Wednesday, February 29, 2012

CUBA: BRIEF CLANDESTINE VIDEO SENT FROM THE ISLAND OF A VIOLENT ARREST

BELOW IS A BRIEF CLANDESTINE VIDEO (1:57 min.) SHOWING A VIOLENT ARREST ON FEBRUARY 23, 2012, OF SEVERAL ACTIVISTS WHO ARE PEACEFULLY DEMANDING "FREEDOM!", "FREEDOM!" IN THE STREETS OF THE CENTRAL CITY OF PLACETAS IN CUBA.

THESE ACTIVISTS OF THE "NATIONAL FRONT OF CIVIC RESISTANCE AND DISOBEDIENCE, ORLANDO ZAPATA TAMAYO" WHERE COMMEMORATING THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE, ORLANDO ZAPATA TAMAYO WHO DIED UNDER THE THE CUSTODY OF THE CUBAN STATE DURING A HUNGER STRIKE. THE ACTIVISTS WERE RELEASED HOURS LATER AFTER BEING SUBJECTED TO INHUMANE TREATMENT IN POLICE UNITS.

THOSE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS ARRESTED WERE: YAIMARA REYES MESA, YAITE CRUZ SOSA, (members of the Rosa Parks Civil Rights Movement in Placetas), FAUTINO CALA (Freedom of Expression Solidarity Movement in Camaguey), SANTOS FERNANDEZ, DINEL MILLET JIMENEZ ( Nat'l Front of Civic Resistance & Disobedience in Camaguey) and JORGE LUS GARCIA PEREZ ANTUNEZ,(the leader of the protest and Secretary General of the Nat'l Front of Civic Resistance & Disobedience) 

Laida A. Carro
Human Rights Defender
Coalition of Cuban-American Women


Para mayor información
Asamblea de la Resistencia Cubana

COMUNICADO
Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica en Cuba da a conocer imágenes inéditas de arresto en Placetas durante jornada por Zapata
Enlace del video
CUBA, 28 de febrero de 2012. Asamblea de la Resistencia Cubana. Un video con imágenes inéditas de la protesta y arresto ocurridos en la ciudad de Placetas, Cuba este 23 de febrero de 2012, muestra la brutalidad de la Seguridad del Estado y la Policía Nacional Revolucionaria contra miembros del Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica que salieron a la calle a conmemorar el segundo aniversario del asesinato del prisionero político Orlando Zapata Tamayo como parte de una intensa jornada de resistencia en todo el país durante los días 23 y 24 del presente mes.
 “Una tremenda victoria para la Resistencia […] ellos (los agentes de la Seguridad del Estado) hicieron el ridículo”, declaró Jorge Luis García Pérez Antúnez, Secretario General del Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica Orlando Zapata Tamayo y uno de los participantes, minutos después de ser excarcelado en horas de la tarde del 25 de febrero de 2012.
 Los activistas arrestados en este video son: Yaimara Reyes Mesa, Yaité Cruz Sosa, ambas del Movimiento Femenino por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks en Placetas; Fautino Calá, del Movimiento Solidario Expresión Libre en Camagüey; Santos Fernández, Dinel Millet Jiménez, del Frente en Camagüey, y Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”, secretario general del Frente y quien encabeza la protesta

Monday, February 27, 2012

EEUU: Opositor cubano Biscet testifica vía telefónica ante Congreso por DDHH / Cuban dissident tells Congress Pope must intervene in Cuba

Publicado el jueves 16 de febrero del 2012

EEUU: Opositor cubano Biscet testifica vía telefónica ante Congreso por DDHH

El médico y opositor cubano Oscar Elías Biscet, que fue liberado en marzo de 2011 por el régimen castrista, atestiguó este jueves vía telefónica ante un subcomité del Congreso estadounidense para abordar la situación de los derechos humanos en la isla, constató la AFP.
La sesión fue convocada por la Cámara de Representantes y la conexión telefónica con Biscet se hizo desde la sede de la Sección de Intereses estadounidense en La Habana, explicó el presidente de la audiencia, el representante republicano Chris Smith.
“La Cuba en que vivo es una sociedad llena de miedo”, dijo Biscet, encarcelado en varias ocasiones por sus actividades políticas.
Biscet, de 50 años, describió ante miembros del comité de Relaciones Exteriores y de un subcomité sobre Derechos Humanos sus actividades y las condiciones de detención que ha sufrido durante años en las cárceles de su país.
Luego atacó al régimen cubano, que a su juicio tiene “como características esenciales ser antiamericano, antisemita y antinegro”.
Biscet, al que el gobierno estadounidense de George W. Bush (2001-2009) le otorgó la Medalla de la Libertad en 2007, acusó al gobierno de Raúl Castro de “cometer violaciones flagrantes y sistemáticas del pueblo cubano”.
“Apreciamos profundamente que el doctor Biscet tome el serio riesgo de represalias por hablar con nosotros públicamente”, dijo Smith al presentar la llamada.
La audiencia fue protagonizada por legisladores de origen cubano en el Congreso, declarados anticastristas, que regularmente buscan endurecer el embargo contra la isla.
Al ser preguntado sobre la posibilidad de ser detenido al intentar regresar a su domicilio tras la audiencia, Biscet señaló: “Todo es posible (…) estamos bajo una superprisión”.
El comité de Relaciones Exteriores de la Cámara de Representantes está presidido por la cubanoestadounidense Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, que ya ha organizado varias audiencias sobre la isla en los últimos meses y que busca revocar las medidas de flexibilización del embargo promulgadas por el presidente Barack Obama en los últimos tres años.

Posted on Thu, Feb. 16, 2012

Cuban dissident tells Congress Pope must intervene in Cuba

Speaking by telephone direct from Cuba, one of the country’s best-known political dissidents on Tuesday told Congress that Pope Benedict XVI should use his power and visibility as a world leader to shine a light on human rights abuses and political oppression under the Castro regime during his upcoming visit to the communist island nation.
If he has an opportunity to meet with the pope, he will ask him to be an advocate for the oppressed, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet told the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee. He spoke through a translator in testimony delivered over the telephone from Cuba.
"I would say to him, that I would love for him to lobby for our freedom of speech and for a multi-party system, so that everyone can participate and be represented," Biscet said. "We hope that his coming will bring great change to our country."
The congressional committee did not announce Biscet's name before the hearing, out of concern that Cuban authorities would detain him before he was able to testify from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. During the hearing, Biscet's photo was projected on two separate video screens. His image was on several posters propped up along the wall in the hearing room.
President George W. Bush awarded Biscet the Medal of Freedom in 2007 while he was still serving a 25-year sentence for his opposition to Fidel Castro's regime. Biscet accused the Cuban government in the mid-1990s of allowing and covering up botched abortions, and was imprisoned from 1999 to late 2002. He had been free for 37 days when he was arrested again.
Biscet, 50, was freed last March as part of the Cuban government’s decision to release more than 125 political prisoners — a move that came after pressure by the Catholic Church. Some congressional leaders, including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, have nominated him for a Nobel Prize.
His testimony Thursday came at considerable personal risk and could lead to his re-arrest, he acknowledged. "Everything is possible," Biscet said. "We're under constant supervision."
Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J. and Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., said they would write to the pope asking him to meet with Biscet. Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, said the message to the church couldn't be more clear.
"Now it is up to Catholic Church to respond to Dr. Biscet," Rivera said. "It is up to the pope himself to respond to Dr. Biscet. I would hope they would be responsive to Dr. Biscet's hope and aspirations and his request of the pope and the Catholic Church."
Biscet on Thursday told the committee that the police in Cuba beat him, disfigured his face and broke his foot in an effort to “stop me from defending human rights."
He also described the conditions he experienced in prison in Cuba. Some prisoners were undressed collectively, disregarding "any respect for human dignity," he said. They were handcuffed at their ankles and hands for more than 12 hours and as many as 24 hours. Some were hanged by their hands, with their feet barely touching the ground.
Cuban journalist Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, also a recently freed political prisoner who now lives in Miami, told the committee that women are treated with particular brutality by police. Some men have reported that their captors undressed them, screamed obscenities at them, touched their genitals, and threatened them with rape, he said.
"I still have fresh in my mind the screams of prisoners who were being freshly tortured," he said. "I don't know if I'll be able to ever forget that."
Sires called Biscet's testimony untainted by the politics of the Miami exile community. That should give the Castro regime pause, Sires said, because Biscet is one of their own.
"He's not a product of Miami Beach, he's not a product of Miami, he's not a product of Cubans in exile," he said. "This is a man that was educated in Cuba, and he sees that this is a dictator, that this a country that oppresses human rights. That this is a country that allows no one the freedom to express themselves. And he's personally seen what they do to people who are seeking freedom of expression."
Biscet on Thursday vowed to continue what he described as a non-violent movement to change Cuba. Biscet said they expect little to improve while both Fidel Castro and his brother, Raul, remain alive — but said that they can't wait for their deaths to agitate for change in Cuba.
"So we will create change on our own," he said. "We are hoping that we will have the capacity to create non-violent coercion and pressure in order to actually install that political change ourselves."

CONVERSACION DEL DR. OSCAR BISCET ANTE EL COMITE DE RELACIONES EXTERIORES DEL CONGRESO DE LOS EEUU

El ex-preso de conciencia, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet Gonzalez, habla via telefonica desde La Habana Cuba ante el Comite de Relaciones Exteriores del Congreso de los Estados Unidos sobre los derechos humanos en Cuba.

PARTE I (Espanol con traduccion al ingles)

PARTE II (Espanol con traduccion al ingles)

TWO ARTICLES REGARDING VISITS BY US SENATORS TO CUBA: Dissidents tell US visitors human rights must be respected / Senadores de EEUU se reúnen con R. Castro y disidentes

Cuban dissidents tell US visitors that human rights must be respected - February 25, 2012



Senadores de EEUU se reúnen con Raúl Castro y disidentes -                25 de febrero 2012

CUBA: AMIDST A CLIMATE OF POLITICAL REPRESSION, THE ORGANIZATION AGAINST TORTURE AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DENOUNCE REPRESSIVE ACTS IN THE ISLAND

 February 26, 2012  
“Authorities must urgently stop harassing activists and preventing any of the ‘Ladies in White’ from celebrating the memory of Orlando Zapata,”[1]   Javier Zúñiga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.  

The events that took place in Cuba during the week of February 20-26, 2012 were determined by two dates that involved three events in Cuban history. On February 23, 2010, the Cuban political prisoner of conscience, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a humble man 42 years old, who was committed to the defense of human rights, died under the custody of the Cuban state following a hunger strike of more than 80 days demanding prison rights. On February 24, 1895, the Cuban War of Independence from Spain began under the leadership of the Cuban patriot Jose Marti and is considered an official holiday by all Cubans. On that same day but in the year 1996, three Americans and one U.S. resident: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales were on a rescue mission with the humanitarian organization “Brothers to the Rescue” when two Cuban MIGs shot down their unarmed civilian aircraft over international waters.[2]

As Cuban human rights defenders throughout the island tried to carry out peaceful commemorative acts to honor these dates of great significance, they faced a climate of political repression since the beginning of the week on Monday, February 20 by way of threats, intimidations, beatings and insults; police citations; police surveillance; short term arbitrary violent arrests; mob attacks; barricades to their homes; homes stoned by minors under orders of Cuban authorities; kidnappings of activists whose whereabouts were unknown for several days, etc. Particular targets of arbitrary arrests and disappearances by the political police were the Ladies in White who suffered an “act of repudiation” outside of their headquarters in Havana.

Both Amnesty International and the Organization Against Torture issued urgent alerts concerning the arbitrary violent arrest in Havana of the ex-political prisoner of conscience and leader of UMPACU (Union Patriotica de Cuba) in Eastern Cuba, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/005/2012/en/7b47f674-d29b-46d3-bb45-aea6cd39149f/amr250052012en.html

OMCT: In attachment ( In Spanish) The family of Wilman Villar Mendoza, as well as any activist, who pays homage to the dead human rights defender at the cemetery in the Eastern city of Contramaestre, is subject to acts of harassment. Members of prodemocracy groups have been stoned while visiting Wilman’s tomb. The Cuban political prisoner Ernesto Borges, who’s served 14 years of a 30 year prison sentence for espionage, has been on a hunger strike since February 10, 2012 demanding to be released under parole. His father, Raul Borges saw him during a prison visit at the Combinado del Este Prison in Havana in very serious physical condition, extremely thin and suffering from arrhythmia. He denounced that though his son is being kept in an isolation cell suffering cruel and ill treatment, he is firm and determined to continue his hunger strike. Raul Borges fears that Cuban authorities want to do the same thing to Ernesto as they did to Orlando Zapata Tamayo and makes an urgent appeal to the world on behalf of his son. Copy of Ernesto Borges’s sentence: http://pedazosdelaisla.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/sentencia-de-ernesto-borges1.pdf

Three artists who were planning to carry out a public “performance” in Havana were many Cuban youth gather to protest the fact that the regime bans their presentations were subjected to violent arrests and short term detentions. The punk rocker Gorki Aguila, Danilo Maldonado known as “El Sexto” and Ismael de Diego were all violently detained on Saturday, February 25 and released the following day. Yasmin Conyedo and her husband, Yusmani Alvarez both remain under arrest since January 8, 2012 in the central city of Santa Clara. Yasmin Conyedo is an independent journalist of the group, United Antitotalitarian Front and a Lady in White. Her husband, Yusmani Alvarez is an activist of the Young Democratic League of Las Villas. They are both falsely accused of attacking the home of a communist party official in their hometown of Villaclara who had initially subjected the couple’s home to a pro government mob attack the same day of the arrest. Yasmin was transferred to the Prison of Guamajal and Yusmani to the Prison of La Pendiente on January 16, 2012.  

FEBRUARY 20, 2012 – In Havana, Ivonne Malleza Galano, her husband Ignacio Martinez Montero and Mayra Morejon were arbitrarily arrested at 11 a.m. and taken to an unknown location.   In the city of Colon, province of Matanzas, Lady in White, Caridad Burunate and activist Lazaro Diaz Sanchez received police citations and had their fingerprints taken. Both refused to sign an “act of admonishing.”   Human rights defender, Ramon Bolaños Martin reported that his house was stoned by minors who were under the direction of the political police and State Security. He made the Cuban regime responsible for the well-being of his own children in the house as well as the safety of those Cuban youngsters being used to vandalize his home. Twelve members of the Union Patriotica de Cuba (UMPACU) were still under arrest since last weekend.

 Below are some of the human rights violations reported during the week of February 20 – 26, 2012:   FEBRUARY 21, 2012 –  The ex-political prisoner of conscience, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, was violently arrested in the suburb of El Vedado in Havana after a meeting with several activists at the house of Hector Palacio Ruiz. Ferrer Garcia declared that during his arrest “they kicked me, beat me, twisted my arms and shoved me against the wall in an attempt to force me to put my hands behind my back to be handcuffed.” The leader of UMPACU was released on Friday, February 24.   Sara Marta Fonseca denounced that Rodolfo Ramirez Cardoso and a the musical duo of “El Primario” and “Julito”, who sing protest songs against the Cuban regime were harassed in Santiago de Las Vegas, Havana.   In the Eastern province of Holguin, State Security and police agents are systematically harassing members of the peaceful human rights groups in that region as well as any of its sympathizers. Ramon Miguel Aguilera reported the ongoing repression against him and his family in the municipality of Calixto Garcia, in Holguin province.  

FEBRUARY 22, 2012 - Lady in White Yelena Garces who is also a delegate of FLAMUR, was arrested in the Eastern city of Bayamo. Ten members of UMPACU were arrested in Eastern Cuba making it a total of 22 human rights defenders of this organization arbitrarily detained since Sunday, February 19, 2012. Numerous activists were protesting the arbitrary arrest and disappearance of other colleagues and Ladies in White in front of police units. The following were detained in front of the police unit in Palma Soriano: Miguel Rafael Cabrera, Rudisan Ramirez Rodriguez, Ivan Brismeranes? Hernandez, Alexander Aldana Batista, Jorge Cervantes Garcia, Mayelin la O Montero, Julio Cesar Santiesteban with their children Amanda Montalvo la O who is 8 years old, 12 year old, Jose Angel Sardiñas Figueredo, and 3 year old, Ileana Cervantes. Others activists arrested: Dany Lopez de Moya, Osmani Cespedes Napoles, Juan Humberto Rodriguez Gonzalez, Sergio Lescay Despaigne, Victor Campa Alemenares, Angel Luis Campa Almenares, Pedro Campa Almenares, Jose Batista Falcon, and Eliesei Elizabal Rodriguez. State Security forces, police officers and pro government mobs that were classified by activists as “delinquents”, repressed the peaceful commemorative acts carried out by human rights defenders in Santa Cruz del Sur, Camaguey (central Cuba) on February 24, 2012, identified as “Resistance Day” by human rights defenders. Berta Soler described in a recorded message on February 22 of the repression that preceded the act of remembrance that the Ladies in White had prepared for Orlando Zapata, a political prisoner who died under the custody of the Cuban State in 2010, following a prolonged hunger strike: http://hablalosinmiedo.blogspot.com/#!/2012/02/berta-soler-denuncia-asedio-la-sede-de.html

FEBRUARY 23, 2012 – The Ladies in White, Claribel Rodriguez Morales and Sandra Guerra, disappeared on their way to Havana from Eastern Cuba. The human rights defender, Virgilio Mantilla Arango was also reported missing in the central city of Camaguey.   Delmides Fidalgo Lopez of the Eastern Democratic Alliance was brutally beaten by several State Security agents who broke his glasses. He was arrested and released later in the day.   Luis Felipe Rojas denounced that numerous homes in his hometown of San German in Eastern Cuba were surrounded by uniformed soldiers, some of whom were armed, and by plain clothes agents. Rojas’s home was surrounded as were the homes of Elieser Palma Pupo and Jose Antonio Triguero Mullet. Jorge Luis Garcia Perez Antunez, leader of the National Front of Civic Resistance and Disobedience Orlando Zapata Tamayo was violently arrested alongside five other activists (among them Yaimara Reyes and Yaite Cruz) in the central city of Placetas when they were carrying out a peaceful protest.   In Havana, a pro-government mob made of some 200 people, most of them students, surrounded the headquarters of the “Ladies in White, Laura Pollan”, shouting slogans and insults through megaphones at the women inside the home who were paying tribute to Orlando Zapata Tamayo on the second anniversary of his death. As the Ladies in White read from the writings by Zapata Tamayo, the crowd outside blocked the entrance to the house screaming for hours: “Down with the Worms!, “Mercenaries!”, “Long Live Raul!”. Lady in White, Blanca Hernandez was arbitrarily arrested in Havana to prevent her participation in the act on behalf of Orlando Zapata at the Ladies in White headquarters.

FEBRUARY 24, 2012 – A U.S. Congressional delegation of around 10 legislators led by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Richard Shelby (R-Al) met for almost one hour with several representatives of independent groups, ex-political prisoners as well as human rights defenders such as Angel Moya and his wife, the Lady in White Berta Soler. Also present were; Dagoberto Valdes, Oswaldo Paya, Antonio Rodiles and Oscar Biscet with his wife. The Cubans informed the U.S. delegation that “the island’s main problem is its own government and that respect for human rights must be the first item on the table for any Cuba-U.S. negotiations.” They reiterated the need for fundamental freedoms in the island and told them of the escalating repression carried out by a regime that has as its only objective to stay in power.

FEBRUARY 26, 2012 - In Havana, Sara Marta Fonseca and several Ladies in White were subjected to short term arrests. Their families were not informed of their whereabouts. Ex-prisoner of conscience, Hector Maseda reported that a total of 19 Ladies in White and 6 independent journalists were placed under arrest following the attendance to Mass of some 40 women at the Church of Santa Rita in Havana. Marcos Antonio Molina reported from Holguin that Lady in White, Adisnidia Cruz Segredo was arrested by four State Security Agents at the door of her home. Caridad Caballero and her husband Esteban Sandes were also subjected to arbitrary arrests when they were on their way to church. Raul Risco of the Democratic Alliance in Pinar del Rio reported from this Western city that he and other activists, were carrying out a hunger strike in solidarity with those colleagues arrested. The hunger strikers were inside the home of Conrado Rodríguez Suárez” at: Sol # 89, between San Juan and Galiano where they are surrounded by paramilitary groups. Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia reported that 8 members of UMPACU continue under arrest. Five of them have declared themselves on hunger strike protesting their arbitrary detention.

The Coalition of Cuban-American Women alerts the international community that the lives of those members of Cuban civil society who are actively and publicly struggling peacefully on behalf of fundamental freedoms are in danger. We are particularly concerned with the cases of the political prisoner Ernesto Borges, the family of Wilman Villar Mendoza, the activist couple Yasmin Conyedo and Yusmani Alvarez and with the continued physical and mental harassment against members of the Ladies in White, Laura Pollan throughout Cuba. International recognition of the peaceful resistance and solidarity for these human rights defenders is crucial. We make an urgent call on religious, civic, political, and cultural entities and its leaders, as well as to non-governmental human rights organizations worldwide.

Coalition of Cuban-American Women / Joseito76@aol.com / Laida A.Carro 
Blog: http://www.coalitionofcubanamericanwomen.blogspot.com/
Facebook Page: Coalition of Cuban-American Women
Twitter: @COCAW1

FURTHER INFORMATION IN CUBA: Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia + 5353631267 / / Caridad Caballero Batista + 52629749 / Raul Risco Perez + 5348763910 / Sara Marta Fonseca + 5353379011 / Berta Soler al +5352906820 / Yris T. Perez Aguilera + 5352731656

[1] http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/cuban-authorities-prevent-activists-commemorating-death-dissident-2012-02-23

[2] http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/22/6046

Saturday, February 25, 2012

COMUNICADOS DE PRENSA DE AMNISTIA INTERNATIONAL-CUBA

Subj: Amnistía Internaciona - Cuba: Acción Urgente y Comunicado de prensa   Estimad@s amig@s, Compartimos con Udes. las versiones españolas del comunicado de prensa que publicamos ayer sobre el acoso que sufren 40 Damas de Blanco en la Habana y la Acción Urgente en nombre de José Daniel Ferrer que fue detenido esa semana y todavía se desconoce su paradero. http://www.amnesty.org/es/for-media/press-releases/cuba-impide-activistas-conmemorar-muerte-disidente-2012-02-23 http://www.amnesty.org/es/library/info/AMR25/005/2012/es Gracias por compartir con sus contactos. Atentamente, Equipo del Caribe Follow us on / Síguenos en / Suivez-nous sur www.facebook.com/Amnesty.International.Caribbean

