A/HRC/4/12 page 2 Summary In accordance with the mandate entrusted to her in Commission on Human Rights resolutions 2002/18, 2003/13, 2004/11 and 2005/12 and which the Human Rights Council extended in its decision 1/102, the Personal Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights made several attempts to contact the Cuban authorities to initiate a dialogue with them in order to fulfil her mandate of examining the situation of human rights in Cuba. The Personal Representative of the High Commissioner has received no reply from the Cuban authorities. On the contrary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeated the Government’s refusal to recognize her mandate at a meeting of the Human Rights Council on 26 September 2006. Despite these difficulties, the Personal Representative of the High Commissioner has made an effort to carry out an objective and impartial assessment of the evolution of the situation in Cuba in relation to civil and political rights, in accordance with her mandate. She gave a hearing to non-governmental organizations. She familiarized herself with all the documents relating to Cuba which were made available to her by the Office of the High Commissioner and the special rapporteurs. She also familiarized herself with the 2005 report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Positive aspects must once again be noted in the sphere of economic, social and cultural rights, especially in the areas of education and health, where the Cuban authorities are making major efforts, in particular as regards funding. Their efforts are all the more significant given the disastrous and lasting economic and social effects - compounded in 2004 - of the embargo imposed on the Cuban population over 40 years ago, as well as its impacts on civil and political rights. The scope of the embargo has been increased as a result of tighter economic and financial restrictions that significantly limit the movement of persons, which the United States of America imposed in May 2004. They included, in particular, weight restrictions on registered luggage, family visits limited to one every three years, fewer educational exchanges and restrictions on sporting exchanges. On 8 November 2006, with the support of an overwhelming majority of Member States, the General Assembly adopted resolution 61/11 on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba. The tension between Cuba and the United States of America has created a climate which is far from conducive to the development of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. United States laws and the funding provided for “building democracy in Cuba” make members of the political opposition on the island appear to be sympathetic to foreign influences and provide the Cuban authorities with an opportunity to tighten repression against them.