Cuba arouses huge passions in Latin America

Angry scenes followed the vote, as opposing Cuban factions confronted each other outside the chamber. One man was knocked to the ground.

The resolution was one of the most politically charged on the agenda of the commission.

Long-time foes Havana and Washington had each lobbied furiously to get their voices heard ahead of the vote.

CUBA VOTE For: 22 votes Against: 21 votes Abstentions: 10

Within minutes of the vote being passed in Geneva, Cuba rejected it.

Describing the resolution as "ridiculous", Cuba's Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said that his government would not adhere to the commission's key request that a human rights investigator be allowed into the country.

Cuba co-operates with the international community but not when it is discriminated against, he added.

Censured countries face no penalties, but rights campaigners say the resolutions do serve to shine a light on abuses.

However, many developing countries resent the kind of motion passed against Cuba, convinced it is a tool used by the rich and powerful - particularly the US - against countries they do not like, says the BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Geneva.

'Attack on sovereignty'

Cuban exiles cheered as the results of the vote were announced.

But representatives from the developing world warmly applauded Cuba's ambassador, who passionately denounced the vote as "yet another American attack on Cuba's independence and sovereignty".

This was rejected by the ambassador of Honduras, which sponsored the motion. He said it was "a constructive suggestion urging the government of Cuba to consider freedom of expression, democracy and pluralism".

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Composed of 53 states Meets annually in March for six weeks The chairmanship rotates yearly between the five regional groupings Anyone may bring a problem to the body, and thousands do each year

The resolution condemned the imprisonment of 75 dissidents last year, whom Cuba accused of being funded by Washington to undermine Cuba's political system.

It also urged Cuba to allow the watchdog's commissioner, Christine Chanet, to visit. Cuba has refused to give her access for two years.

After the vote, Cuba's ambassador said he felt pity for the "ridicule" Honduras had brought on itself.

In past years, it has termed countries which sponsor such motions "US lackeys" and "Yankee boot-lickers".

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch says that the commission sometimes risks losing its way in the fog of ideological point-scoring.

'Protecting allies'

Though the commission's resolutions do serve a purpose in exposing abuses, "its members bring in national and ideological battles", its Geneva director Loubna Freih told BBC News Online.

For example, she says, both the US and EU tend to apply different standards to their allies and enemies.

"The US's role could and should be more constructive. It chooses to protect its allies in the war on terror."