Friday, February 24, 2012

AMNESTY INT'L: CUBAN ACTIVISTS PREVENTED FROM COMMEMORATING DEATH OF DISSIDENT

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
23 February 2012
Cuban authorities prevent activists from commemorating death of dissident
Authorities in Cuba are preventing members of the women's organization “Ladies in White” from entering a building in downtown Havana for an event commemorating the second anniversary of the death of activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
Several "Ladies in White", who campaign for the release of political prisoners, already assembled in the building told Amnesty International they fear they may be detained if they try to leave.
“It is unacceptable that the Cuban authorities would not allow human rights activists from remembering one of their colleagues in peace,” said Javier Zuniga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.
Women have travelled to Havana from across Cuba to attend the event.
According to information gathered by Amnesty International the Cuban authorities have diverted traffic from passing in front of the headquarters and have stationed police officers on the four corners of the block where they are located. They are checking the identification cards of all pedestrians passing through the area.
“Authorities must urgently stop harassing activists and preventing any of the ‘Ladies in White’ from celebrating the memory of Orlando Zapata.”
Prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo died on 23 February 2012 after a 86-day-long hunger strike.
For more information, please contact Josefina Salomon on +44 778 472 116 or jsalomon@amnesty.org
ENDS/
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This email has been sent by Amnesty International Limited (a company registered in England and Wales limited by guarantee, number 01606776 with registered office at 1 Easton St, London WC1X 0DW). Internet communications are not secure and therefore Amnesty International does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose or rely on the information in this e-mail. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Amnesty International unless specifically stated. Electronic communications including email might be monitored by Amnesty International for operational or business reasons.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: CUBA: URGENT ACTION - EX-PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE JOSE DANIEL FERRER GARCIA BELIEVED TO BE DETAINED

 UA: 60/12 Index: AMR 25/005/2012 Cuba Date: 23 February 2012 URGENT ACTION EX PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE BELIEVED DETAINED Former prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García’s whereabouts are unknown following his alleged arrest in central Havana, Cuba, on 21 February.
Former prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García, who is on conditional release from prison, is believed to have been re-arrested in central Havana on 21 February. He had travelled to Havana from Santiago de Cuba province to meet with diplomats, human rights activists and dissidents in connection with his work as the coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unión Patriótica de Cuba, UNPACU), an umbrella group of dissident organizations based in eastern Cuba.
On 21 February, José Daniel Ferrer García was travelling by taxi with Elizardo Sánchez, coordinator of the Cuban
Commission for Human Rights and Reconciliation (Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional, CCDHRN), whose office he had just visited. Elizardo Sánchez exited the taxi in the central neighbourhood of Vedado and five minutes later received a text message from José Daniel Ferrer García which stated he was being detained by police. On 22 February, the Elizardo Sánchez contacted the police information service and was informed that there was no record of José Daniel Ferrer García being held in any detention facility.

There has been no news of his whereabouts since then.

José Daniel Ferrer García was granted conditional release in March 2011, having served eight of his 25 year
sentence. Under the terms of his release, he could be sent back to prison to serve out the remainder of his
sentence - 16 years. Amnesty International believes his arrest is an attempt to repress the peaceful dissident activities he and members of UNPACU are undertaking in eastern Cuba.

Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:
Calling on the authorities to provide information as to the circumstances of José Daniel Ferrer García’s
arrest on 21 February and immediately reveal his current whereabouts;

Urging them, that if detained, to immediately release José Daniel Ferrer García, unless there is sufficient
evidence to charge him with an internationally-recognizable criminal offence;
Urging them to immediately cease the harassment and intimidation of members of the Patriotic Union of
Cuba and all other citizens who seek to peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 5 APRIL 2012 TO:
Head of State and Government Raúl Castro Ruz Presidente de la República de Cuba La Habana, Cuba Fax: +53 7 83 33 085 (via Foreign Ministry); +1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban Mission to UN) Email: cuba@un.int (c/o Cuban Mission to UN) Salutation: Your Excellency Interior Minister General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra Ministro del Interior y Prisiones Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, Cuba Fax: +1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban Mission to UN) Email: correominint@mn.mn.co.cu Salutation: Your Excellency And copies to: Attorney General Dr. Darío Delgado Cura Fiscalía General de la República, Fiscalía General de la República, Amistad 552, e/Monte y Estrella, Centro Habana La Habana, Cuba Salutation: Dear Attorney General Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below: Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. URGENT ACTION EX PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE BELIEVED DETAINED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García was granted conditional release in March 2011 following eight years
imprisonment. He was one of 75 people who were arrested and sentenced following a crackdown on Cuban dissidence in March 2003. All 75 were adopted as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, as they had acted non-violently and
were imprisoned under Cuban legislation which illegitimately criminalizes political dissent. José Daniel Ferrer García was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in relation to his participation in the Varela Project, which aimed at requesting a national referendum on democratic reforms. Article 31.1.4 of the Cuban Criminal Code states that conditional release allows a prisoner to see out the remainder of their sentence outside prison provided they demonstrate “good behaviour” (“buena conducta”).
The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) is an umbrella group of dissident organizations, based primarily in Santiago de Cuba, but also in neighbouring provinces of eastern Cuba. UNPACU seeks democratic change in Cuba via non-violent means.
Since UNPACU’s creation in mid-2011, its members have faced constant harassment and intimidation form the Cuban authorities, including arbitrary detention. One of UNPACU’s members, prisoner of conscience Wilman Villar Mendoza died in January 2012 following a hunger strike in protest at his four-year prison sentence following a summary trial. This repression is part of a general crackdown against dissidents in the eastern provinces of Cuba which has gathered pace since mid-2011.
Name: José Daniel Ferrer García
Gender m/f: m
UA: 60/12 Index: AMR 25/005/2012 Issue Date: 23 February 2012
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CUBA:OMCT/ DETENCION ARBITRARIA DEL SR. JOSE DANIEL FERRER GARCIA

Caso CUB 230212
Detención arbitraria/ Desaparición/ Temor por seguridad y por integridad personal

El Secretariado Internacional de la Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT) solicita su intervención URGENTE ante la siguiente situación en Cuba.

