Reports coming out of Cuba yesterday indicate 23 Ladies in White were
arrested in yet another Sunday of violent repression on the island.
Photos and video posted on social media show State Security agents of
the socialist Castro dictatorship swooping down on the women who
attempted to march peacefully and attend church services.
This was the 215th Sunday of a peaceful protest campaign by the
Ladies in White, each of which have ended with violence and arrests by
the Cuban dictatorship.
Alarming Repression Against the Ladies in White in Cuba
The
repression against the Ladies in White, opposition activists and human
rights defenders in Cuba, that we have seen during the last couple of
weeks is alarming. The increase of violence from the authorities has
come as a result from the exercise of the right to public protests and
from the public exposure of the faces of political prisoners.
Beatings, physical abuse and various types of torture have become
routine. In only a few weeks, the numbers of arrests have skyrocketed
and they now exceed several hundred.
The Forum for Rights and Freedoms and Civil Rights Defenders raise a
warning regarding the deteriorating situation for human rights defenders
in Cuba, and we note with great concern the indifference of the
international community, especially from the US government, the EU and
the Vatican, of which the latter played an active role in the talks
between the Cuban government and the US administration.
The current actions by the Cuban government are a response to the silence of the international community.
In accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – of
which Cuba is a signatory – the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights – which the government of Raul Castro has signed but
not ratified – and, as the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to
freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai has recently
explained clearly in his final report; states shall ensure the full
exercise of freedom of assembly, association and peaceful demonstration.
The Forum for Rights and Freedoms and Civil Rights Defenders call on
the international community to act against the dangers that Cuban human
rights defenders are facing. It is time for the American and European
governments, usually eager to improve their relations with the Cuban
government, to use their influence and speak out against the worsening
violations of human rights in Cuba.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, photo: Private On Sunday 1 March, Cuban independent artist Luis Manuel Otero
Alcántara was arbitrarily detained for the fourth time this year. The
Cuban government is now launching a summary trial against him. Luis
Manuel was attacked by police outside his home and was forced into a
vehicle. His partner Claudia Genlui, who filmed the attack, was beaten
and her phone stolen by the police.Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is the director of Movimiento San Isidro.
He and Claudia Genlui planned to attend a protest outside the Cuban
Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT). The protest was a response to
the Cuban authorities’ decision to censor a scene of two men kissing in
the movie Love, Simon. The day before the protest, ICRT
apologised for censoring the movie and announced that they planned to
air the original version.
Claudia Genlui says in a video published by Diario de Cuba that the
couple decided not to attend the protest. Instead, they left their house
to go grocery shopping and according to Claudia the police had been
surveilling their house all day. “Cuba is a dictatorship and you are
not allowed to think differently”, she says.
Luis Manuel was already awaiting trial due to accusations of
“aggravated contempt” and for “insulting national symbols”. These
accusations were made against him after he took a photo of himself with
the Cuban flag and launched a campaign in social media urging people to
take similar pictures using the hashtag #theflagbelongstoeveryone.
However, those accusations alone are not enough to sentence him to
prison. According to Movimiento San Isidro, the Cuban state added the
accusation of “property damage” to increase the weight of the case
against him.
When Claudia Genlui and two other representatives from the Movimiento
San Isidro went to the National Police Directorate to obtain more
information about the case, they were told that Luis Manuel was located
at the Vivac detention centre and that he would get a summary trial
within 10 days. However, when they asked about him at the detention
centre, they were told that Luis Manuel was not there or in any other
station.
“On Tuesday, after completing 48 hours of arbitrary detention, a
request for Habeas corpus will be filed”, said Iris Ruiz, active in the
Movimiento San Isidro, to Diario de Cuba.
Habeas corpus is a legal procedure in which any citizen can appear
before a judge and ask them to determine the legality of their detention
or arrest. The procedure exists to prevent arbitrary actions by state
institutions.
Since the beginning of 2019, Luis Manuel has been detained more than
20 times. He is continuously harassed by the Cuban authorities due to
his activism and his leadership of Movimiento San Isidro.
In a joint statement,
Civil Rights Defenders and several human rights organisations and media
outlets urge the Cuban government to declare Decree-Law 370
unconstitutional. The undersigned organisations demand that the Cuban government put an
immediate stop to online surveillance of individuals who express their
opinions and cease persecuting journalists and human rights activists.
Joint Statement from Organisations and the Media: International
support for the petition to declare Decree-Law 370 unconstitutional in
Cuba
The undersigned organisations and media outlets support the petition
presented on June 8 in Cuba before the National Assembly, the State
Council, the Supreme Court, the Office of the Attorney General, and the
President of the Republic declaring 2019’s Decree-Law 370
unconstitutional. The 64 people who signed the petition did so on behalf
of the more than 500 Cuban residents and 3,100 Cuban expats and
nationals of 83 other countries who signed the “Declaración contra el
Decreto Ley 370: Ley Azote,” published on the Avaaz platform.
Decree-Law 370 was described as an effective means of consolidating
cybersecurity, technological sovereignty, security, and national
defense. However, it also subordinates the development of information
and communication technologies (ICT) to the needs of the State and
imposes restrictions on the exercise of fundamental rights involved in
the use of ICT, such as political participation, freedom of expression,
privacy, and association. Among the restrictions dictated by the
decree-law, the following stand out:
It
penalizes the dissemination of information contrary to “social
interest,” “morals,” and “good customs” on social
media, classifications which do not imply unlawful conduct and inhibit debate
in the public and political sphere.
It
authorizes the punishment and persecution of computer security researchers who
publish and raise warnings about the existence of vulnerabilities in computer
systems.
It
grants discretionary powers to the Ministry of Communications (MINCOM) to issue
licenses for computer programs and applications and does not guarantee an
explanation of denial which would facilitate authorities’ arbitrary decisions.
It
impermissibly restricts the manufacture, installation, and marketing of
ICT-related devices without authorization, which impacts the development of
community networks that guarantee access to the internet and reduce the digital
divide.
It
prevents the hosting of websites located on foreign servers if they are not
replications of a primary site located on the national server, outlawing
personal blogs and independent media outlets that are denied access to the
“.cu” domain. This allows the Government to control and access users’
personal information.
These restrictions violate the provisions of Articles 8, 40, 41, 47,
54, and 228 of the Cuban Constitution and the international treaties
ratified by the State, which are part of the national legal system and
explicitly protect freedom of expression. These international treaties
include the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
By signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Cuban State is
compelled to protect freedom of expression. This commitment is
reaffirmed in Article 47 of the Cuban Constitution, which recognizes the
right of individuals to the free development of their personality, and
in Article 54, which imposes an obligation on the State to guarantee
freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is essential for the
enjoyment of others human rights and its illegitimate restriction
violates the indivisibility, interdependence, and interrelatedness of
the human rights recognized in Article 41.
Since the publication of our statement on May 6 ̶ in which we
expressed concern about violations against freedom of expression and the
press in the implementation of Decree-Law 370 ̶ , the situation has
continued to worsen. Nine more people have been penalized with fines of
3,000 pesos ($120), equivalent to three times the current average
monthly salary, and at least one person was fined twice in less than 40
days. In all cases, they were sanctioned by MINCOM officials, under
direct orders from State Security, based on their critical posts on
social media about the management of the Cuban Government. This brings
to a total of 27 the violations associated with the implementation of
the law.
In its February 2020 country report, the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights (IACHR) indicated that Decree-Law 370 “could give rise to
undue restrictions on the exercise of the rights to freedom of
expression and assembly on the internet, affecting the free flow of
information.”
The IACHR has warned that online surveillance activities violate the
right to privacy and protection of personal data. It expressed concern
that this type of online monitoring might be used as a means of
identifying independent journalists and political dissidents, leading to
the use of patterns of harassment against these people.
The Cuban State must guarantee the right of access to information
through any medium, particularly through the internet. We stress that
penalizing and classifying the exercise of freedom of expression as a
legal violation and restricting access to and the publication of online
content for supposed reasons of public order or national security, is a
violation of the Cuban Constitution and international law and has an
intimidating effect on the collective dimension of freedom of expression
and assembly.
We, the undersigned, support the petition to declare Decree-Law 370
unconstitutional. We reaffirm the statement published on May 6 in all
its points. We urge other allies from the international community,
governments, civil society, and international human rights protection
organisations to demand that the Cuban government put an immediate stop
to online surveillance against individuals who express their opinions on
social media or other media outlets and cease persecution of
journalists and human rights activists.
List of Signatories
Access Now
ADN
Alas Tensa
Alianza Regional por la Libre Expresión e Información
Árbol Invertido: Cuba, cultura y libertades
Article 19 Oficina para México y Centroamérica
Asociación Pro-Libertad de Prensa
CADAL
Centro PEN de Escritores Cubanos en el Exilio
CiberCuba
Ciudadanía y Desarrollo
CIVICUS
Civil Rigths Defenders
Club de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba
Convivencia
Cubalex
Cubanet
Cultura Democrática
Demo Amlat
Demongeles
Derechos Digitales de América Latina
Diario de Cuba
El Estornudo
Freedom House
Freemuse
Fundación Cubana para los Derechos Humanos
Fundación Internet Bolivia
Havana Times
Hiper Derecho
Huaira
Human Rights Foundation
Hypermedia
ICLEP
IFEX-ALC
Instituto de Artivismo Hannah Arendt
La Hora de Cuba
Mesa de Diálogo de la Juventud Cubana
Movimiento Cubano por la Libertad de Expresión
Movimiento San Isidro
No Somos Desertores
PEN Internacional
People In Need
People in Need Slovakia
Play-Off Magazine
Post Bellum
“Programa Cuba de la Universidad Sergio Arboleda”
Proyecto Inventario
Puente a la Vista
Race and Equality
Red de Cultura Inclusiva
Red Femenina de Cuba
REDLAD
Rialta
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
Transparencia Electoral
Tremenda Nota
Usuarios Digitales
Yucabyte
8,400 Cubans Serve Time for “Pre-Criminal Social Dangerousness”
According to new documents presented by Civil Rights Defenders and Prisoners Defenders
on 13 January, approximately 8,400 Cubans currently serve time for
”pre-criminal social dangerousness”. The term is often used by the Cuban
government to jail people who pose a risk to the status quo in the
country, without having committed a crime. Around 4,000 Cubans every year are accused of
being ”antisocial” or ”dangerous”, without having committed a crime. The phrase
is commonly applied to people who are unemployed, behave undisciplined or
harass tourists.
The documents were revealed during a press conference in Madrid on
Monday 13 January. During the press conference, former Cuban
high-ranking judge, Edel González Jiménez commented on the human rights situation in the country.
“The repression that I am seeing against part
of my people is not what I want for my people. I have a lot of fear about the
future. Every day Cubans face more fear. I don’t want blood on the streets of
Cuba, I don’t want these imprisonments,” Edel
González Jiménez said
during the press conference in Madrid.
Read more:
Interview with Edel González Jiménez in The New York Times here.
In Miami, ‘Ladies In White’ Rally; In Cuba, They Stay Home
Most of them were arrested on 6 December 2015, in an attempt to
prevent them from participating in the demonstration “Todos Marchamos”
(We all March), organised by the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White).
