Legally binding protocols on economic, social and cultural issues, and civil and political rights, make up the UN Bill of Human Rights.

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The news came as government supporters shouted down dissidents marking the UN's international human rights day.

When it signs up to the protocols early next year, Cuba will commit to allowing freedom of expression and association and the right to travel abroad, among other things.

Just a few streets from the foreign ministry, a small group of opposition activists were mobbed and shouted down by government supporters, as they tried to hold a march.

Dissidents reported that police also picked up several key march organisers in the hours before the event, apparently in an attempt to prevent it taking place.

But the treatment of the dissidents, the BBC's Michael Voss reports from Havana, was a reminder that old approaches continue.

Western diplomats in Havana describe the foreign minister's announcement as an important first step, but are now awaiting to see whether and how it will be implemented, our correspondent adds.

(BBC)

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