8/22/2011: WOMEN OF THE CUBAN RESISTANCE LAUNCH APPEAL TO DEFEND WOMEN SUFFERING REPRESSION AT THE HANDS OF THE CUBAN REGIME

For more information:

Asamblea de la Resistencia Cubana

(305) 220-2713

asambleadelaresistencia@gmail.com

http://twitter.com/cubaresist

Women of the Cuban Resistance Launch Appeal to Defend Women Suffering Repression at the Hands of the Cuban Regime

Miami. August 22, 2011. Assembly of the Cuban Resistance. At a press conference held in Miami today, the women of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance and other exile organizations launched a campaign to defend the Ladies in White and other women resistance activists who are facing brutal repression at the hands of the Castro regime.

“The physical, verbal, and psychological assaults that non-violent Cuban women are suffering at the hands of mostly male State Security (SS) officials, violate Article 1 of the Belem do Para Convention, adopted by the Organizations of American States in reference to the rights of women in modern society”, states the appeal launched today in the form of a petition signed by 20 women Cuban exiles.

The petition calls for:  

1-      An end to the systematic and institutionalized violence against the Ladies in White and the non-violent women of the Cuban resistance movement, who are all defenders of the human rights and  fundamental freedoms of the Cuban people.

2-      The undertaking of investigations by international organizations on each case of violence perpetrated by the Cuban regime against Cuban women during 2011

3-      International solidarity from women leaders in the free world, international organizations and democratic governments.

The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance also made public a special report detailing cases of violence against the Ladies in White and other women members of the Resistance in 2011.

Please find below the complete text of the appeal launched today by the Women of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance:

DECLARATION IN DEFENSE OF THE PHYSICAL WELL-BEING

OF THE CUBAN WOMEN IN THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT

As Cuban women in exile and members of the Assembly of the Resistance and other exile organizations, we denounce before international public opinion, humanitarian organizations and democratic governments, the increase of violence against those Cuban women who struggle nonviolently inside Cuba. We denounce the criminal nature of the regime of Fidel and Raul Castro, with its systematic physical aggressions and attacks on the dignity of these Cuban women of the internal resistance; methods that were once carried out during the sixties and seventies against women political prisoners and their families, as well as against women in the past who were not political prisoners, as were the case of those Cuban women who were forcibly relocated far from their homes to internment camps.

The physical, verbal, and psychological assaults that non-violent Cuban women are suffering at the hands of mostly male State Security (SS) agents, violate Article 1 of the Belem do Para Convention, adopted by the Organizations of American States in reference to the rights of women in modern society.

Therefore, we call for:

4-      An end to the systematic and institutionalized violence against the Ladies in White and the non-violent women of the Cuban resistance movement, who are all defenders of the human rights and  fundamental freedoms of the Cuban people.

5-      The undertaking of investigations by international organizations on each case of violence perpetrated by the Cuban regime against Cuban women during 2011, which are documented in the report attached to this petition.

6-      International solidarity from women leaders in the free world, international organizations and democratic governments.

The undersigned exiled Cuban women, in a personal capacity and in representation of their respective organizations belonging to the Cuban Assembly of the Resistance and others, urgently call upon  all Cuban women and all defenders of the rights of women around the world- both in a personal capacity and on behalf of the organizations they represent- to sign this petition and raise their voices together with ours, to denounce the violations and abuses that are being perpetrated systematically by the Castro regime against the Ladies in White and women of the resistance in Cuba.

We hold the Castro regime, headed by Fidel and Raul Castro, responsible for the physical integrity and the lives of these Cuban women.