Among the human rights defenders who were detained are 31 members of
Ladies in White, including its leader Ms Berta Soler, and almost 300
other human rights defenders from different movements and organisations,
including Frente de Acción Cívica “Orlando Zapata Tamayo” – FACOZT
(Civic Action Front “Orlando Zapata Tamayo”) and Unión Patriotica de
Cuba – UNPACU (Patriotic Union of Cuba). This is the 33rd consecutive
Sunday that the Ladies in White and members of other human rights
movements and organisations have faced arbitrary temporary arrests.
Every Sunday members of Ladies in White attend mass at Santa Rita
Church and march around the neighbourhood carrying pictures of political
prisoners in Cuba and demanding their release. These weekly
demonstrations are part of the campaign “Todos Marchamos”, which has
gathered support from many others human rights movements in Cuba.
Mr Zaqueo Baéz Guerrero, a member of UNPACU, is the only human rights
defender out of the 330 recently arrested that has not yet been
released. Seven other human rights defenders have been kept under
detention since October 2015 while awaiting trial for their peaceful
dissent in Cuba. These seven are Hugo Damian Prieto, Miguel Borroto
Vazquez, Mario Alberto Hernandez Leyva, Silverio Portales, Leudis Reyes
Cuza, Maybel Mediaceja Ramos, David Fernandez Cardoso and Wilberto
Parada.
Front Line Defenders is gravely concerned at the arbitrary arrests
and detentions of human rights defenders in Cuba, intended to silence
all dissenting voices.
28 September 2015
Clampdown and detention of over 200 human rights defenders during Papal visit
Between
19 and 22 September 2015 hundreds of human rights defenders (HRDs) were
prevented from speaking out during the Pope's visit to Cuba, according
to what local sources told Front Line Defenders. Several HRDs were
arrested and detained, while others were put under surveillance and
prevented from leaving their houses in a clear attempt to stop them from
organising demonstrations during the Pope's visit.
Of the more than 200 HRDs and activists detained, most belonged to
human rights organisations Foro Antitotalitario Unido – FANTU (United
Anti-totalitarian Forum), Unión Patriotica de Cuba – UNPACU (Patriotic
Union of Cuba), Movimiento Cristiano Liberación – MCL (Christian
Liberation Movement), Cuba Independiente y Democrática – CID
(Independent and Democratic Cuba) and Damas de Blanco Laura Pollán
(Ladies in White).
The Foro Antitotalitario Unido is a non-governmental organisation
which works to bring about democratic change in Cuba through non-violent
action in Havana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus and Villa
Clara. Also working on the same issues are Unión Patriotica de Cuba and
Movimiento Cristiano Liberación, organisations that advocate for
political change and respect for civil liberties. Damas de Blanco Laura
Pollán was created in 2003 to advocates for the release of political
prisoners in Cuba. Damas de Blanco Laura Pollán are frequently subject
to harassment during their weekly protests in Havana.
Among the 70 members of Damas de Blanco Laura Pollán who were
detained was Ms Berta Soler, the leader of the movement, who remained in
detention for 2 days, from 20 September 2015 to 21 September 2015. This
arbitrary detention was reportedly intended to prevent Berta Soler from
attending the Pope's mass at the Revolutionary Square (Plaza de la
Revolución) on 20 September 2015, as well as to prevent the organisation
of any demonstrations during the mass.
The largest targeted clampdown was against Unión Patriotica de Cuba,
as a total of 142 of its members were arrested in the cities of Havana,
Holguín and Santiago de Cuba. The Foro Antitotalitario Unido also
reported that 26 of its activists were arrested in Villa Clara province
as they were making their way to Havana to attend the mass on 20
September 2015. Members of other civil organisations, including the
Movimiento Cristiano Liberación and Cuba Independiente y Democrática,
were also arrested.
The Pope's visit to Cuba occurred in the context of various abuses
and human rights violations perpetrated by Cuban government. From 19 to
22 September 2015 the government engaged in a what has been reported as a
“social cleansing” operation, in which many impoverished and homeless
people were detained in order to hide all evidence of social problems
from the many foreign visitors and the international media. Meanwhile
HRDs who speak out against the regime continue to be targets of
systematic repression at the hands of the authorities.
Front Line Defenders is gravely concerned at the arbitrary arrests
and detentions of human rights defenders in Cuba, intended to silence
all dissenting voices while the country was under the international
media spotlight during the Papal visit. Further concern is expressed at
the continuous acts of violence and human rights violations committed
against those who oppose the regime and fight for the implementation of
democratic values.
20 July 2012
Arrest of human rights defenders and members of the Damas de Blanco Laura Pollán and denial of the right to freedom of assembly
On
18 July 2012, Ms Tatiana López Blanco, Ms Leonor Reinó Borge, Ms Mirta
Gómez Colás and Ms Niurkis Rivero Despaigne were detained by Department
of State Security agents in Havana.
The aforementioned human rights defenders are all members of the
prominent human rights organisation Damas de Blanco Laura Pollán(Ladies
in White), which advocates for the release of political prisoners in
Cuba.
On 18 July 2012, agents of the Department of State Security went to
the homes of Tatiana López Blanco, Leonor Reinó Borge, Mirta Gómez Colás
and Niurkis Rivero Despaigne and arrested them in order to prevent them
from participating in the monthly Té Literario (literary tea gathering)
organised by the Damas de Blanco which takes place at the home of their
deceased leader Ms Laura Pollán.
Previously on 16 July 2012 it was reported that an agent had visited
the homes of other members of the human rights organisation, including
Ms Ivonne Malleza Galano, nominee for the 2012 Front Line Defenders
Award for human rights defenders at risk, Magaly Norvis Otero, Mercedes
Fresneda Castillo, Belkis Jorrín Morfa, Belkis Nuñez Fajardo, Raquel
Castillo, Zahira Castro and Mayra Morejón, to inform them that the Té
Literario would not be permitted to take place and that should they
attempt to attend it they would be arrested and held for three days. Ms
Omaglis Gonzaléz Leiva and Ms María Elena Matos were detained in
Palmarito de Cauto, in the municipality of Santiago de Cuba as they
attempted to hold a parallel event.
Front Line Defenders believes that the arrests of the aforementioned
human rights defenders, as well as the threats of arrest, are directly
related to their legitimate work in defence of human rights. The regular
prevention of the peaceful monthly Té Literario by police, who block
off access to the home of Laura Pollán on the date of the planned event,
constitutes a clear denial of the right to freedom of assembly in Cuba.
Members of the Damas de Blanco continue to face harassment and physical
attacks from police around the island as they attempt to carry out
their legitimate and peaceful human rights activities.
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org
Women in White denounce stepped-up repression by Cuban government
The Women in White, a
civic movement made up of the wives of Cuban political prisoners,
denounced the Communist government of Raul Castro this week, saying the
regime to prevent the commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the
Black Spring, when many of their husbands were arrested and imprisoned
by the government.
“We blame the State police and
the Government in general for any physical aggression or acts of
repudiation that are carried out against us by paramilitary troops
dressed as civilians or by the officials themselves of repressive
organizations,” the women said in a recent statement.
The Women in White, recognized
internationally for their struggle in support of human rights, said
that since Feb. 20, they are becoming “the victims of greater repression
and harassment” by political police, who detained “more than six of our
members, threatening them and presenting them with warnings,” ordering
them also not to attend the activities marking the Black Spring.
The Women in White reiterated
the peaceful nature of their activities and said their only objective is
“to exercise our right to ask for the release of political prisoners.”
On March 18, 2003, agents of
Fidel Castro’s government began what would become known as the Black
Spring of Cuba by detaining and incarcerating more than 70 opposition
leaders, independent journalists, defenders of human rights, librarians
and independent union leaders.
In order to mark the anniversary, the Women in White have planned six days of activities March 17-22.
Visiting Cuba, even purchasing Cuban rum and cigars, funds a regime that represses its people and exports human rights abuses.
Travelers staying at a Havana hotel or smoking Cuban cigars back at
home are providing revenue to a regime that severely restricts press
freedom, jails protesters and teaches Nicolás Maduro’s illegitimate
regime in Venezuela how to torture.
“The Castro economy relies on the theft of private property and the
repression of the people,” Michael Kozak, U.S. Acting Assistant
Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said in a July 27
tweet. “Regime-made Cuban rum and cigars are luxuries that are not worth
the human cost.”
The Brookings Institution estimates in a 2016 report
(PDF, 1.4 MB) that 69% of Cuba’s tourism revenue goes to state-run
companies. The Cuban regime owns all of the island’s major tourist
hotels. The only tourist properties not owned by the Cuban government
are small homestays.
Even Cuba’s Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces is heavily
invested in the nation’s tourist industry through a holding company
called Grupo de Administración Empresarial SA (GAESA). According
to the Brookings Institution report, one GAESA subsidiary, Gaviota,
controls 40% of tourist hotel rooms. Gaviota also runs tour agencies,
shops and restaurants in Old Havana.
Cuban cigar sales reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Reuters. Of course, the Cuban regime also controls the country’s cigar industry.
The Cuban government’s stranglehold on the nation’s economy dates back to the 1959 revolution. Fidel
Castro’s regime took over the tobacco industry the following year,
seizing cigar factories, cigarette plants and tobacco warehouses. They
also seized production of the rum industry, including Cuba’s most popular brands, prompting former owners to leave the country, a pattern repeated across the economy.
Years later, revenue from Cuba’s state-owned businesses fuels a repressive regime. Human Rights Watch, in a 2020 report, says the regime continues to harass critics, citing 1,800 arbitrary arrests between January and August 2019. Cuba is currently detaining 109 political prisoners, the report says.
In the same 2020 report, Human Rights Watch states that police
routinely harass, rough up and detain members of the Ladies in White,
some of whom are relatives of the regime’s political prisoners. Earlier
this year, the U.N. called for the immediate release of one member of the group, a political prisoner herself, whose family alleges she has been abused in prison. Meanwhile, Cuba’s military sends tens of thousands
of advisers to aid Maduro’s brutal regime in Venezuela. Cuban advisers
help Maduro shape his repressive policies, serve as his protective
detail, and train his police and intelligence officers on torture
methods.
Cuba’s influence contributes to brutal torture methods used on prisoners in Venezuela, according to a December 2019 report by the CASLA Institute.
“With the guidance and encouragement of Russia and Cuba, Maduro’s
regime arrests, tortures and even kills our citizens,” said interim
Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó in a commentary published in the Miami Herald. “We demand that the regimes of Russia and Cuba stop torture and abuse, and leave our country forever.”
In spite of its dismal record on human rights, Cuba’s
government is seeking a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council
for the 2021–2023 term.
“It’s outrageous that the Human Rights Council would offer to seat Cuba, a brutal dictatorship that traffics its own doctors under the guise of humanitarian missions,” Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said on August 5.
Fifteen new countries will be elected in October to the 47-member body established in 2006.
UN Watch, a Swiss nongovernmental organization that monitors
the United Nations using the organization’s charter as a metric,
recommended rejection of Cuba’s candidacy to the council based upon its
poor human rights record and its failure to uphold human rights
standards.
Cuba’s government has repeatedly declined requests to visit the
country by U.N. experts on torture, free assembly, free expression and
arbitrary detention.
“Cuba is more responsible than any other country in the world for the
political manipulation of the UNHRC, sponsoring resolutions that seek
to erode the meaning of individual human rights and to empower
dictatorships,” UN Watch said in its analysis.
When the Human Rights Council was reviewing Cuba during its prior
candidacy in 2013, Cuba’s government created 454 front groups to publish
fraudulent statements praising the regime, according to UN Watch.
In 2020, Cuba, backed by China and North Korea, used procedural rules
at the U.N. to prevent a Cuban human rights activist from speaking
before the body.
UN Watch also notes Cuba does not hold free or fair elections,
conducts arbitrary arrests and threatens individuals involved in
political activities. No political party other than the Communist Party
of Cuba is permitted.
Amnesty International reports that critics of the Cuban government
continue to be imprisoned and that many report they were beaten during
arrest. Restriction on freedom of expression is widespread, and the
Cuban government constrains freedom of association and assembly.
The nongovernmental organization Cuban Prisoners Defenders maintains a
database of over 100 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience
currently being held in Cuba.
Racial, social, and religious groups are also victims of government
repression. The Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights reports
that in Cuba, “Afro-descendant human rights defenders suffer the same
repression that is visited upon those who oppose the island’s regime,”
while the government officially denies the existence of racial
discrimination.
Participants in a 2019 LGBT Pride march were arrested and the event deemed a “provocation” by Cuban authorities, according to The New York Times.
Human rights organization 21 Wilberforce notes that Cuba is the Western Hemisphere’s worst abuser of religious freedom and has detained church members, destroyed churches, and impeded the free movement of religious leaders.
Cuba ranks 171 out of 179 countries in Reporters Without Borders’
World Press Freedom Index. The Committee to Protect Journalists, Amnesty
International and other groups have urged the Cuban government to
release journalist Roberto Quiñones from prison. Quiñones has been
imprisoned since 2019 because he reported on the Cuban government’s
violations of religious freedoms.
Adopted in 2019, Decree-Law 370 threatens fines and imprisonment for
any Cubans expressing themselves over the internet in a manner that the
Castro regime finds objectionable. Press freedom group Reporters Without
Borders considers that this decree “annihilates freedom of expression
on the internet.”
According to a Freedom House report, which rates Cuba as “not free,”
Cuba banned its citizens in 2019 from hosting web content on foreign
servers, leaving independent media in jeopardy.
Cuba’s abysmal human rights record is self-evident.
“No country,” said Pompeo, “should vote Cuba onto the Council.”
END OF JULY MARKED BY MORE REPRESSION
Miami, FL –
Yesterday marks the fifteenth Sunday of systemic repression against the
Ladies in White Movement. Sunday, the day of the week dedicated to
rest, family and religious praise, is characterized by violent
detentions, arbitrary arrests, beatings and acts of vandalism against
the women in this group, and the other peaceful human rights activists
who march alongside them.
Maria Cristina Labrada, a member of the Ladies in White in Havana,
reports being beaten, having her hair pulled, and being hit with an
umbrella on her back several times, leaving her face bruised and
inflamed. “We are now going on the fifteenth Sunday of repression; the
sixteenth will be like the first, with a firmer resolve for what we are
demanding – unconditional release of all political prisoners,” Labrada
affirms after this Sunday’s events.
Of the reported 150+ activists that march throughout the Island,
sources indicate that more than 114 human rights activists were detained
yesterday in Havana, and 143 in total across the country.
While the Ladies in White were being arrested, a small group of
activists took to the street around 1:30 pm with signs saying “Stop
beatings against the Ladies in White” and “Freedom for Political
Prisoners,” marching peacefully from cross street 23 and L to the
Malecon. Among the activists in this group were Rebeca Rojas, Yanicet
Boza Garrido, Yanieski Gainza Acosta, Yudislacy Aleman Guerra, Yaniesi
Herrera Cabrales, Yordi Boza Garrido, Romney Galvaez Luna and Ariover
Castillo Villalba. The group was beaten, forcefully detained, and as of
this media report, their whereabouts are unknown.
As the United States and Cuba continue to re-establish relations, the
Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) and the Foundation for Human
Rights in Cuba (FHRC) will continue to draw attention to the systematic
and ongoing repression against Cuba’s peaceful human rights activists.
We urge Secretary Kerry to consider these incidents of oppression
being committed by the Castro regime, and insist that he denounce the
ongoing human rights abuses against peaceful activists in Cuba. CANF and
FHRC reiterate that until the Cuban regime lifts its stronghold on the
Cuban people, and allows them to exercise their right to express their
ideas and opinions freely, there will be no meaningful change toward the
prospect of a democratic Cuba. The Cuban American National Foundation’s mission is to advocate
for a non-violent transition to a free and democratic Cuba, a nation
that fosters economic prosperity with individual equality and social
justice for all; upholds the rule of law and protects the social,
economic and political rights of its entire people. To that end, CANF
seeks to engage, support and empower Cubans on the island to become the
architects of their own destiny by uniting, organizing and reclaiming
their inalienable rights. In the continuation of the struggle for those
ideals, the Cuban American National Foundation reaffirms its sacred
commitment to Cuba and all Cubans. The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (“FHRC”) is a 501(c)3
nonprofit organization established in 1992 to promote a nonviolent
transition to a free and democratic Cuba by empowering independent Civil
Society within Cuba. FHRC maintains regular contact with human rights
defenders and civic activists who are working for change in Cuba through
nonviolent means.
Cuban
security personnel detain a member of the Ladies in White dissident
group during a protest on International Human Rights Day, Havana, Cuba,
December 10, 2015.
Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters
Last March, on the very day that U.S. forces entered Iraq, Fidel
Castro launched a major crackdown on peaceful Cuban political
dissidents. The Iraqi operation was a surprisingly swift one -- and so
was Castro's. Within three weeks, the statue of the Cuban leader's old
friend Saddam Hussein had been toppled in central Baghdad; meanwhile,
Castro had summarily tried and imprisoned 75 Cubans. Their sentences --
for supposed crimes against the country's security -- averaged 20 years.
A few days later, as if in an afterthought, three men who had hijacked
the Havana Bay ferry in an attempt to escape the island were also tried.
This group was even more unlucky: they were executed by firing squad,
despite the fact that there had been no violence during their botched
crime.
PRESS RELEASE IN PDF (ENGLISH)NOTA DE PRENSA EN PDF (ESPAÑOL) CONTENTS: 1. More than 100 mass arrests in Cuba in the last 3 days 2. At least 5 raids in Cuba in the last 3 days 3. Partial list of arrests reported until 7 pm on September 8, 2019 4. Analysis of the EU-Cuba agreement: an ultimatum must be given or its application stopped 5. List of raids in 2019 only to UNPACU before September
1. More than 100 mass arrests in Cuba in the last 3 days
After besieging dozens of houses of activists of the peaceful democratic
opposition in Cuba, the island’s government with special troops and State
Security has raided numerous of these houses, stolen all kind of belongings
from them and arrested a much more than a hundred activists, mainly to avoid a
demonstration convened throughout the country by the Patriotic Union of Cuba
(UNPACU) and the promoters of Cuba Decide, and which has been seconded by
activists from various organizations on the island, but also on the occasion of
the celebration of the feast of The Patroness of Cuba.
Indeed, this same day, September 8, the festivity of Our Lady of Charity
of Copper, the “Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre”, affectionately called the
“Cachita”, Patroness of Cuba since 1916, is celebrated. The feast of
the Virgin Copper Charity and the celebration of Oshún, orisha (or saint) of
the Yoruba religion, are celebrated in Cuba on September 8 under the same
celebration, thus having a special significance for all Cubans.
Esto último
hecho ha supuesto también detenciones adicionales por toda la isla que han afectado a numerosas Damas
de Blanco, Premio Sájarov para la Libertad de Conciencia, establecido por el Parlamento
Europeo como un medio para homenajear a personas u organizaciones que han
dedicado sus vidas o acciones a la defensa de los derechos humanos y las
libertades que la Unión Europea, que poco o ningún significado debe tener para
Europa si nos atenemos a que la Unión Europea o la Sra. Federica Mogherini, Alta representante de la Unión Europea para
Asuntos Exteriores y Política de Seguridad, aún no se han manifestado en modo
alguno al respecto de toda esta represión de hoy, que se suma a los cientos de detenciones
que han sufrido este año en curso dichas Damas de Blanco.
Las
detenciones cada día 8 de septiembre son desgraciadamente ya tan “tradicionales”
entre los activistas de derechos humanos, como la misma celebración del día de
la querida “Cachita”, si bien este año la coincidencia de la llamada a
manifestarse en parques y lugares públicos ha desatado una ola de violencia sustantivamente
adicional.
This last fact has also meant additional arrests throughout the island
that have affected numerous Ladies in White, Sakharov Prize for Freedom of
Conscience, established by the European Parliament as a means to honor people
or organizations that have dedicated their lives or actions to the defense of
human rights and freedoms that the European Union, that little or no meaning
should have for Europe if we stick to the European Union or Mrs. Federica
Mogherini, High representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and
Politics Security, have not yet expressed in any way about this repression
today, which adds to the hundreds of arrests suffered this year by these Ladies
in White.
The arrests each September 8 are unfortunately already as
“traditional” among human rights activists, as the same celebration
of the day of the beloved “Cachita”, although this year the
coincidence of the call to demonstrate in parks and public places has unleashed
a wave of substantively additional violence.
It should be noted that José Daniel Ferrer, Prisoner
of Conscience of Amnesty International, Condemned of Conscience adopted by Cuban
Prisoners Defenders, and who holds international awards for human rights, is
still detained, in a detention he himself filmed in this video (https://youtu.be/YD66gOkfA6g).
Algunas
detenciones han ido acompañadas de multas arbitrarias, argumentadas de palabra
por apoyar la manifestación, pero luego concretándose, por ejemplo en el caso
de Carlos Oliva Rivery (ver
multa impuesta el sábado al liberarle de su primera detención, puesto que
hoy volvió a ser detenido y está aún sin liberar), como puede verse en su multa
entregada en mano el sábado al ser liberado, donde indica, para sorpresa de
propios y extraños, el “Decreto Ley Nº 200 de 1999, de las contravenciones en
materia de medio ambiente”, capítulo 11, es decir, por “contravenciones
respecto a los ruidos, vibraciones y otros factores físicos”, algo que
indicaría que están de nuevo falsificando una detención para iniciar una causa
falsa contra él. A Carlos Amel Oliva, miembro del Comité de Dirección de la
UNPACU e hijo de Carlos Oliva Rivery, también le han aplicado en la detención
una multa que indicaron también era por apoyar la manifestación. Igualmente se
han multado a otros activistas en las detenciones de hoy. Esto permitirá al
régimen, al no ser pagadas, encausarles penalmente y hacerles ingresar en
prisión mediante un proceso sumario. Advertimos a los diplomáticos del peligro
que estos activistas corren de ir condenados a prisión en breve por esta causa.
En la lista de presos políticos actual de Cuban Prisoners Defenders, existen 7 Convictos de Conciencia por
impago de multas arbitrarias, uno de ellos ya nombrado Prisionero de Conciencia
de Amnistía Internacional, Edilberto Ronal Arzuaga Alcalá, y 1 Condenando de
Conciencia, por lo
que la operativa es muy habitual en el régimen para encausar falsamente a
opositores.
Some detentions have been accompanied by arbitrary fines, argued by word “for
supporting the demonstration”, but then materializing, for example, in the case
of Carlos Oliva Rivery (see
fine imposed on Saturday when he was released from his first detention,
since he was arrested again today and is still not released), as can be seen in
his fine handed over on Saturday when he was released, where he indicates, to
the surprise of his own and strangers, the “Decree Law No. 200 of 1999, on
environmental violations”, chapter 11, that is, for “contraventions
regarding noise, vibration and other physical factors”, something that would
indicate that they are again falsifying an arrest to initiate a false cause
against him. Carlos Amel Oliva, a member of UNPACU’s Steering Committee and son
of Carlos Oliva Rivery, has also received a fine in his detention that they
also indicated was “for supporting the demonstration”. Other many activists
have also been fined in today’s detentions. This will allow the regime, once not
being paid, to prosecute them and make them enter prison through a summary
process. We warn diplomats of the danger that these activists run from being
sentenced to prison shortly for this false cause. And we say so because in the
list of current political prisoners of Cuban Prisoners Defenders, there are 7
Convicts of Conscience for non-payment of arbitrary fines, one of them already
named Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience, Edilberto Ronal Arzuaga
Alcalá, and 1 Condemned of Conscience, so the practice is very common in the regime
to falsely prosecute opponents.
Then, in section 3 of this document we report a first
detailed list of arrests where, by the logic of urgency, we can only assure
that they are a mere partial sample of the repression in the whole country, and
where there remain dozens of arrests still to be reported, many of them from
activists who are missing or have not yet been able to contact us.
2. At least 5 raids in Cuba in the last 3 days
At the same time, in the days leading up to the celebration and on the
same day there have been besieged dozens of houses of human rights activists,
and at least 5 violent break-ins, including illegal theft of all types of
material owned by those affected, something that has been a common practice in
this 2019, where more than 36 dwellings are usually counted with theft of
diverse material, among which are food, tables, chairs, cutlery, books, dishes,
medicines and multiple personal and work communication material, such as mobile
phones, laptops and flash memories.
The island’s government
accuses the United States of financially helping human rights activists
but, with this kleptomaniac and insane actions of its State Security
forces along with the absolutely immediate expulsion from their
workplaces of every activist who starts human rights activities, is the
help of the various countries that publicly support pro-democratic civil
society activists (not only the United States but many other solidarity
countries that protect the defense of human rights with their help),
the only way of survival and maintenance of these honorable citizens,
among which there are numerous personalities named Prisoners of
Conscience by Amnesty International, whom the State of Cuba abuses
without limits. The raids of 2019, and the events that have taken place
today, have affected with special impact on the Patriotic Union of Cuba,
one of the organizations calling for the demonstration today. Raids
Day September 6, 2019:
Home 1. Property of Ana Milagros Moises and Ismel Berobides, of UNPACU.
Santiago de Cuba (pending address verification). Raid without search warrant,
with great violence. Both were arrested and he was beaten while he is an ill
person, who subsequently had to be taken to the polyclinic for his serious
damaged state of health. Confiscated items: 1 tablet, 1 flash memory, 30 CUC
and medications necessary for the clinical pathology of Ismel.
Raids
Day September 7, 2019:
Home 2. Address: Street # 9 between E and G # 10 (High). UNPACU
headquarters and home of José Daniel Ferrer. Altamira neighborhood. Break-in
without a search warrant, with great violence, terrorizing the wife of José
Daniel Ferrer and 3 minors (one of 3 months and a two-year-old girl, who cried
at all times during the assault).
House 3. Address: Street # 9 between E and G # 10. UNPACU headquarters.
Altamira neighborhood. They raided the house without a search warrant in a
particularly violent way and arrested 26 activists to prevent them from
attending today’s demonstration. Among those arrested is Yolanda Carmenate, who
is on hunger strike on her eighth day because of the imprisonment of her son
Cristian Pérez Carmenate this past August, as reported by Cuban Prisoners
Defenders.
Home 4. Address: Street # 9 between E and G # 9. UNPACU headquarters.
Altamira neighborhood. They raided the house without a search warrant with
special violence, taking milk and oil (yes, milk and oil) logically destined
for human consumption, which we imagine will end up being used in the home of
some State Security agent or command.
Home 5. Address: Street 5 of Vista Hermosa between C and E # 106. Home of
Ovidio Martín Castellanos. With great violence and stealing all kinds of
personal objects for domestic use, they arrested Ovidio, Erlandys García,
Sergio García González, Duglas Favier Torres and Ricardo Martinez Cuevas, to
prevent them from attending the demonstration. All violence was also
perpetrated in the presence of Ovidio’s wife, Zenaida Rams Santana, pregnant in
advanced gestation, and two young children, who suffered from panic in the
assault. They took a printer and diverse documentation related to the studies
of political prisoners on the island and pro-democracy brochures of UNPACU and
Cuba Decide.
Additionally, it is necessary to highlight 31
illegal dwellings carried out by State Security and Special Forces,
reported to Prisoners Defenders by the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU),
and which are detailed in section 5 of this report.
3. Partial list of arrests reported until 7 pm on September 8, 2019
The data received by Cuban Prisoners Defenders so far show the following
accounting for arrests referring only to the last 3 days: Arrested and
detained on September 6, 2019:
Deylis Acosta Sarmiento, from UNPACU (detained in Media Luna, Holguín)
Sulaine
Videaux Almenares, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Iam Gámez
Bella, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Ismel
Berobides, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Ana Milagros Moisés, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Carlos Amel Oliva Torres, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Pedro Acosta, from Movimiento Martiano Cubano (detained in San Miguel
del Padrón, La Habana)
Arrested and
detained on September 7, 2019:
Luis Ángel Leyva Domínguez, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Yidel Suárez Saiz, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Adrián Ochoa Portales, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Moraima Díaz Pérez, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Maidolis Oribe Perdomo, from UNPACU (detained in n Santiago de Cuba)
Jesús Sánchez Romero, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Alexis Rodríguez Chacón, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Niubis Bisset Romero, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Yolanda Carmenate, from UNPACU (hoy cumple 8 días en huelga de hambre) (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
María del Carmen Cala Aguilera, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Carlos Oliva Rivery, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), the only one liberated the same day
Froilán Zarraga Ferrer, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Manuel Mustelier Tamayo, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Fernando González Vaillant, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Miguel Anaya Martínez, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Evelio Fernández Zalazar, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Norge Sablon Polo, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Wilder Cervantes Cusa, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Yeridian Álvarez Martínez, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
José Pupo Chaveco, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Isael Aleagas Pérez, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Oris Ramírez Leyva, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Manuel Pérez Sánchez, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Iam Gámez Gell, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Marina Paz, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Ovidio Martín Castellanos, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Duglas Favier Torres, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), liberated today
Ricardo Martinez Cuevas, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), liberated today
Erlandys García, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Sergio García González, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Zaqueo Báez Guerrero, from UNPACU (detained in La Habana), just liberated.
Maykel Bone, from UNPACU (detained in La Habana)
Bartolo Cantillo, from UNPACU (detained in Guantánamo)
José Díaz Silva, from Movimiento Democracia (detained in La Habana)
Arrested and
detained on September 8, 2019:
Caridad
María Burunate Gómez, Lady in White, arrested at 10:00 in the morning in Colón,
Matanzas, today September 8 and taken to the Offices of the Municipal
Directorate of Community Services, where she remained detained until 4:30 in
the afternoon.
Tania
Echevarría Menéndez, Lady in White, arrested at 10:00 in the morning in Colón,
Matanzas, today September 8 and taken to the Offices of the Municipal
Directorate of Community Services, where she remained detained until 4:30 in
the afternoon.
Yudaxis
Pérez Meneses, Lady in White, arrested at 10:00 in the morning in Colón,
Matanzas, today September 8 and taken to the Offices of the Municipal
Directorate of Community Services, where she remained detained until 4:30 in
the afternoon.
Asunción
Carrillo Hernández, Lady in White, arrested at 10:00 in the morning in Colón,
Matanzas, today September 8 and taken to the Offices of the Municipal
Directorate of Community Services, where she remained detained until 4:30 in
the afternoon.
Maritza
Acosta Perdomo, Lady in White, arrested at 10:00 in the morning in Colón,
Matanzas, today September 8 and taken to the Offices of the Municipal
Directorate of Community Services, where she remained detained until 4:30 in
the afternoon.
Annia Zamora
Carmenate, Lady of White, arrested in Carlos Rojas, Jovellanos, Matanzas, from
9:00 am to 11:00 am and kept in motion in a State Security patrol car until his
release.
Sissi
Abascal Zamora, Lady of White, arrested in Carlos Rojas, Jovellanos, Matanzas,
from 9:00 am to 11:00 am and kept in motion in a State Security patrol car
until his release.
Dianelis
Moreno Soto, Lady of White, arrested in Carlos Rojas, Jovellanos, Matanzas,
from 9:00 am to 11:00 am and kept in motion in a State Security patrol car
until his release.
Aleida
Cofiño Rivero, Lady of White, arrested in Carlos Rojas, Jovellanos, Matanzas,
from 9:00 am to 11:00 am and kept in motion in a State Security patrol car
until his release.
Osmara Martín Fundora, of the Independent Trade
Union Association of Cuba (ASIC) detained in Havana upon leaving his home at
8:30 am until 12:30 pm in the Zapata Police Headquarters and 21 in Vedado
Emilio Alberto Gottardi Gottardi, of the
Independent Trade Union Association of Cuba (ASIC) detained in Havana upon
leaving his home at 8:30 am until 12:30 pm in the Zapata Police Headquarters
and 21 in Vedado
Carlos Alberto Álvarez Roja, de UNPACU (detained in Centro Habana)
Casilda Acosta Pérez, from UNPACU (detained in Centro Habana)
Vladimir Martín Castellanos, from UNPACU (detained in Las Tunas), already
liberated
Ileana Marrero, from UNPACU (detained in Las Tunas), ya liberado
Abel Carcajal Peña, from UNPACU (detained in El Cristo, Santiago de
Cuba)
Carlos Oliva Rivery, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago
de Cuba)
Ernesto Oliva Torres, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago
de Cuba), just liberated.
Yadira Serrano Díaz, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Yordanis Labrada Téllez, from UNPACU (detained
in Santiago de Cuba), just liberated.
José Castillo Ríos, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago
de Cuba), just liberated, hardly beaten.
Ulises Beca Lago, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago
de Cuba)
José Daniel Ferrer García, from UNPACU (detained
in Santiago de Cuba)
Jose Daniel Ferrer Cantillo, from UNPACU (detained
in Santiago de Cuba), already liberated
Carlos Amel Oliva Torres, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Damir, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de
Cuba)
Yoandri, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de
Cuba)
Leudis Mustelier Reyes, from UNPACU (detained
in Santiago de Cuba)
Gretel Rams Santana, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago
de Cuba)
Aída Sánchez Rama, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Anisleis Segal Zamora, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Yasmani Acosta Mendoza, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba)
Franklin Álvarez, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago
de Cuba)
Ángel Millán Ramírez, from UNPACU (detained in Las
Tunas) already liberated
Arianna López Roque from Academia Julio Machado (detained in Placetas,
Santa Clara)
Alexeis Mora Montalvo from Academia Julio Machado (detained in Placetas,
Santa Clara)
Jany Corrales from Río de la Academia Julio Machado (detained in Placetas,
Santa Clara)
Anayansi Vergana Cabrera, from UNPACU (Comando Cívico Leoncio Vidal) (detained
in Santa Clara), already liberated
María Josefa Orama García, from UNPACU (Comando Cívico Leoncio Vidal) (detained
in Santa Clara), already liberated
Felix Pérez Salazar, from Comando Cívico Leoncio Vidal (detained in Santa
Clara), already liberated
Yanisbel Valido Perez, from Comando Cívico Leoncio Vidal (detained in Santa
Clara), already liberated
Yilian Lucía Orama García, from Comando Cívico Leoncio Vidal (detained
in Santa Clara), already liberated
Geobel Manso López, from Comando Cívico Leoncio Vidal (detained in Santa
Clara), already liberated
María Josefa Acon Sardiñas, from UNPACU (detained in La Habana), already
liberated.
María Cobas Batista, detained by force and kept
at home, already liberated.
Aníbal Riviaux Figueredo, from UNPACU (detained
in Santiago de Cuba), already liberated.
Angel Hinojosa Castellanos, from
UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), already liberated.
Yumila Yessica Miranda Miquel, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), already liberated.
Dayli Laurencio Girón, from UNPACU (detained in
Santiago de Cuba), already liberated.
, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), already
liberated.
, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), already
liberated.
, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), already
liberated.
, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), already
liberated.
, from UNPACU (detained in Santiago de Cuba), already
liberated.
Francisco Rangel Manzano, of the Party for
Democracy Pedro Luis Boitel, arrested at 9:45 a.m. and released at 1:00 in the
afternoon after imposing a fine of 30 pesos in national currency. He was being
held at the Municipal Police Headquarters in Colon.
Carlos Orlando Olivera Martínez, of the Party
for Democracy Pedro Luis Boitel, arrested at 9:45 a.m. and released at 1:00 in
the afternoon after imposing a fine of 30 pesos in national currency. He was
being held at the Municipal Police Headquarters in Colon.
4. Analysis of the EU-Cuba agreement: an ultimatum must be given or its application stopped
The agreement for
political dialogue and cooperation between the European Union and its Member
States with Cuba is being flagrantly violated since the beginning of its
application, and with even greater emphasis today, at least in articles 1.5,
2c), 5 and 22.
The European Union
cannot continue to admit the unspeakable violation that is being carried out in
a systematic way of this agreement.
The situation of
political prisoners cannot have worsened in recent years. Although in 2015
there were liberated 53 of them from a list of a hundred, to the list endorsed
by Amnesty International of 71 Convicts of Conscience of CPD in Cuba, of which
on August 27, 2019 he has appointed, as a simple sample, 5 Prisoners of
Conscience, we must add another 24 Convicts of Conscience on those weighing
house-type sentences, and another 30 political prisoners. That is, despite the
release dozens of political prisoners in these years form sentence complete accomplishments,
the list has grown to reach at least 125 prisoners for political reasons.
To all this we must
add 10 thousand citizens convicted and condemned of pre-criminal convictions,
that is, without having committed a crime or in a state of attempt, or the more
than 25 thousand medical professionals called “deserters” in Cuba who, at not
returning to Cuba for evading the state of slavery of civil work missions
abroad, had and have to spend 8 years without returning to Cuba, without seeing
their children and relatives, through article 135 of the Criminal Code of Cuba
that condemns them to 8 long years of imprisonment on the island, or the
thousands of arbitrary detentions that occur every year in Cuba and are
reported fully to the European Commission, or the recent evidence that Cuba is
the architect of the situation in Venezuela and Nicaragua , or the list of at
list 20 extremely serious human rights violations detailed in Amnesty
International’s reputed last report made in 2017 and that Cuba has done
nothing to rectify.
For Prisoners
Defenders it is a scandalous shame that the European Union, instead of aligning
with policies and actions that stop the violation of human rights, aligns with
the investment policies of profit-making companies on the island, populated by
11 millions of what can be called slaves without labor and union rights, except
to belong to the organizations of the Communist Party of unique thought and
absolute control.
Cuba is not only a
country that violates human rights. It exports these violations to its
international environment with the grave danger of further destabilizing an
entire region of the world that needs stable democracies that allow its
development.
We urge the European
Union to establish an ultimatum, with the clear intention that if it did not
take effect, the current agreement would be immediately terminated that, far
from having caused positive effects, is serving so that the leverage of
Europe’s economies and companies, binds hands and feet to diplomats who,
present on the island, observe helpless as their ability to defend human rights
is less and less. Javier Larrondo, President of Prisoners Defenders, has stated
that “The European Union must give Cuba an ultimatum on human rights that
must be definitive. Or all political prisoners are released, reprisals
against professionals on mission are eliminated, free association and
expression of conscience are allowed on the island, minimum rights of freedom
of association are granted to workers and freedom of thought is allowed and
political association, among other very serious human rights violations on the
island such as racial, sex or thought discrimination, among dozens of other
flagrant violations like the ones exposed by Amnesty
International in 2017 Cuba’s report, or the European Union should
immediately leave an agreement that sustains the instability of a region and
that makes the European Union, de facto, co-responsible and complicit in
omission of what happens in that region.”
Below, we present the
articles that are being flagrantly violated in the agreement between the
European Union and Cuba: ARTICLE 1 Principles 5) Respect for and the promotion of democratic
principles, respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms as laid down
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the core international
humanrights instruments and their optional protocols which are applicable to
the Parties, and respect for the rule of law constitute an essential element of
this Agreement. ARTICLE 2 Objectives The Parties agree that the objectives of this
Agreement are to: c) engage in a resultoriented dialogue on the
basis of international law in order to strengthen bilateral cooperation and
mutual engagement in international fora, in particular the United Nations, with
the aim of strengthening human rights and democracy, achieving sustainable
development and ending discrimination in all its aspects; ARTICLE 5 Human rights Within the framework of the overall political
dialogue, the Parties agree to establish a human rights dialogue, with a view
to enhancing practical cooperation between the Parties at both multilateral and
bilateral level. The agenda for each dialogue session shall be agreed by the
parties, reflect their respective interests and take care to address in a
balanced fashion civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural
rights. ARTICLE 22 Democracy and human rights 1. Mindful that the protection and promotion of
human rights and fundamental freedoms is the first responsibility of
governments, bearing in mind the significance of national and regional
particularities and of various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds
and acknowledging that it is their duty to protect all human rights and
fundamental freedoms regardless of their political, economic and cultural
systems, the Parties agree to cooperate in the area of democracy and human
rights. 2. The
Parties recognise that democracy is based on the freely expressed will of the
people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems
and their full participation in all aspects of life. 3. The
Parties agree to cooperate in strengthening democracy and their capacity to
implement the principles and practices of democracy and human rights, including
minority rights. 4.
Cooperation may include, inter alia, activities, mutually agreed upon by
the Parties, with the aim of: (a)
respecting and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
promoting and protecting civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights
for all; (b)
addressing human rights globally in a fair and equitable manner, on an
equal footing and with the same emphasis, recognising that all human rights are
universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated; (c)
effectively implementing the international humanrights instruments and
optional protocols applicable to each Party, as well as the recommendations
emanating from the United Nations humanrights bodies and accepted by the
Parties; (d)
integrating the promotion and protection of human rights into internal
policies and development plans; (e)
raising awareness and promoting education in human rights, democracy and
peace; (f) strengthening democratic and
humanrightsrelated institutions, as well as the legal and institutional
frameworks for the promotion and protection of human rights;(g)
developing joint initiatives of mutual interest within the framework of
relevant multilateral fora.
5. List of raids in 2019 only to UNPACU before September
Mes
#
Día
Nombre
Dirección
Objetos confiscados
Número de identidad
Teléfono
Febrero
1
8
Jeovel Hernández Aranda
Calle Pequín, #15, entre Calzada de
Güines y Fernanda, municipio San Miguel del Padrón, La Habana
No hubo ocupaciones
74110222021
No posee
Febrero
2
9
Alexis Ortiz Tejeda
Calle
Cuba, #58, localidad El Molino, municipio Media Luna, provincia Granma.
1
móvil, 1 memoria USB e impresos relacionados a la campaña Yo Voto NO
67073007666
No
posee
Febrero
3
11
José Daniel Ferrer García
Calle 9, #10, entre E y G, reparto
Mármol, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
6 discos duros, 2 laptops, 5 móviles, 15
memorias USB, 11 micro sd, 2 impresoras, 2 equipos de música, medicinas y
alimentos, 1 caja descodificadora, 10000 hojas blancas, 10 bolígrafos, 10
marcadores, 4 presilladoras, 2 esfimomanómetro, 2 estetoscopio, 7 historias
clínicas de pacientes, 2 antenas de televisión, 2 focos de iluminación,
libros de medicinas y política, documentos relacionados a la campaña Yo Voto
NO, platos, cucharas, tenedores y vasos.
Objetos dañados por las fuerzas
represivas:
1 televisor, 400 metros de cable de red
y 200 metros de cable coaxial.
70072927509
58807751
Febrero
4
Calle 9, #10 altos, entre E y G, reparto
Mármol, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
Febrero
5
Calle 9, #9, altos, entre E y G, reparto
Mármol, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
Febrero
6
11
Carlos Oliva Rivery
Calle 8, #155 interior B, entre A y 11,
reparto Mariana de la Torre, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
5 memorias USB, 1 laptop, 1 disco duro,
100 pulovers con mensajes de la campaña de Yo Voto NO, 6000 hojas blancas, 5
paquetes de pegatinas con mensajes de la campaña YoVoto NO.
66102212907
58019567
Febrero
7
11
Ernesto Oliva Torres
Calle 8, #155 interior C, entre A y 11,
reparto Mariana de la Torre, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
96122302506
54521382
Febrero
8
11
Elsa Rivery Cintra
Calle 8, #155 interior A, entre A y 11,
reparto Mariana de la Torre, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
40021906873
No posee
Febrero
9
11
Carlos Amel Oliva Torres
Calle San Antonio, #111 altos, municipio
y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
4 laptops con sus cargadores; 3
teléfonos celulares con sus cargadores, con sus micro SD y líneas; 2 discos
duros extraíbles; 16 memorias USB; 5 micro SD; 5 baterías externas de
móviles; 1 multiplicador de puertos USB; 1 impresora; tinta para impresora; 1
tablet; 1000 hojas blancas; impresos con información de la campaña Yo Voto
No; 100 camisetas con logos de la campaña Yo Voto No; 1 antena WIFI; 1
paquete de pegatinas de la campaña del Yo Voto No, 1 mochila, 1
portafolio
87112340260
53957381
Febrero
10
11
Dayamí Hernández Blanco
Calle San Antonio, #111, municipio y
provincia Santiago de Cuba.
70072811554
59190322
Febrero
11
12
Roberto Pérez Rodríguez
Calle Lugareño, #106, entre Céspedes y
Línea del Ferrocarril, reparto Lawton, municipio 10 de Octubre, La Habana.
1 lámpara, 20 bombillos, discos CD, 1
busto de José Martí, 1 bandera cubana,
69070818943
54313081
Febrero
12
12
Yanier Joubert Cisneros
Calle Martí, #402, entre 5 y Norte,
municipio y provincia Guantánamo.
1 trípode, documentos personales e
impresos sobre la campaña Yo Voto No
81021524923
56523463
Febrero
13
12
Valentina Cisneros González
55112614811
No posee
Febrero
14
12
Katiska Joubert Cisneros
91030947259
54705773
Febrero
15
19
Eliecer Góngora Izaguirre
Calle 78,#18, entre 103 y 101, Reparto
Vietnam, Municipio Jobabo, Las Tunas.
Pulóveres e impresos con mensajes de la
campaña del NO.
81070617202
53369647
Febrero
16
21
Boris Agustín Osorio Ramos
Calle Ensenada, #160, entre Lindero y
San Felipe, Municipio Habana Vieja, La Habana.
