A/HRC/4/12 page 5 Introduction 1. In its resolution 2002/18, the Commission on Human Rights requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to take the steps necessary to send a personal representative with a view to cooperation between her Office and the Government of Cuba in the implementation of the resolution. In its resolution 2003/13, the Commission, after expressing its satisfaction with the appointment of Christine Chanet as Personal Representative of the High Commissioner, requested the Government of Cuba to receive her and provide her with all the facilities necessary for her to fulfil her mandate. The Commission reiterated that request in its resolution 2004/11. In its resolution 2005/12, the Commission renewed the mandate of the Personal Representative of the High Commissioner. The Human Rights Council decided in 2006 to extend her mandate, in its decision 1/102. 2. On 6 February and 12 May 2003, the Personal Representative of the High Commissioner, by a letter addressed to the Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations Office at Geneva, invited the Cuban authorities to meet her with a view to planning a constructive dialogue with her. On 30 May 2003, the High Commissioner sent a letter backing up this request. On 26 June 2003, the Cuban authorities notified the High Commissioner that they did not recognize the Personal Representative’s mandate. 3. Nevertheless, the Personal Representative of the High Commissioner has attempted to establish contact with the Cuban authorities each year, most recently on 19 and 28 July 2005. Her requests, like the previous ones, met with no response. 4. In these circumstances, the Personal Representative of the High Commissioner gathered information from the Commission’s thematic special rapporteurs who had had occasion to inquire into the situation of human rights in Cuba during the period under consideration, and from non-governmental organizations. She also studied the 2005 report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the subject. I. FACTORS HINDERING THE REALIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CUBA 5. The economic, trade and financial embargo on Cuba, which has been in force for over 40 years, has been regularly condemned by the United Nations General Assembly over the past 14 years. Notwithstanding the resolutions that have been adopted, the initial blockade was strengthened in 1992 by the Torricelli Act (Cuban Democracy Act) and in 1996 by the Helms-Burton Act (Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act). 6. In its resolution 58/7 of 4 November 2003, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General, in consultation with the appropriate organs and agencies of the United Nations system, to prepare a report on the impact of the embargo against Cuba, in the light of the purposes and principles of the Charter and international law. In his reports of 28 August and 5 October 2004 (A/59/302, Parts I and II), the Secretary-General transmitted the replies from Governments and United Nations organs and agencies on the implementation of this resolution.