Signed by:

Rosa Parks Women's Front for Civil Rights - In exile                        Bertha Antúnez

The White Rose                                                                                  Ana Carbonell

Coalition  of Cuban-American Women                                               Laida Carro

Federation of Electric Plant Workers in Exile                                     Gina Chirino

The Cuba Corps                                                                                 Mercy Cubas

Women Fighters for Democracy                                                        Alde Escandón

Casa Cuba Houston                                                                           Margarita Ferragut

Vuelta Abajo  for Cuba / Lady in White                                               Aniley Fuentes Varela

Alpha 66                                                                                              Olga Gómez

Ladies in White – Representative in America                                    Yolanda Huerga

Mothers and Women against Repression for Cuba                          Sylvia G. Iriondo

Cuban Youth for Democracy Movement- In exile                               Laura López   

Plantados until Freedom and Democracy in Cuba                            Maritza Lugo

Cultivamos una Rosa Blanca                                                             Marta Menor

Historical Political Prisoners- Casa del Preso                                   María de los Angeles Munero

Cuban Liberty Council                                                                        Ninoska Pérez Castellón

Nueva Prensa Cubana                                                                       Nancy Pérez Crespo

International Group for Corporate Social Responsibility                     Nivia Quintela

Cuban Democratic Directorate                                                          Janisset Rivero

United Western Front                                                                         Araceli Rodríguez San Román

LADIES IN WHITE DENOUNCE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

(Translation credit: The Coalition of Cuban-American Women / Las Mujeres Cubano-Americanas)

(El documento en español sigue la traducción al inglés.)

Havana, Cuba

July 18, 2011

FROM:   The Ladies in White, a movement that since 2003 has demanded the release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience who are deprived of their freedom by the Cuban government.

REGARDING:  An accusation of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment by the Cuban government against the peaceful opposition movement, The Ladies in White.

Last Sunday morning, July 17, 2011, sixteen Ladies in White and Ladies of Support went to the sanctuary of El Cobre, located in the town of the same name in Santiago de Cuba Province, with the objective of participating in a mass.

When the mass concluded and after the women prayed and asked for the release of political prisoners, they got ready to begin a peaceful march through the sidewalks in this town.  Upon starting the journey, forces from the so-called Rapid Response Brigade, previously posted in the surrounding areas of the sanctuary and under the direction of agents of Section 21 of State Security, began to throw stones and shout offensive slurs against the dignity of these Cuban women.

Not fully satisfied with this criminal behavior, the officials of Section 21, Department of State Security (S-21-DSE) gave a previously planned order directly to several women to attack the Ladies in White and Ladies in Support.

1.      Belkis Cantillo suffered a serious wound to her right arm when she was attacked by a woman who was a member of the mob with a perforated instrument (scissors).  It was necessary to suture her wound.

2.       Aymee Garces Leyva suffered serious wounds as a result of the beating, which caused a fistula on one of her vertebra.

3.      Tania Montoya lost consciousness as a result of the beating.  Her clothes were half-torn off of her as well.

On May 1, 2010, the Cuban government agreed with the Catholic Church as its witness (that is, his Imminence Cardinal Jaime Ortega) that the Ladies in White would not be reprimanded by the Rapid Response Brigades, an agreement which was broken on December 9, 2010, when repressive acts began again on the evening of December 10^th, the international remembrance of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The socio-economic situation in Cuba continues to deteriorate, and as a consequence, criticism against the government is growing, and as a result, actions by the peaceful, non-violent opposition are growing inside of Cuba as well.  Parallel to this increase in opposition, the government is accelerating, perfecting, modernizing, equipping, and increasing its repressive efforts.  As a result, we do not rule out increased and escalated repressive efforts by the Cuban government, and for this reason, we call attention to the following:

That during the act of repression against the Ladies in White and the Ladies of Support at the Sanctuary of El Cobre in Santiago de Cuba Province:

a.       the repressive mobs used stones, sticks, and perforated cutting instruments against the women

b.      Men, who were members of the mob, kicked and beat the women.

Peacefully, we remember that the United Nations, on more than just a few occasions, has condemned violence against women, and Cuba, a member nation of this organization, has a government that promotes violence against them.  Specifically, Cuba finances, organizes and directs this violence.

Given from Havana, Cuba

The Ladies in White

Berta Soler (telephone: + 53 52906820)

Laura Pollán (telephone: + 53 8734156)

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Information sent from Cuba via internet by Lady in White, Berta Soler, wife of ex-political prisoner of conscience Angel Moya.  Translated to English by the Coalition of Cuban-American Women /  Tanya S. Wilder tswilder@suddenlink.net

                                                  La Habana, Cuba, 18 de julio 2011

De: Damas de Blanco, movimiento que desde el año 2003 reclama al gobierno de Cuba la liberación de los presos que por motivos políticos y de conciencia están privados de libertad

Asunto: Denuncia contra el gobierno de Cuba por trato cruel, inhumano y degradante contra el movimiento pacífico Damas de Blanco.

El pasado domingo 17 de julio 2011 en horas de la mañana 16 Damas de Blanco y Apoyo se dirigieron al santuario del Cobre, ubicado en el poblado del mismo nombre, provincia Santiago de Cuba, con el objetivo de participar en la misa.

Concluida la misa y después de orar y pedir la liberación de los presos políticos   se dispusieron a realizar marcha pacífica por las aceras de este poblado, al comenzar el desplazamiento, efectivos de las llamadas Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida previamente apostados en los alrededores del santuario y dirigidos por agentes de la Sección 21, Departamento de Seguridad del Estado, comenzaron  a lanzar piedras y proferir consignas ofensivas contra la dignidad de estas mujeres cubanas.

No conforme con este proceder criminal, los oficiales de la Seccion21, Departamento de Seguridad del Estado (S-21-DSE), dieron la orden previa selección de agredir directamente a varias mujeres, resultando víctimas de esta conducta criminal las  siguientes Damas de Blanco y Apoyo.

1-Belkis Cantillo, sufrió herida profunda en el brazo derecho cuando fue atacada por una mujer miembro de la turba con un instrumento perforo cortante (tijera), hubo que suturarle la herida.

2-Aymee Garces Leyva, sufrió heridas graves producto de la golpiza, la misma le provoco una fisura en una de sus vértebras.

3-Tania Montoya, perdió el conocimiento a causa de la golpiza, además la semi desnudaron.

El pasado primero de mayo 2010, el gobierno cubano se comprometió ante la Iglesia Católica (eminencia Jaime Ortega) que no serian reprimidas las Damas de Blanco por las Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida, compromiso que incumplió el día 9 de diciembre 2010 cuando reanudaron los actos represivo, este accionar  fue en vísperas del 10 de diciembre fecha internacional de la firma de la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos.

La situación económica- social en Cuba continua deteriorándose y en consecuencia aumentan las críticas de la población contra el gobierno, también aumenta el accionar pacifico de la oposición dentro de Cuba, paralelo a esto y aceleradamente el gobierno perfecciona, moderniza, equipa y aumenta sus efectivos represivos  por lo que no descartamos que continúe en aumento la escalada represiva y es por ello que llamamos la atención sobre lo siguiente:

1-Que durante el acto represivo contra las Damas de Blanco y Apoyo en el santuario el Cobre, provincia Santiago de Cuba:

a) las turbas represivas emplearon durante la agresión piedras, palos e instrumentos perforo  cortante

b) que son hombres miembros de estas turbas  los que estan pateando y golpeando a mujeres

Pacificas, recordamos que Naciones Unidas en no pocas ocasiones ha condenado la violencia contra las mujeres y Cuba que es miembro de esta organización, el gobierno promueve la violencia contra ellas, no conforme, la financia, organiza y dirige.

Finalmente, las Damas de Blanco solicitamos tomando en cuenta lo antes expuesto a este organismo internacional investigar y pronunciarse sobre los hechos.

Dado en La Habana, Cuba.

Damas de Blanco.

Teléfono: 52906820-Berta Soler

                  8734165-Laura Pollán

MIAMI HERALD: CUBAN DISSIDENTS SAY COPS AGAIN BEAT WOMEN

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/15/2360783/cuban-dissidents-say-cops-again.html
 


Posted on Tue, Aug. 16, 2011
Cuban dissidents say cops again beat women

By Juan O. Tamayo

Cuban dissidents complained that security forces blocked about 20 supporters of the Ladies in White from reaching a church service Sunday in the eastern city of Santiago, including nine women who were beaten and humiliated.
The incidents marked the fourth weekend in a row that authorities have used physical force and even violence to break up the women’s attempt to establish their right to protest in eastern Cuba, just as the Women in White do after Sunday mass in Havana to demand the release of all political prisoners on the island.

“Let’s see who tires first. Those who fight for democracy or those who receive a salary,” José Daniel Ferrer García, a recently freed political prisoner, said by phone from his home in Palmarito del Cauto, about 15 miles from Santiago.

Ferrer said his wife, Belkis Cantillo, was in the group of nine women most seriously pummeled when the truck that was carrying them to mass at the Santiago cathedral was stopped by a large group of police and women prison guards at El Cristo, a traffic checkpoint seven miles from the city.

“I was grabbed by six very large women who threw me off the truck. Two others were waiting for me below. They put me on the patrol car, and inside two male officers started to hit me and pull my hair,” Cantillo told Radio Martí.

When the patrol car carrying Cantillo broke down on the way to Palmarito, she refused to transfer to another car and was again hit by a policeman who also flashed his penis as a way to humiliate the women, Ferrer and Cantillo added.

Police also detained another seven Ladies in White supporters before they could get to the cathedral, including three who tried to sneak out of their homes around 2 a.m. in hopes of evading the security forces, Ferrer reported. One of the women fainted when confronted with a police guard dog.

Only three women managed to attend the 9 a.m. mass, officiated by Santiago Archbishop Dionisio Garcia. They told him that the archbishop had condemned the violence against the women in his homily, Ferrer noted.

The women intercepted at El Cristo were driven back to their hometowns in Palmarito, Palma Soriano, Guantanamo and Holguin, Ferrer told El Nuevo Herald, although some were dropped off at local police stations and only then sent home.

Afterwards, eight government opponents were slightly injured as police and crowds of government supporters harassed three homes of dissidents near Santiago, where the women and others had gathered, to prevent them from staging protests on their streets.

Ten had gathered in a home in the fruit-growing town of El Caney, 41 in Palma Soriano and 18 in Palmarito, Ferrer added.

After several hours, police officials offered to allow the dissidents to leave the homes if they would promise to return to their own homes. The dissidents refused, and the security forces eventually tired and left, Ferrer reported.

Police violence against the dissidents appears to have increased since April, when Cuban ruler Raúl Castro declared at a Communist Party congress that Cubans “will never deny the peoples’ right to defend the revolution.”



© 2011 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com

READ, CLICK ON TAKE ACTION NOW, and SPEAK OUT AGAINST AGGRESSION TOWARD THE LADIES IN WHITE!

http://www.awid.org/var/ezwebin_site/storage/images/design/awid/172-37-eng-GB/AWID_logo.jpg

Urgent Action: Front Line: Cuba: Increased Repression Against Human Rights Defenders And Violent Assault On Women Human Rights Defenders

Source: Front Line 12/08/2011

Several members of human rights organisations Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) were assaulted by pro-Government groups and police officers on 7 August 2011 in Santiago de Cuba and Palmarito de Cauto in the eastern province of Cuba.