No hubo ocupaciones
62112301728
53007030
Febrero
17
23
José Daniel Ferrer García
Calle 9, #10, entre E y G, reparto
Mármol, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
No hubo ocupaciones
70072927509
58807751
Febrero
18
26
Adrian Quesada Flores
Calle Camino de la Matanza, #179, entre 1ra y Vagónt, Reparto
Buenos Aires, Camagüey
No hubo ocupaciones
88120223146
56158060
Marzo
19
11
Adrián Quesada Flores
Calle Camino de la Matanza, #179, entre 1ra y Vagónt, Reparto
Buenos Aires, Camagüey
24 CUC
88120223146
56158060
Marzo
20
31
Boris Agustín Osorio Ramos
Calle Ensenada #160, entre 5ta de Rey y San Felipe, municipio
Habana Vieja, La Habana.
Guantes, pegatinas y pulóveres con mensajes pro democráticos
62112301728
53007030
Mayo
21
21
Sergio García González
Localidad Cuatro Camino, municipio Mayarí, Holguín
2 teléfonos móviles con sus accesorios y 2
memorias USB
Por
precisar
No posee
Junio
22
3
Yadira Serrano Díaz
Calle Pedro Ibonet, #4 altos, municipio Songo La Maya, Santiago de
Cuba.
1 laptop, 1 USB, 1 teléfono móvil, documentos.
95121148594
54524139
Junio
23
3
Roberto Serrano Delis
Calle Pedro Ibonet, #4, municipio Songo La Maya, Santiago de Cuba.
1 teléfono móvil, documentos personales.
63052110848
58023775
Agosto
24
12
Maikel Herrera Bones
Calle Aleja, #3420, entre A y B, reparto
Guardiola, municipio San Miguel del Padrón, La Habana.
No hubo objetos confiscados
76083013189
55116340
Agosto
25
12
Leyanis Fraguela Obispo
Calle Pilar, #A6, entre Julio de Cárdenas y Final, reparto Fraternidad,
municipio Arroyo Naranjo, La Habana.
No hubo objetos confiscados
73122711875
54021425
Agosto
26
22
Roberto Pérez Rodríguez
Calle Lugareño, #106, entre Céspedes y
Línea del Ferrocarril, reparto Lawton, municipio 10 de Octubre, La Habana.
No hubo objetos confiscados
69070818943
54313081
Agosto
27
27
José Daniel Ferrer García
Calle 9, #10, entre E y G, reparto
Mármol, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
3 laptop, 3 discos portátil, 2 televisores, 2 mesas de comedor, 8
sillas, 1 teléfono fijo, 1 impresora, una docena de memorias USB, 3
extensiones eléctricas, equipos médicos y medicinas, alimentos, cubiertos y
documentos.
70072927509
58807751
Agosto
28
27
Calle 9, #10 altos, entre E y G, reparto
Mármol, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
Agosto
29
27
Calle 9, #9, altos, entre E y G, reparto
Mármol, municipio y provincia Santiago de Cuba.
Agosto
30
28
José Antonio López Piña
Calle Luis Dupuy, #21, entre Felipe Vega
y Maceo, poblado El Cristo, Santiago de Cuba.
No hubo objetos confiscados
72042012005
55549087
Agosto
31
30
Alexander Roll Gibert
Calle Mayarí, #33, entre Fortuna y Pasaje Flores, reparto Guinera,
municipio Arroyo Naranja, La Habana.
No hubo objetos confiscados
82021806748
56802485
ABOUT CUBAN PRISONERS DEFENDERS
Cuban Prisoners Defenders is an independent group of
analysis, study and action, with the collaboration of all dissident groups on
the island and the families of political prisoners to gather information and
promote the freedom of all political prisoners, as well as to maintain the
updated weekly lists of Convicted of
Conscience, Condemned of Conscience,, Political Prisoners and Long-lasting political prisoners imprisoned. Cuban Prisoners Defenders is part of the
Prisoners Defenders International Network, a legally registered association
based in Madrid, Spain, and whose Internet address is www.prisonersdefenders.org.
The group
from Cuba is coordinated by Iván
Hernández Carrillo (ASIC), Adolfo
Fernández Sainz (FNCA) and Javier
Larrondo (UNPACU), without these organizations controlling to any degree,
allowing a dedicated work to all political prisoners without distinctions and
equally. In Madrid’s office, the
legal reports have the contribution of another one of the founders of Cuban Prisoners
Defenders, the international criminal lawyer Mr. Sebastián Rivero, who, among other experiences, has been a
collaborating jurist of the Permanent Ambassador of Spain at the United
Nations. The organization also has different patrons from all ideologies, among
others several deputies of the National Congress of Spain of different parties,
as well as D. Blas Jesús Imbroda,
president of the International Criminal Bar (ICB, elected in 2017) and Dean of
the Bar Association of Melilla, Spain.
The works
of Cuban Prisoners Defenders are adopted by numerous institutions and are sent,
among others, to CANF, UNPACU, ASIC, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States,
European Parliament, Congress and Senate of the United States, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Spain, People In Need, Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights of the UN for Latin America and the Caribbean, Real Instituto
Elcano, Fundación Transición Española, International Institute on Race,
Equality and Human Rights, FANTU, Party for Democracy Pedro Luis Boitel,
Independent Pedagogues College of Cuba, Freedom House, Center for the Opening
and Development of Latin America (CADAL), FAES, Ladies in White y Citizen
Movement Reflection and Reconciliation, among many other institutions and
organizations. REQUEST FOR REPORTS: Entities wishing to receive the work of Cuban
Prisoners Defenders (list of political prisoners and of conscience, legal
studies of political prisoners, legal studies on Cuba, studies on repression
and prisons in Cuba, etc) please contact Cuban Prisoners Defenders at info@prisonersdefenders.org or by whatsapp or phone at +34
647564741.
Our official
Twitter, in addition, is @CubanDefenders. our facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/CubanDefenders, and our website is https://www.prisonersdefenders.org.
Havana (AFP) - While Cuban-Americans partied in
the streets of Miami after Fidel Castro died, dissidents in Cuba stayed
home, fearing more repression though some hope his brother Raul will
enact reforms.
The wild celebrations in Florida, where many Cubans have fled since
the 1959 revolution, contrasted sharply with the subdued reaction of
government critics who endured his iron-fisted rule on the island.
The
Ladies in White movement called off a regular protest on Sunday "out of
respect" for those who mourn Castro and to avoid being accused of
committing acts of "provocation," said the group's leader, Berta Soler.
The
group was founded in 2003 after Fidel Castro's regime imprisoned 75
dissidents who were the women's husbands or sons. While all have since
been released, the group has marched almost every Sunday, dressed in
white.
Fidel Castro already transferred power to his brother Raul
after falling ill in 2006, and Soler predicts that the communist regime
will not change with the death.
"It will be the same Cuba with one dictator instead of two. The
dictator Fidel Castro died and the dictator Raul Castro remains," she
said, adding that she expects the repression to "intensify."
Police
officers who were posted, as usual, outside the group's headquarters
left in the afternoon as it became clear no demonstration would take
place, Soler said.
A picture of Castro featuring one of his speeches was placed across from their house about six months ago.
"It's
to remind us that Fidel is present," Soler said, wearing a white shirt,
white trousers and white shoes while fielding calls from journalists.
- Change thanks to Trump or Raul? -
Her
husband, Angel Moya, is hoping that US President-elect Donald Trump
will take a harder stance against the government than Barack Obama, who
restored diplomatic relations with Raul Castro.
"We are hopeful that this new US administration will at least firmly
condemn the Cuban government, condemn it for its repeated human rights
violations," said Moya, 52, who served almost eight years in prison.
Trump
called Fidel Castro a "brutal dictator" after his death and his
advisers said he would strike a "better deal" with Cuba, but his
incoming administration has yet to indicate what it will do about the
diplomatic detente.
But other dissidents see Fidel Castro's death as an opportunity for change on the island.
"Initially
there will be more controls and repression, but eventually he or
whoever succeeds him will have to start serious, deeper economic and
political reforms," said Jose Daniel Ferrer, one of the 75 former
prisoners. "I think it's a matter of time. How long? I think in one or
two years"
Ferrer, who lives in Santiago de Cuba, said protests would not be
held by dissidents in the eastern city, where Fidel Castro will be laid
to rest next Sunday.
Raul Castro has implemented modest reforms
that have slightly opened the government-controlled economy and in 2010
he released the last 52 of the 75 dissidents who had been jailed in
2003.
He has vowed to step down in 2018, but the one-party system has remained firmly in place.
Marta Beatriz Roque, one of the 75 people detained in 2003, said Fidel's passing could prompt Raul Castro to enact more changes.
"Raul has a freer hand to do things that he couldn't do before... out
of respect for his brother," Roque said from her home in Havana, where a
signed picture of former US president George W. Bush hung on a wall.
She was watching television in her home on Friday night when Raul Castro appeared to announce his brother's death.
"I am not happy about the death of anybody -- even if it was the devil," Roque said.
Read the original article on AFP. https://www.businessinsider.com
Human Rights Watch is urging President Barack Obama
to call for "concrete measures" to end what it considers systematic
repression in Cuba, during his historic visit next week to the island
nation.
"His message on human rights needs to be forceful and
specific," said HRW Americas director John Vivanco. "Otherwise the trip
may be remembered by Cubans who have suffered half a century of
repression as little more than bonding time.”
Obama, who heads to Cuba on Sunday, will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country in nearly 90 years.
The
White House has said Obama will raise with Cuban officials the
detention and harassment of those wanting to express their basic rights.
During
the trip, the U.S. leader is expected to hold bilateral talks with
Cuban President Raul Castro, as well as meet with Cuban dissidents and
civil society members.
FILE - An opposition activist is detained by Cuban
FILE - An opposition activist is detained by Cuban security officers
ahead of a march marking International Human Rights Day in Havana, Cuba,
Dec. 10, 2014.
HRW says the human rights situation in Cuba has remained largely
unchanged since December 2014, when Obama and Castro announced the
normalization of diplomatic relations.
"Important progress in a
few areas has been made in recent years, such as increased freedom to
travel and broader internet access, but the country's repressive system
remains firmly in place," said Vivanco.
Cuba and the United States
have endured 50 years of hostile relations, after revolutionary Fidel
Castro overthrew the U.S.-supported dictator Fulgencio Batista.
The Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional
(Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, CCDHRN)
reported an increase in the number of arbitrary detentions for
political reasons between August 2018 where the organisation documented at least 219 cases, and September 2018 where the number increased to 224.
More than half of the detained activists were women and out of the 224
cases, only 7 were arrests of more than 24 hours. This confirms the
strategy by the Cuban government of using short term detentions to
dismantle specific actions undertaken by the opposition movement.
Between August and September 2018, the Eye on Cuba Network registered
five cases in which activists and social leaders were prevented from
travelling. For example, Ernesto Oliva, a representative of the National
Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), was detained
by immigration officers minutes before boarding a plane to Prague to
participate in an event regarding democracies in Latin America.
Activists who are able to travel are questioned by authorities when
returning to Cuba. Two police officers interrogated Dagoberto Valdés, Director of the organisation Centro de Estudio Convivencia on 27th August 2018 after returning from an event in Miami where he participated in an analysis of the Cuban economy.
