Cuba
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties
The Monitor did not identify any mine or explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in 2015 in the Republic of Cuba. The last reported casualties were in 2013, when a 48-year-old man sustained severe injuries when attempting to dismantle an item of ERW in his home and sell it for scrap in Puerto Padre. The explosion also injured two other adults and two children.[1] Between 1999 and the end of 2014, the Monitor identified a total of 11 mine casualties (two persons killed and nine injured) in Cuba.
Victim Assistance
Cuba has a free and universal healthcare system. The Cuban Association of Physically Disabled Persons (Asociación Cubana de Limitados Físico-Motores, ACLIFIM) has provided a support network for persons with physical disabilities.[2] As of December 2015, it represented over 74,000 members.[3]
Cuba did not have domestic law that expressly prohibited societal discrimination against persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security passed a resolution that accorded persons with disabilities equal pay and equal access to work. Legislation requires that buildings and transportation services accommodate the accessibility needs of persons with disabilities, however access remained a challenge. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security managed an Employment Program for Persons with Disabilities.[4]
Cuba ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 6 September 2007.
[1] “Explosión de artefacto militar olvidado causa heridas graves a varias personas en Puerto Padre” (“Explosion of a forgotten military artifact injures seriously several people in Puerto Padre”), Diario de Cuba, 18 December 2013.
[2] ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2006: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada: July 2006).
[3] ACLIFIM, “Estadisticas” (“Statistics”), 9 January 2015.
[4] United States Department of State, “2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Cuba,” Washington, DC.