Similar attacks have taken place each Sunday since mid-July, as members of Damas de Blanco have been leaving mass throughout the province of Santiago de Cuba. Damas de Blanco is a human rights organisation which was established in 2003 in Havana by a group of women demanding the release of political prisoners in Cuba.In 2005, Damas de Blanco was awarded the Sakharov Prize for freedom of conscience by the European Parliament.
Further Information
On 7 August 2011, at approximately 11.00 am, pro-Government groups armed with steel bars and stones, as well as some members of the Ministry of the Interior, gathered outside the cathedral in Santiago de Cuba waiting for members of Damas de Blanco to leave following Sunday mass. The women had planned a peaceful march through the streets of Santiago de Cuba, holding flowers, calling for the release of political prisoners. Loud music and pro-Government propaganda was played from loudspeakers in the area.
Police officers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Elliott, reportedly cut off access to the area immediately surrounding the cathedral. The group of women was followed by the gang, who insulted and threatened them before forcing them onto a police bus which was driven to a nearby city, Palma Soriano, where some of the women lived. From there some of the women continued on to another town, Palmarito del Cauto, where they tried to stage a vigil however this was attacked by pro-Government gangs using iron bars and rocks. At least eight persons were hospitalised following the attack in Palmarito del Cauto and required stitches for their wounds.
According to the information received, later on the 7 August, the home of former political prisoner, José Daniel Ferrer García, where a group of human rights defenders had gathered, and the home of human rights defender Maximiliano Sánchez, were attacked by a pro-Government gang. It is reported that at least six persons required medical attention as result of injuries sustained during the attack, including member of Damas de Blanco and wife of José Daniel Ferrer García, Belkis Cantillo, and their 6-year old daughter. Doctors were reportedly instructed by police officers to refuse to provide medical certificates to the wounded which would serve as proof that violence had been perpetrated against them.
It is reported that the Government blocked the phone lines of those involved in the protest following the violence making it impossible for them to communicate with each other over the telephone.
On 8 August 2011, spokesperson for Damas de Blanco, Ms Laura Pollán, publicly denounced the violence perpetrated against members of the organisation and requested that Cardinal Jaime Ortega act as an intermediary between the Government and the organisation. Another member of Damas de Blanco, Ms Aymé Garcés, described publicly how she had been assaulted by the police.
It was also reported that on 5 August 2011, human rights defender Ernesto Cabrera Moreno was attacked, in the city of Caimanera, by a pro-Government group using machetes. The human rights defender remains in hospital being treated for injuries to his head and body. Ernesto Cabrera Moreno is a member of the Movimiento, Resistencia, y Democracia (Movement, Resistence and Democracy) organisation.
On 24 July 2011, a group of women from Damas de Blanco were assaulted as they were leaving the Virgin of Charity shrine in El Cobre, located outside Santiago. A week later on 31 July 2011 a similar attack took place on another group of women leaving a church in Palma Soriano.
Since 2004, Damas de Blanco have marched in silence through Havana dressed in white, and carrying white flags, demanding the release of political prisoners. The Cuban State Security Department has reportedly issued several threats against members of Damas de Blanco and attempted to blackmail their family members in Cuban prisons. Attempts by women to hold similar protests in other areas of Cuba have been violently put down by the Government.
Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity and security of the members of Damas de Blanco considering reports of ongoing physical assaults and insults against them. Front Line believes that members of Damas de Blanco have been targeted solely as a result of their legitimate work in the defence of human rights.
Take Action Now!
Article License: Creative Commons - Article License Holder: Front Line
Comments
Log in or create a user account to comment.
Related articles

Regions: Caribbean
Topics: Human rights defenders, Women human rights defenders
AWID Program: Women human rights defenders
Type of content: Action alerts/appeals

CUBA: BRUTALITY AGAINST WOMEN IN THE STREETS OF HAVANA - 8/18/2011

         

 Their clothes were ripped off and they were dragged half naked by a paramilitary mob that beat, kicked, spit, scratched, pushed, and pulled their hair

   August 18, 2011 

In the streets of Neptuno and Hospital, at around 4:30 P.M., mobs instigated by the Cuban regime brutally attacked a group of almost fifty pro democracy women dressed in white as they were about to march through the streets of Havana to advocate on behalf of Cuban political prisoners and the freedom of all Cubans.

As the “Ladies in White” set off from the house of Laura Pollan located at Calle Neptuno No. 963 between Aranburen and Hospital, following their monthly “Literary Tea”, they  were dragged, beaten, kicked, spit upon, scratched, pushed, and had their hair pulled as well as their clothes ripped off by paramilitary mobs. The violence forced them back inside the home they consider their headquarters.

Also, the following eight women were detained as they were on their way to Pollan’s home to attend the meeting they hold the 18th of every month: Sara Martha Fonseca, Idalmis Ramirez, Odalis Izarza, Cristina Duquezne, Ivon Mayesa, Mercedes Fresneda,Rosario Morales, Yanelis Rey.

