GENEVA -- For the seventh year in a row, the United Nations Human Rights Commission has adopted a U.S.-drafted condemnation of Cuba for violating its people's civil liberties.

Nineteen countries voted for the U.S. resolution -- one fewer than last year -- while 10 voted against, compared to five last year. A record 24 nations in the 53-member body abstained.

The vote Wednesday means that special investigator Carl-Johan Groth will continue to monitor the human rights situation in Cuba. The Havana government has refused to let Groth visit the island, saying he is a pawn in U.S. power politics.

The statement approved Wednesday said Cuban President Fidel Castro is ``swimming against the tide of history.''

``Cuba has reacted to the information age by controlling access to the Internet, seizing computers and typewriters and cracking down on independent journalists,'' said U.S. delegation leader Nancy Rubin.

European countries voted with the United States, as did Uruguay, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Chile. Other Latin American nations abstained.

Cuban delegation leader Carlos Amat denounced the resolution as a ``tiresome, tedious exercise'' that was ``part and parcel of the hostile campaign of the United States waged against Cuba.''

Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald