is unfit to serve on a body advising Member States on program and budgetary matters.”
While Canada has, in the context of the Universal Periodic Review, called on the Cuban regime to end arbitrary arrests of activists and to guarantee due process, its position has at times been inconsistent in multilateral settings. Notably, at the UN Human Rights Council on November 1, 2018, Canada aligned with states that opposed initiatives calling for greater scrutiny of Cuba’s human rights record, including respect for fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression, association, press, and religion.
Canada, a country that upholds values of justice, human rights, and the rule of law, has failed to take meaningful action in response to escalating repression in Cuba. Since the July 11, 2021 protests, levels of political imprisonment, surveillance, harassment, and repression of human rights activists have reached unprecedented levels.
From Democratic Spaces, we reiterate our call on the Government of Canada to stand with the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom and to take concrete action. This includes the imposition of Magnitsky sanctions on the principal perpetrators of repression within the Cuban regime, the initiation of direct engagement with Cuban activists on the island, and the adoption of key recommendations put forward by Democratic Spaces and the Human Rights Action Group in our recent report, Cuba and the Authoritarian Nexus: Internal Repression, External Aggression, and Illiberal Partnerships. We also urge Canada to use international fora, including the UN Human Rights Council, to initiate actions that pressure the Cuban regime to immediately and unconditionally release all Cuban political prisoners.
This moment calls for clarity, consistency, and principled leadership.
SOURCES:
EXPLANATION OF POSITION ON THE ECOSOC ELECTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND THE COMMITTEE ON PROGRAM AND COORDINATION.
Outrage at UN: Democracies Enable Iran, China, Cuba to Oversee Human Rights Bodies
https://unwatch.org/outrage-at-un-democracies-enable-iran-china-cuba-to-oversee-human-rights-bodies/
Economic and Social Council Fills Vacancies in 17 Subsidiary, Other Related Bodies
https://press.un.org/en/2026/ecosoc7225.doc.htm