Several international bodies, local CSOs, and foreign governments are demanding
Cuban authorities to release Tomas Nuñez Magdariaga, an activist of
UNPACU, who has been on a hunger strike for over 50 days to denounce
what he considers an unfair court ruling that sentenced him to one year
in prison.
In a separate development, Amnesty International expressed
its concern over the consequences of the Decree 349 that restricts
artistic expressions and includes, among other provisions, the
obligation to obtain prior authorization from the Ministry of Culture to
develop any cultural and artistic activity. The Decree will enter into
force in December 2018, however, activists and artists opposing it are
already facing restrictions. For example, rapper El Osokbo was arrested on 24th September 2018 for rejecting this decree during a concert. Amnesty International said:
“Amnesty
International is concerned that the recent arbitrary detentions of
Cuban artists protesting Decree 349, as reported by Cuban independent
media, are an ominous sign of things to come. We stand in solidarity
with all independent artists in Cuba that are challenging the legitimacy
of the decree and standing up for a space in which they can work freely
without fear of reprisals.”
Peaceful Assembly
The Damas de Blanco (Ladies in
White) continue to be subjected to harassment for their activism and
traditional gatherings on Sundays to reject State repression and demand
the release of political prisoners. During their concentrations in
August and September, 82 activists of the movement were arrested for short periods and released soon after. Other methods of repression
used by the National Police include offering to pay their plane
tickets to leave the island, the imposition of fines, defamation
campaigns, and physical violence while the activists are kept in
detention.
The Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos (Cuban Human Rights Observatory, OCDH) reported
208 cases of arbitrary detentions in August 2018, most of them took
place in the context of peaceful demonstrations. According to the
report, Ladies in White is the organisation that was most affected by
the repression. In September 2018, OCDH registered
200 cases of arbitrary detentions. In both months, women were the main
victims. The three main issues that brought people together to protest
were the discussion of the Constitutional reform, demands to release
political prisoners, and the Decree 349 that restricts artistic
expressions.
Expression
On 6th August 2018, independent journalist Alejandro Hernandez Cepero was attacked by an unknown person and received a death threat while he was making a phone call in 10 Octubre Avenue. Hernandez said that the attacker:
[L]eft
shouting that the next time he would shoot me if I did not stop
"bothering". I think he was referring to the claims I made to the
prosecutor's office and the State Security Directorate." (translated
from Spanish)
In a separate incident, the CCDHRN reported
the detention of journalists Roberto Rodríguez Cardona, Enrique Díaz
Rodríguez and Iliana Hernández.
Rodríguez Cardona was transferred to the Criminal Instruction Unit in the city of Bayamo and stripped of his belongings; Díaz Rodríguez was arrested
on 13th August when he was about to take photographs of a peaceful
protest demanding the release of UNPACU leader José Daniel Ferrer. He
was threatened for his journalistic work and was later abandoned at a
distant point in Havana. In addition, the opposition activist and
director of the online program Lente Cubano, Iliana Hernández, was detained on 30th August and released the next day.
According to Jose Antonio Fornaris, director of the Asociación Pro Libertad de Prensa (Association for Freedom of the Press, APLP), the organisation documented more than 13 arbitrary arrests
of journalists in August 2018, including the arrest of Mario Echeverría
Driggs, Osniel Carmona Breijo, Adriana Zamora, Ernesto Corralero, Borís
González Arenas, Henry Constantín, Iris Mariño, Dagoberto Valdés, Luis
Cino Álvarez, Oscar Padilla Suárez, Odalina Guerrero Lara and José
Antonio Fornaris.
https://monitor.civicus.org
The Cuban regime, denounced at the UN for
discrimination and violence against the
Ladies in White
The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights
presents the case.
DDC
Madrid 11 Sep 2020 - 16:11 CEST
Ladies in White leaving their headquarters in Lawton, Havana.
angel moya / twitter
The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) denounced the
Government of Cuba before the special rapporteur on violence against women,
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
for discrimination and
systematic violence against the group of Cuban women Ladies in White .
"The complaint is directed against the State of Cuba, for its direct responsibility in
acts of discrimination and systematic violence against the Ladies in White, which
has created a persistent pattern of manifest violations of their human rights and
fundamental freedoms," explained Alejandro González Raga, executive director
of the OCDH in a statement.
The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights received the consent of the opposition
female group to process on its behalf and on its behalf, the complaint
procedure before
the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences.
The Ladies in White are a female collective, founded in 2003,
initially made up of wives,
mothers and other relatives of prisoners from the group of 75 peaceful opponents
imprisoned during the so-called Black Spring of 2003, and declared
prisoners of conscience
by Amnesty International.
In 2005 they received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought,
awarded by the European Parliament.
Since its inception, this group of women has been the object of multiple and diverse
systematic acts of violence, carried out by repressive state forces and
bodies and through
groups of individuals and organizations made up of members of various sectors
of the population,
organized and directed by the government. State.
In the acts of repudiation, "social lynching" is practiced with a predominance
of verbal aggression, including various offenses, obscene phrases,
allusive to race, gender,
depersonalization and threats. On many occasions physical violence is also used,
with frequent injuries to the victims.
Another repressive pattern against the Ladies in White
has been arbitrary detentions,
without support in the domestic legal system, most of them with
the use of excessive force,
the OCDH recalled.
As an alternative to detention, they frequently employ forced home confinement,
without legal cause, through the use of members of the State security forces.
The complaint sent to the UN lists a set of rights that are violated to the members
of the group, such as: freedom and security of the person, non-discrimination,
freedom of opinion, expression, assembly, demonstration and
association and the right not to be
subjected to other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
As documented by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights,
in 2018 the Ladies in White
suffered at least 1,459 arbitrary detentions; in 2019, 1,117 arbitrary arrests,
16 forced imprisonment, four threats, two acts of repudiation. And, in 2020,
from January to July, 110 arbitrary arrests, 55 forced confinements and 21 threats,
among other data.
Article taken from Diario de Cuba and translated by LPP team
Kozak condemns systematic repression in Cuba
"The members of the General Assembly should admonish Cuba for its abuses,
not elect it to the UN Human Rights Council"CubaNet CubaNetThursday,
September 17, 2020 | 11:54 am
MIAMI, United States.- The Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere
Affairs, Michael Kozak, denounced this Wednesday through his Twitter
social network account the violation of human rights in Cuba.
The publication, reposted by the United States Embassy in Havana,
condemns that the Castro regime systematically violates the rights
of the Cuban people."The Cuban regime systematically violates
the rights of the Cuban people: it denies peaceful meetings, controls art
and journalism, and criminalizes dissent," wrote the senior US official.
And he added that the "members of the UN General Assembly
should admonish Cuba for its abuses, not elect it
to the UN Human Rights Council."Shortly after, in another publication
on the same social network, Kozak claimed that the UN Human Rights Council
should protect the rights of all citizens, and hold the world's dictatorships to account,
such as Cuba's.However, "this will not happen if the Cuban regime,
a dictatorship that imprisons human rights activists and journalists,
and tramples freedom of expression and worship, joins the Council again,
" he wrote.Kozak, a staunch critic of the Castro dictatorship, recalled on
Democracy Day, last Tuesday, that “democracies are accountable to their citizens.
They observe the rule of law, protect life and private property,
and respect the freedoms, dignity and equality of all people ”.
On the way in which the government of Havana oppresses its citizens
while blaming third parties for their misfortunes, Kozak criticized
on August 27 the retention in the port of Mariel of humanitarian aid
collected in Miami on May 16 by Cubans South Florida
residents and exile organizations.The Castro dictatorship
has held the five containers that arrived at the Cuban port with
the aid since August 11, which can benefit at least 15,000 families on the island.
"There is no embargo on humanitarian aid: the regime is blocking
these needed supplies, not the United States," he wrote at the time.
Article published inCubanet and translated by Lighthouse Publisher Press team
Remarks by President Trump on the Policy of the United States Towards Cuba
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. Great
honor. And thank you to my truly great friend, Vice President Mike
Pence — he’s terrific. (Applause.) And thank you to Miami. We love
Miami.
Let me start by saying that I’m glad Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
and I, along with a very talented team, were able to get Otto Warmbier
back with his parents. (Applause.) What’s happened to him is a truly
terrible thing, but at least the ones who love him so much can now take
care of him and be with him.
Also, my dear friend, Steve Scalise, took a bullet for all of us.
And because of him, and the tremendous pain and suffering he’s now
enduring — he’s having a hard time, far worse than anybody thought — our
country will perhaps become closer, more unified. So important.
So we all owe Steve a big, big thank you. And let’s keep the
Warmbier family, and the Scalise family, and all of the victims of the
congressional shooting, in our hearts and prayers. And it was quite a
day and our police officers were incredible, weren’t they? They did a
great job. (Applause.)
And let us all pray for a future of peace, unity and safety for all of our people. (Applause.) Thank you. And for Cuba.
I am so thrilled to be back here with all of my friends in Little Havana. (Applause.) I love it. I love this city.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you?
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you.
This is an amazing community, the Cuban-American community — so much love. I saw that immediately.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, darling. Oh do I love you, too. (Applause.)
What you have built here — a vibrant culture, a thriving
neighborhood, the spirit of adventure — is a testament to what a free
Cuba could be. And with God’s help, a free Cuba is what we will soon
achieve. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!
THE PRESIDENT: And I don’t even mind that it is 110 degrees up here.
(Laughter.) This room is packed. You know, it wasn’t designed for
this. I would like to thank the fire department. (Laughter.)
We are delighted to be joined by so many friends and leaders of our
great community. I want to express our deep gratitude to a man who has
really become a friend of mine — and I want to tell you, he is one tough
competitor — Senator Marco Rubio. (Applause.) Great guy. (Applause.)
He is tough, man. He is tough and he’s good, and he loves you. He
loves you.
And I listened to another friend of mine, Congressman Mario
Diaz-Balart — (applause) — and I’ll tell you, I loved what he said, and I
appreciate it. Mario, I appreciated what you said so much. In fact I
was looking for Mario. I wanted to find him — they said he was onstage.
I almost dragged him off the stage to thank him, but now I’m thanking
you anyway. Thank you, Mario. That was great. Really appreciate it.
And I also want to thank my good friend, and just a man who was of
tremendous support in the state of Florida, for being with us — Governor
Rick Scott. (Applause.) Great job. He’s doing a great job. I hope
he runs for the Senate. I know I’m not supposed to say that. I hope he
runs for the Senate. Rick, are you running? (Applause.) I don’t
know. Marco, let’s go, come on. We got to get him to — I hope he runs
for the Senate.
We are deeply honored to be joined by amazing Veterans of the Bay of
Pigs. (Applause.) These are great people, amazing people. (Applause.)
I have wonderful memories from our visit during the campaign. That
was some visit. That was right before the election. I guess it worked,
right? Boy, Florida, as a whole, and this community supported us by
tremendous margins. We appreciate it.
But including one of the big honors, and that was the honor of
getting the Bay of Pigs award just before the election, and it’s great
to be gathered in a place named for a true hero of the Cuban people.
And you know what that means. (Applause.)
I was also looking forward to welcoming today two people who are not
present — José Daniel Ferrer and Berta Soler — (applause) — were both
prevented from leaving Cuba for this event. So we acknowledge them.
They’re great friends — great help. And although they could not be
with us, we are with them 100 percent. (Applause.) We are with them.
Right?
