Monday, October 31, 2016

REPRESSION IN CUBA - 23 OCTOBER 2016

Displaying thumbnail of video 76 Domingo Represivo contra #TodosMarchamos.mp4



Above,  a link to a short video sent via email from Cuba by Angel Moya Acosta, an ex Cuban political prisoner of conscience and husband of Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White. It shows the violent arrest by gov't forces (some in plainclothes) of human rights defenders, particularly members of this peaceful feminine group dressed in white, in front of their headquarters located at: Calle E, #51 e/ Cumbre y Porvenir, Reparto Lawton, Municipio 10 de Octubre, and in other neighborhoods in Havana, Cuba on Sunday, October 23 2016.

 

Please note: 

 

1. Photographs at the beginning of the video showing operatives of the Cuban political police (most with their backs to the cameras to avoid facial recognition) posted around the clock during the week from Thursday-Sunday at strategic corners in Havana, with the purpose of stopping and preventing the peaceful activists from leaving their homes and/or reaching the headquarters of the Ladies in White.

 

2. As the women, dressed in white exit their headquarters to attend mass at the Church of Santa Rita de Casia, they display a sign (taken away by the agents) that reads: #WE ALL MARCH FOR CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS.

 

3. A woman is seen filming the arrest with the purpose of creating propaganda videos to discredit and smear the activists' reputation.

 

4. Agents transfer all activists who exit the Ladies in White headquarters in a bus to detention centers where they are subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment and conditions. Women seen arrested at other neighborhoods chanting: "Freedom for Cuban Political Prisoners!, "Down with the Dictatorship!" and "Down with the Castros!" are driven away in patrol cars, also to detention centers. 

 

5. The last photo shows the activists posing with the Cuban flag and the sign: #WE ALL MARCH FOR CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS inside the headquarters of the Ladies in White just before going out onto the streets on Sunday with the intention of attending mass and carry out their peaceful protests.

 

The Coalition of Cuban-American Women make the Cuban government responsible for the physical and mental well-being of all members of the peaceful human rights movement who struggle on behalf of freedom and justice for the Cuban people. The lives of these human rights defenders and their families in Cuba are in danger. We urgently request ongoing solidarity for these brave men and women in the island of Cuba from the international community: dignitaries, journalists, NGO's and all men and women of good will in the world.

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