Descripción de la situación


El Secretariado Internacional de la OMCT ha recibido con grave preocupación informaciones de fuentes fidedignas sobre la detención arbitraria del Sr. José Daniel Ferrer García, Coordinador General de la Unión Patriótica de Cuba (UNPACU) y ex-prisionero de conciencia, quien fue condenado a 25 años de cárcel en 2003[1][1] y quien ha encabezado la movilización opositora que se ha desplegado en la provincia de Santiago de Cuba en los últimos meses.

De acuerdo con las informaciones recibidas, el 21 de febrero de 2012, alrededor de las 6 pm, el Sr. Ferrer García fue aprehendido en la Habana por la policía política. Hasta el momento de emitir este llamado urgente, no hay informaciones sobre su paradero ni sobre su integridad personal.

La OMCT recuerda que la detención del Sr. Ferrer García tuvo lugar dos días antes del segundo aniversario de la muerte del preso de conciencia Sr. Orlando Zapata Tamayo[2][2] y ocurre en un clima de represión política contra la disidencia que se ha acentuado durante los últimos meses, en medio del cual tuvo lugar la muerte del Sr. Wilman Villar Mendoza, militante de UNPACU, mientras cumplía pena de cárcel.

La OMCT manifiesta su grave preocupación por la seguridad y la integridad física y psicológica del Sr. Ferrer García, especialmente teniendo en cuenta que su localización en el momento de redacción de este llamado urgente es desconocida. La OMCT recuerda que la desaparición y la práctica de la detención en secreto facilitan la ocurrencia de torturas y otros malos tratos, por lo tanto urge a las autoridades cubanas a que difundan detalles sobre la localización del Sr. Ferrer García y a que le garanticen en toda circunstancia su seguridad y su integridad personal, de conformidad con las leyes regionales e internacionales de Derechos Humanos.

Asimismo, teniendo en cuenta esta preocupación, la OMCT solicita de manera urgente a las autoridades cubanas que de acuerdo con sus obligaciones derivadas de las normas internacionales en materia de derechos humanos, en particular con los artículos 19, 21 y 22 del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos, procedan a su liberación inmediata e incondicional así como la liberación del resto de disidentes detenidos y/o prisionero de conciencia en Cuba.

Acción solicitada

Favor escribir a las autoridades cubanas urgiéndolas a:

i.                     tomar de manera inmediata las medidas más apropiadas para establecer el paradero del Sr. José Daniel Ferrer García;
ii.                   tomar de manera inmediata las medidas más apropiadas para garantizar la seguridad y la integridad física y psicológica del Sr. José Daniel Ferrer García;
iii.                  ordenar de inmediato la liberación del Sr. José Daniel Ferrer García, en caso de encontrarse detenido en ausencia de cargos legales válidos o, en caso de que estos cargos existan, llevarle ante un tribunal independiente, competente, justo e imparcial y garantizarle sus derechos procesales en todo momento;
iv.                 garantizarle al Sr. José Daniel Ferrer García el acceso inmediato e incondicional a un abogado de su elección, a la visita de sus familiares y al tratamiento médico adecuado, de acuerdo con, inter alia, las Reglas mínimas de las Naciones Unidas para el tratamiento de los reclusos;
v.                   llevar a cabo una investigación inmediata, independiente, exhaustiva, efectiva e imparcial en torno a los hechos arriba denunciados y que el resultado de la investigación se haga público con el fin de que los responsables sean llevados ante un tribunal competente, independiente, justo e imparcial, y les sean aplicadas las sanciones penales, civiles y/o administrativas previstas por la ley;
vi.                 de manera general, conformar sus acciones a lo dispuesto por los Pactos y Convenciones internacionales y regionales de Derechos Humanos.

Direcciones

·         Sr. Raúl Castro Ruz, Primer Presidente de los Consejos de Estado y de Ministros de Cuba, General de Ejército, y Presidente interino de los Consejos de Estados y de Ministro, , La Habana, Cuba, Fax: + 53 7 8333085 (a través del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores), Correo-E: f_castro@cuba.gov.cu
·         Misión Permanente de la República de Cuba ante la Oficina de las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra, 100 chemin de Valérie, 1292 Chambésy, Fax: + 41.22.758.94.31 Correo-E: embacubaginebra@missioncuba.ch
·         Misión Diplomática de la República de Cuba en Bruselas, 77 rue Roberts Jones, 1180 Uccle, Bélgica, Fax : + 32 2.344.96.61, Correo-E: mision@embacuba.be
·         Dr. Juan Escalona Reguera, Fiscal General de la República, Fiscalía General de la República, San Rafael 3, La Habana, Cuba, Fax: + 53 7 669 485 / 333 164
·         Señor Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Calzada No. 360 Vedado, La Habana, Cuba, Fax:+ 53 7 8333 085, Correo-E: cubaminrex@minrex.gov.cu
·         General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra, Ministro del Interior y Prisiones, Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, Cuba, Fax: + 53 7 8301 566

Favor escribir también a las Representaciones Diplomáticas de Cuba en sus respectivos países.

Ginebra, 23 de febrero de 2012.

Favor informarnos sobre cualquier acción emprendida, citando el código de este llamado en su respuesta.


[1][1] El Sr. Ferrer García fue uno de los 75 disidentes detenidos en 2003 durante la llamada “Primavera Negra”, cuando entre el 18 al 24 de marzo de 2003 cerca de 90 opositores al régimen castrista fueron detenidos y 75 de entre ellos condenados a penas de entre 14 y 30 años de cárcel, acusados de “atentar a la independencia nacional y la economía de Cuba”.

[2][2] Ver Comunicado de prensa de la OMCT « Seria preocupación por muerte en detención del prisionero de conciencia Sr. Orlando Zapata Tamayo” difundido el 24 de febrero de 2010. http://www.omct.org/ 

Monday, February 20, 2012

PEACEFUL WOMEN ARE TARGETS OF ESCALATING VIOLENCE

CUBA :A Lady in White suffered a miscarriage following a violent arrest by the political police
February 19, 2012
Human rights defenders in the island are sending this week an urgent message alerting the international community that, as the visit of Pope Benedict XVI on March 26-28, 2012 approaches they and their families are being subjected to escalating physical and mental violence in the form of: interference of their telephone communications; blackmail; systematic verbal and physical harassment (including sexual molestation); threats to their lives; threats of losing their jobs; short term arrests; brutal beatings and prison confinements in inhumane conditions. Their homes are at the mercy of: constant surveillance; forced entry; barricades that prevent entering and leaving; attacks by pro government mobs that last days and scream insults through megaphones and throw stones, paint, etc. They are also prohibited from traveling freely in their own country and are systematically forced back to their home provinces any time they venture away.

By this Sunday, around 30 Ladies in White had been arrested since a crackdown began against them on Friday in Eastern Cuba. Most were released and some complained of having their medicine and money stolen. Belkis Cantillo refused to leave the police unit where she had been held without her money which officials would not return. Her husband Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia denounced that she remained in a prison area reserved for men.  

Sixteen women were able to reach the Basilica of El Cobre and listen to mass. Fourteen remained in the temple and declared themselves on hunger strike when they were informed that State Security forces were waiting for them on their way back, near Palma Soriano, to beat them up. After several hours at the Basilica, the women were finally able to reach their homes under the protection of the Catholic Church.   Inhabitants of El Cobre, a small town that is home to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity, continue under a government curfew subjected to surveillance by the political police and video cameras, to searches and road blocks that control the free movement of citizens, etc.

Human rights activists are reporting that the very poor who live near the route that the Pope will take during his visit, are being evicted from their homes with the intention of covering up the prevailing misery in the island.   Yasmin Conyedo and her husband, Yusmani Alvarez both remain under arrest since January 8, 2012 in the central city of Santa Clara. Yasmin Conyedo is an independent journalist of the group, United Antitotalitarian Front and a Lady in White. Her husband, Yusmani Alvarez is an activist of the Young Democratic League of Las Villas. They are both falsely accused of attacking the home of a communist party official in their hometown of Villaclara who had initially subjected the couple’s home to a pro government mob attack the same day of the arrest. Yasmin was transferred to the Prison of Guamajal and Yusmani to the Prison of La Pendiente on January 16, 2012.  

On Thursday February 16, two ex-Cuban political prisoners of conscience who were released in 2010, came before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights to testify of the human rights abuses in Cuba. The independent journalist Normando Hernandez  http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/112/HHRG-112-FA-WState-HGonzalez-20120216.pdf spoke in Washington D.C. of the cruel and inhumane prison treatment he underwent and stated that the screams of prisoners being tortured are still in his mind and that he is unsure when he will be able to forget them. Dr. Oscar E. Biscet http://cubanexilequarter.blogspot.com/2012/02/oscars-testimony-before-congress.html  testified from Havana via webcast from the US Interest Section and  ”called on Pope Benedict XVI to use his power and visibility to shine a light on human rights abuses and political oppression under the Castro regime.”

Below are some of the human rights violations reported during the week of February 13 – 19, 2012: FEBRUARY 13, 2012 - Since the early morning hours of Monday, February 13, the headquarters of the femenine human rights group Ladies in White Laura Pollan, located on #963 Neptuno Street in Havana, was surrounded by paramilitary groups of Rapid Response Brigades and mobs that screamed insults and government slogans at the women during several hours. Twenty six women were able to reach the home of Laura Pollan to honor her memory on what would have been her 64th birthday. Laura Pollan suddenly passed away on October 2011 in a Havana hospital under circumstances that still remain unclear. The Lady in White Mercedes Fresneda and the activist Alfredo Guilleuma Rodríguez, were unable to reach the headquarters of the Ladies in White because they were both subjected to short term arrests. The Lady in White and leader of the Pro-Human Rights Party in Cuba, Sara Marta Fonseca and her husband, Julio Leon Fonseca, were taken by force by  and returned to their home in Havana from the city of Pinar del Rio where they were visiting, Raul Risco Perez, the coordinator of the Democratic Alliance of Pinar del Rio. The home of Risco Perez was surrounded on Sunday, February 12 until Monday afternoon by a mob made up of young cadets and residents of Pinar del Rio dressed in civilian clothes, many of whom Risco Perez identified as “the usual” State Security agents that systematically repress human rights activists in that western province of Cuba. The mob screamed obscenities at Sara Marta and her husband Julio, ordering them to leave Pinar del Rio while Risco Perez’s wife, his elderly parents, and a young child were inside. The couple was eventually overcome by officials when they left the house walking, and were taken back home by a taxi traveling to Havana with passengers inside that was randomly stopped by officials who followed them all the way to the capital city.   Yudisleidy Zamora Alvarez, a Lady in White and the wife of UMPACU member, Alexey Aguirrezabal, was threatened by a Communist Party official in Palma Soriano with being dismissed from her job as a librarian if she continues as a member of the Ladies in White.  

FEBRUARY 15, 2012 - The ex-political prisoner of conscience, Arnaldo Ramos Lauzurique reported from Havana that he as well as other activists, were subjected to short term arrests when they were on their way to the house of Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, a human rights defender and an ex-political prisoner of conscience who is the head of the “Red de Comunicadores Comunitarios” (Network of Community Communicators). Martha’s home was blocked by State Security agents who surrounded her home. Her telephone lines were also interrupted. Sara Marta Fonseca reported the violent arbitrary arrest of Aurelio Antonio Morales Ayala in the Havana suburb of Rio Verde. Morales Ayala was taken to an unknown destination.