In Cuba, violence against human rights defenders and particularly against the Ladies in White has escalated to acts of brutality following a speech given by Raul Castro at the VI Congress of the Cuban Communist Party held in April 2011, were he stated that: “…we will never deny the people the right to defend the Revolution, since the defense of independence and of the gains of socialism, as well as of our plazas and streets, will continue to be the first duty of every Cuban patriot.”

The Ladies in White are asking that the Cuban regime put a stop to the violent repression and requested the Pope’s intercession in this critical matter.

The Coalition of Cuban-American Women denounces the increase of these cruel and degrading acts committed by the Cuban regime against their own people and makes an urgent call to the press and to non-governmental organizations dedicated to the defense of human rights worldwide, as well as to women in positions of leadership in religious, political, educational, social, and cultural institutions.

FURTHER INFORMATION IN CUBA:                                                                                                                

Laura Pollan – ( + 53 7 8734165)  or  ( + 53 5 2457830) /  Berta Soler – ( + 53 5 2906820 )  

Coalition of Cuban-American Women / Laida Carro / Email: Joseito76@aol.com 

MIAMI HERALD: DISSIDENTS SAY POLICE USED TEAR GAS IN A RAID, BEAT WOMEN

For the first time in years, Cuban police used tear gas in a raid over the weekend. Women also accuse police of beating and sexually harassing them over.

Related Content

• Dissident women in Cuba want government harassment halted

Similar stories:

• Cuban dissidents say cops again beat women

  Cuban dissidents say cops again beat women

  
  For the fourth week, security forces in Santiago halt Ladies in White
  
• Dissident women in Cuba want government harassment halted

  Dissident women in Cuba want government harassment halted

  
  The Ladies in White want the church to intercede on behalf of dissidents in eastern Cuba, who have been harassed by government-organized mobs.
  
• Cuban human rights activists report dissidents injured in crackdown

  Cuban human rights activists report dissidents injured in crackdown

  
  An unusually violent crackdown on Cuban dissidents allegedly leaves several injured.
  
• Ladies in White attacked in Cuba, most violent since spring

  Ladies in White attacked in Cuba, most violent since spring

  
  A spokeswoman for Ladies in White said the recent attack against the group was the worst violence since spring.
  
• Spain unlikely to take more political prisoners from Cuba after Friday, government says

  Spain unlikely to take more political prisoners from Cuba after Friday, government says

  
  The 37 former prisoners and about 200 relatives who arrived Friday in Madrid were the last, according to the Spanish government.
  