Finally, I want to recognize everyone in the audience who has their
own painful but important story to tell about the true and brutal nature
of the Castro regime. Brutal. We thank the dissidents, the exiles,
and the children of Operation Peter Pan — you know what that means —
(applause) — and all who gather in the cafes, churches, and the streets
in this incredible area and city to speak the truth and to stand for
justice. (Applause.)
And we want to thank you all for being a voice for the voiceless.
There are people –- it’s voiceless, but you are making up the
difference, and we all want to thank you. This group is amazing. Just
an incredible –- you are an incredible group of talented, passionate
people. Thank you. Incredible group of people.
Many of you witnessed terrible crimes committed in service of a
depraved ideology. You saw the dreams of generations held by captive,
and just, literally, you look at what happened and what communism has
done. You knew faces that disappeared, innocents locked in prisons, and
believers persecuted for preaching the word of God. You watched the
Women in White bruised, bloodied, and captured on their way from Mass.
You have heard the chilling cries of loved ones, or the cracks of
firing squads piercing through the ocean breeze. Not a good sound.
Among the courageous Cuban dissidents with us onstage here today are
Cary Roque, who was imprisoned by the Castro regime 15 years ago.
(Applause.) She looks awfully good.
MS. ROQUE: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
Thank you, Marco Rubio, Mario Diaz-Balart. Thank you to all the men
and the Cubans who fight no matter what — for the Cuban liberty. Mr.
President, on behalf of the Cuban people, the people inside my eyes, my
homeland, thank you. Thank you, and we appreciate your love.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Wow. That’s pretty good. She didn’t
know she was going to do that either, I will tell you. Thank you very
much.
Antunez, imprisoned for 17 years. Where is he? (Applause.) I love
that name. Antunez — I love that name –and Angel De Fana, imprisoned
for over 20 years. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Very brave
people.
The exiles and dissidents here today have witnessed communism destroy
a nation, just as communism has destroyed every single nation where it
has ever been tried. (Applause.) But we will not be silent in the face
of communist oppression any longer. You have seen the truth, you have
spoken the truth, and the truth has now called us — this group — called
us to action. Thank you.
Last year, I promised to be a voice against repression in our region —
remember, tremendous oppression — and a voice for the freedom of the
Cuban people. You heard that pledge. You exercised the right you have
to vote. You went out and you voted. And here I am like I promised —
like I promised. (Applause.)
I promised you — I keep my promises. Sometimes in politics, they
take a little bit longer, but we get there. We get there. Don’t we get
there? You better believe it, Mike. We get there. (Laughter.) Thank
you. Thank you. No, we keep our promise.
And now that I am your President, America will expose the crimes of the
Castro regime and stand with the Cuban people in their struggle for
freedom. Because we know it is best for America to have freedom in our
hemisphere, whether in Cuba or Venezuela, and to have a future where the
people of each country can live out their own dreams. (Applause.)
For nearly six decades, the Cuban people have suffered under
communist domination. To this day, Cuba is ruled by the same people who
killed tens of thousands of their own citizens, who sought to spread
their repressive and failed ideology throughout our hemisphere, and who
once tried to host enemy nuclear weapons 90 miles from our shores.
The Castro regime has shipped arms to North Korea and fueled chaos in
Venezuela. While imprisoning innocents, it has harbored cop killers,
hijackers, and terrorists. It has supported human trafficking, forced
labor, and exploitation all around the globe. This is the simple truth
of the Castro regime. (Applause.)
My administration will not hide from it, excuse it, or glamorize it.
And we will never, ever be blind to it. We know what’s going on and we
remember what happened. (Applause.)
On my recent trip overseas, I said the United States is adopting a
principled realism, rooted in our values, shared interests, and common
sense. I also said countries should take greater responsibility for
creating stability in their own regions. It’s hard to think of a policy
that makes less sense than the prior administration’s terrible and
misguided deal with the Castro regime. (Applause.) Well, you have to
say, the Iran deal was pretty bad also. Let’s not forget that beauty.
They made a deal with a government that spreads violence and
instability in the region and nothing they got — think of it — nothing
they got — they fought for everything and we just didn’t fight hard
enough. But now those days are over. Now we hold the cards. We now
hold the cards. (Applause.)
The previous administration’s easing of restrictions on travel and
trade does not help the Cuban people — they only enrich the Cuban
regime. (Applause.) The profits from investment and tourism flow
directly to the military. The regime takes the money and owns the
industry. The outcome of the last administration’s executive action has
been only more repression and a move to crush the peaceful, democratic
movement.
Therefore, effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Trump! Trump! Trump!
THE PRESIDENT: I am announcing today a new policy, just as I
promised during the campaign, and I will be signing that contract right
at that table in just a moment. (Applause.)
Our policy will seek a much better deal for the Cuban people and for
the United States of America. We do not want U.S. dollars to prop up a
military monopoly that exploits and abuses the citizens of Cuba.
Our new policy begins with strictly enforcing U.S. law. (Applause.)
We will not lift sanctions on the Cuban regime until all political
prisoners are freed, freedoms of assembly and expression are respected,
all political parties are legalized, and free and internationally
supervised elections are scheduled. Elections. (Applause.)
We will very strongly restrict American dollars flowing to the
military, security and intelligence services that are the core of Castro
regime. They will be restricted. We will enforce the ban on tourism.
We will enforce the embargo. We will take concrete steps to ensure
that investments flow directly to the people, so they can open private
businesses and begin to build their country’s great, great future — a
country of great potential. (Applause.)
My action today bypasses the military and the government, to help the
Cuban people themselves form businesses and pursue much better lives.
We will keep in place the safeguards to prevent Cubans from risking
their lives to unlawful travel to the United States. They are in such
danger the way they have to come to this country, and we are going to be
safeguarding those people. We have to. We have no choice. We have
to. (Applause.)
And we will work for the day when a new generation of leaders brings
this long reign of suffering to an end. And I do believe that end is in
the very near future. (Applause.)
We challenge Cuba to come to the table with a new agreement that is
in the best interests of both their people and our people and also of
Cuban Americans.
To the Cuban government, I say: Put an end to the abuse of
dissidents. Release the political prisoners. Stop jailing innocent
people. Open yourselves to political and economic freedoms. Return the
fugitives from American justice — including the return of the
cop-killer Joanne Chesimard. (Applause.)
And finally, hand over the Cuban military criminals who shot down and
killed four brave members of Brothers to the Rescue who were in
unarmed, small, slow civilian planes. (Applause.)
Those victims included Mario de la Pena, Jr., and Carlos Costa. We
are honored to be joined by Mario’s parents, Miriam and Mario, and
Carlos’s sister, Mirta. Where are you? (Applause.) Those are great,
great parents who love their children so much. What they’ve done is
just an incredible, incredible thing — what they represent — they did
not die in vain — what they represent to everybody, and especially to
the Cuban people. So your children did not die in vain, believe me.
(Applause.)
So to the Castro regime, I repeat: The harboring of criminals and
fugitives will end. You have no choice. It will end. (Applause.)
Any changes to the relationship between the United States and Cuba
will depend on real progress toward these and the other goals, many of
which I’ve described. When Cuba is ready to take concrete steps to
these ends, we will be ready, willing, and able to come to the table to
negotiate that much better deal for Cubans, for Americans. Much better
deal and a deal that’s fair. A deal that’s fair and a deal that makes
sense.
Our embassy remains open in the hope that our countries can forge a
much stronger and better path. America believes that free, independent,
and sovereign nations are the best vehicle for human happiness, for
health, for education, for safety, for everything. We all accept that
all nations have the right to chart their own paths — and I’m certainly a
very big believer in that — so we will respect Cuban sovereignty. But
we will never turn our backs on the Cuban people. That will not happen.
(Applause.)
Over the years, a special sympathy has grown between this land of the
free, and the beautiful people of that island, so close to our shores
and so deeply woven into the history of our region. America has
rejected the Cuban people’s oppressors. They are rejected. Officially
today, they are rejected. (Applause.) And to those people, America has
become a source of strength, and our flag a symbol of hope.
I know that is exactly what America is to you and what it represents
to you. It represents the same to me. It represents the same to all of
us. And that is what it was to a little boy, Luis Haza. You ever hear
of Luis? He became very famous, great talent — just eight years old
when Fidel Castro seized power. At the time, Luis’s father was the
police chief in Santiago de Cuba. You know Santiago? Yeah? Oh, they
know Santiago. Just days after Fidel took control, his father was one
of 71 Cubans executed by firing squad near San Juan Hill at the hands of
the Castro regime.
Luis buried his grief in his great love of music. He began playing
the violin so brilliantly and so beautifully. Soon the regime saw his
incredible gift and wanted to use him for propaganda purposes. When he
was 12, they organized a national television special and demanded he
play a solo for Raul Castro — who by the way is leaving now. I wonder
why.
They sent an official to fetch Luis from his home. But Luis refused
to go. And a few days later, Castro’s soldiers barged into his
orchestra practice area, guns blazing. They told him to play for them.
Terrified, Luis began to play. And the entire room was stunned by what
they heard. Ringing out from the trembling boy’s violin was a tune
they all recognized. This young Cuban boy was playing “The Star
Spangled Banner.” (Applause.) Luis played the American National Anthem
all the way through, and when he finished, the room was dead silent.
When we say that America stands as a symbol to the world — a symbol
of freedom, and a symbol of hope — that is what Luis meant, and that is
what Luis displayed that day. It was a big day. It was a great day.
And that is what we will all remain. That was a very important moment,
just like this is now, for Cuba. A very important moment. (Applause.)
America will always stand for liberty, and America will always pray and
cheer for the freedom of the Cuban people.
Now, that little boy, whose story I just told you, the one who played
that violin so beautifully so many years ago, is here with us today in
our very, very packed and extremely warm auditorium. (Laughter.) Of
course, he is no longer a little boy, but a world-renowned violinist and
conductor — one of the greats. And today he will once again play his
violin and fill the hearts of all who love and cherish Cuba, the United
States, and freedom. (Applause.)
I would like to now invite Luis to the stage.
Luis. (Applause.)
(Luis Haza plays The Star-Spangled Banner on the violin.)
AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA! (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Luis. I just said, so where were you more
nervous? Today or then? He said, honestly, I think today. That’s
pretty — (laughter.) Thank you, Luis, that was beautiful.
So I want to thank Miami. I want to thank Little Havana. Havana, we
love. Do we love it? Would you move anywhere else? You wouldn’t move
to Palm Beach, would you? No. No way. Little Havana.
And I want to thank all of our great friends here today. You’ve been
amazing, loyal, beautiful people. And thank you. Don’t remind me.
Actually, I was telling Mike, so it was two days — on my birthday —
until a big day, which turned out to be tomorrow — the 16th. That was
the day I came down with Melania on the escalator at Trump Tower.
That’s tomorrow. (Applause.) So it’s exactly tomorrow — two years
since we announced. And it worked out okay. Worked out okay.
(Applause.) It’s a great honor. Believe me, it’s a great honor.
Right?
AUDIENCE: (Sings Happy Birthday.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much.
I just want to end by saying may God bless everyone searching for
freedom. May God bless Cuba. May God bless the United States of
America. And God bless you all. Thank you. Now I’m going to sign.
Thank you.
(The President participates in a signing.)
So this says, “strengthening the policy of the United States toward
Cuba.” And I can add, “strengthening a lot.” (Laughter.) So this is
very important, and you watch what’s going to happen. Going to be a
great day for Cuba.
Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END
2:09 P.M. EDT
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