Long-stalled U.N. rights pacts OKd

Cuba signed two U.N. human rights pacts that longtime President Fidel Castro, succeeded by his brother just four days ago, had refused to endorse for more than three decades.

Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Both went into force in 1976 at the height of the Cold War.

Perez Roque had announced Dec. 10 Cuba’s intention to adhere to the accords. He also said then that Cuba would open its doors in early 2009 to regular international scrutiny by the recently created U.N. Human Rights Council.