FEBRUARY 17, 2012 - The Lady in White, Caridad Caballero Batista, denounced that forces of Cuban State Security, the political police, agents of the Ministry of the Interior and of the Rapid Response Brigades in Holguin were she resides, have been posted for weeks around her home to instill panic and intimidate the residents of Holguin to prevent their solidarity with the pro democracy movement such as the Ladies in White. The following Ladies in White were violently arrested in Eastern Cuba: Karina Quintana, Belkis Cantillo, and Madelaine Santos Grillo, Arelis Rodriguez Chacon, Maria Elena Matos Creach, Teresa Da Roman Lopez and Doraisa Correoso Pozo.   Aurora Martin, wife of the activist, Antonio Gonzalez, reported that her husband was arrested and beaten when he left his home to visit his sick father in the city of Santiago de Cuba.    

FEBRUARY 18, 2012 -  Rolando Rodriguez Lobaina and Isael Poveda of the “National Front of Civic Resistance and Desobedience Orlando Zapata Tamayo” were arrested in Guantanamo (Eastern Cuba) and violently searched by the political police.   Ex-political prisoner, Aurelio Antonio Morales Ayala, who was arrested in Havana on February 15, was forced back to his hometown of Holguin by State Security forces.   Taimi Vega Biset of Palma Soriano suffered a miscarriage following the violent arrest of several Ladies in White. Prison authorities had to release her because she felt so ill: her blood pressure went up, she felt numbness on one side her face and she was vomiting. Taimi’s husband makes the Cuban regime responsible for this loss he called “a part of me” that he says occurred as a result of the terror tactics carried out against peaceful human rights defenders in the island. Though the exact number of women who were arrested on this date in Eastern Cuba is not known, there may have been at least twenty according to a report by Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia. Aime Garces Leyva, Yelena Garces Napoles were taken to a police station and confined in cells.   

FEBRUARY 19, 2012 -  In Eastern Cuba around 30 Ladies in White were arrested and the homes of human rights defenders and Ladies in White were placed under surveillance throughout the Eastern cities of Holguin, Santiago de Cuba and Guananamo. Among those Ladies in White arrested were:  Liudmila Rodriguez Palomo, Adriana Figueroa Fernandez, Yurislaisis Zamora Alvarez, Alina Fonseca Guevara, Eduviges Isaac Rodriguez, Yanet Figueredo Cruz, Yarivirgen Montega Montoya, Lisandra Leal Garces, Dayami Banyobre Clare, Isabel Peña Torres.   In Banes, a city in the Eastern province of Holguin, the homes of Ladies in White, Marta Diaz Rodon and Gertrudis Ojeda ,were surrounded and subjected to violent police operations. Antonio Lima Dalmau reported from Holguin province that Mariblanca Avila Esposito was one of several Ladies in White threatened with bottles of paint, sticks and stones and that Avigilia Cruz Segrero and Santiago Jordan Rios were among several activists that were arrested. The home of human rights defender of UMPACU, Alexey Aguerrizabal Rodriguez, was subjected to an “act of repudiation” and he was eventually arrested as was the activist Angel Lino Isaac Luna, and a family member Lazaro Corbelo Mejias.   The telephones of the coordinator of UMPACU, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia and of the activist Abram Cabrera Torres were out of service. Ferrer Garcia had to use other phones to denounce all the repression, detentions,  and the verbal and physical violence perpetrated against peaceful human rights activists in Eastern Cuba this weekend.   Arrested in Palma Soriano UMPACU activists: Dany Lopez de Moya, Bismark Mustelier Galan, Osmany Cespedes Napoles, Sergio Lescay Despaigne, Angel Lino Isaac Luna, Jose Batista Falcon and Rolando Humberto Gonzalez Rodriguez, and the three brothers, Victor Campa Almenares, Pedro Campa Almenares, Luis Campa Almenares. Of the twelve activists arrested, only two had been released by Sunday evening, February 19.   In Pinar del Rio, Raul Risco Perez reported that activists in that western city were blocked by authorities from leaving their homes. The Lady in White, Maria Cecilia Ramos Morejon was arrested and taken to the outskirts of the city to an unknown location.   In Havana, Sara Marta Fonseca was arrested in the morning on her way to attend Mass and march with the Ladies in White.   Members of the National Front of Civic Resistance and Disobedience Orlando Zapata Tamayo and of the Patriotic Union of Cuba carried out peaceful protests in several cities protesting against the systematic arrests and violence against human rights defenders.  

The Coalition of Cuban-American Women alerts the international community that the lives of those members of Cuban civil society who are actively and publicly struggling on behalf of fundamental freedoms are in danger. We are particularly concerned with the cases of the activist couple Yasmin Conyedo and Yusmani Alvarez, with the continued physical and mental harassment against members of the Ladies in White, Laura Pollan throughout Cuba.  International recognition of the peaceful resistance and solidarity for these human rights defenders is crucial.

We make an urgent call on religious, civic, political, and cultural entities and its leaders, as well as to non-governmental human rights organizations worldwide.

Coalition of Cuban-American Women / Joseito76@aol.com / Laida A.Carro
            
Blog: http://www.coalitionofcubanamericanwomen.blogspot.com/
Facebook Page: Coalition of Cuban-American Women
Twitter: @COCAW1 FURTHER INFORMATION

IN CUBA: Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia + 5353631267 /   Karina Quintana  + 53 52997678 /   Caridad Caballero Batista + 52629749 /  Raul Risco Perez  + 5348763910  / Sara Marta Fonseca  + 5353379011  /  Martha Beatriz Roque + 52902212