By Juan O. Tamayo

jtamayo@elnuevoherald.com

Cuban police used tear gas in a weekend raid against dissidents in eastern Santiago province, where State Security agents also pummeled and made obscene gestures at dissident women, opposition activists reported Monday.
“The riot squad came into the house like it was a commando movie, because that’s never been seen in Cuba,” said YulieCQ Valverde, whose husband was one of the 27 dissidents detained during the raid Sunday on their home in the town of Palma Soriano.
It was the first time in recent memory that Cuba was reported to have repressed political dissidents with tear gas and the riot squad, clad in black uniforms and carrying gas masks, shields, helmets, riot batons and tear gas launchers.
But Sunday’s raid was only the latest in a string of reports of unusually strong protests and violent police crackdowns in Cuba, where the communist government has long kept an iron grip on domestic security.
The latest reports came from dissidents and their relatives, and there was no way to independently confirm them. The government has not commented on the weekend incidents, and foreign journalists in Havana reported nothing about them.
Most of the recent incidents took place in Santiago, where members and supporters of the Ladies in White have tried to gather Sundays at the cathedral in the city of Santiago to attend mass and then stage street marches demanding the release of all political prisoners.
The worst incident this weekend came in the town of Palma Soriano, 18 miles to the northwest, where 27 men had gathered Sunday at the home of Marino Antomarchit for a street march protesting the violence against the Ladies in White and other police abuses.
Before the men could hit the street, Valverde said, police sprayed tear gas through the front door and windows and riot squad members in gas masks rushed in, handcuffed the dissidents and took them away in a bus.
“It was like the end of the world,” she said, adding that police also broke up much of her home’s furniture, tore up bedding, seized documents, computers, cameras, cell phones, notebooks and some wallets and ripped up some of the men’s T-shirts, which displayed the word “Change.”
Valverde and José Daniel Ferrer, a dissident who said he watched part of the raid from a distance in order report on the event, told El Nuevo Herald that a fire truck was deployed during the raid, apparently to use its water hoses for crowd control if needed.
Ferrer said he also saw police drag away four or five neighbors who shouted “bullies” and “murderers” at police. Antomarchit’s asthmatic 2 ½ year old daughter, Stefhani, was overcome by the tear gas and evacuated from the house through a window, he added.
The dissidents remained in police detention as of Monday evening, Ferrer said, adding that he had also received reports that one of them, Ruben de Armas Adrouver, was beaten by police and received five stitches on his head.
Ladies in White supporter Caridad Caballero, meanwhile, alleged police pummeled and sexually abused her and Marta Díaz Rondón on Saturday when they tried to travel from their homes in Holguín to Santiago for Sunday mass.
Halfway into the 66-mile trip, police and State Security agents stopped their hired vehicle, dragged them out, shoved them into patrol cars and took them to a police station in nearby Bayamo, she reported.
The police “were shouting at us the whole time, hitting us and making signs and gestures with their fingers that were horrible, grabbing their crotches, something sick, gross,” Caballero told El Nuevo Herald by phone from her home in Holguín.
State Security agents urged the police in Bayamo to strip-search them, but the two women refused to take off their clothes, Caballero added. Police freed them Sunday and drove them back to Holguín.
Ferrer also noted that top State security officers have been contacting him with oddly mixed messages about his fellow Santiago dissidents.
“They told me to go slow, that I am losing some standing with people that support me,” he said, “but that they will jail as many people as needed to keep this from spinning out of their control.” He called the contacts “a trick to halt the protests.”
Also on Sunday, police allegedly beat and detained 13 members and supporters of the Ladies in White who had gathered in a separate Palma Soriano home for an attempt to travel to Santiago for mass at the cathedral.
The women were dragged into a bus that then dropped most of them off at several different locations, said Berta Soler, a spokeswoman for the Ladies in White. She was put on a bus back to her home in Havana, she told El Nuevo Herald before her cell phone went dead. Some remained late Monday in apparent detention.
Dissidents Guillermo Cobas Reyes and Agustin Magdariaga were also detained Sunday in their hometown of El Caney, about four miles from Santiago, according to reports from opposition activists in the province.
Jorge Luis Garcia Perez , a dissident in central Cuba also known as “Antunez,” also reported the weekend detentions of several opposition figures in the eastern province of Camaguey and the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio.
Seven of Cuba’s best-known dissidents, meanwhile, issued a joint statement Monday demanding an end to the violence against the Ladies in White, their supporters and other peaceful dissidents.
“Stop the punches and other abuses!” said the statement by Ferrer, Gisela Delgado Sablón, Guillermo Fariñas, René Gómez Manzano, Iván Hernández Carrillo, Héctor Palacios Ruiz and Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/29/v-fullstory/2380921/dissidents-say-police-used-tear.html#ixzz1Wc6S4vCF

CUBA: PEACEFUL HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS CONTINUE FACING BRUTAL MOB ATTACKS, BEATINGS, AND ARBITRARY ARRESTS FOR THEIR PEACEFUL ACTIONS

CUBA
October 30, 2011

In the Eastern city of Guantanamo, the home of Niovis Rivera Guerra, (member of the Resistance and Democracy Movement), his wife, Yurilaidy Travieso and three young daughters, 13, 9 and 3 years old, was surrounded by patrol cars, military vehicles, and subjected to, at least, two days of brutal mob attacks (October 25-26, 2011) of around 400 people. Asphalt was thrown against the house, all the windows, as well as the door, were stoned and broken, the family received death threats, and Rivera Guerra was beaten and tear gased. All this brutal violence was because the family displayed pro democracy and human rights posters in the front of their home. This is the fifth time in 2011, that the home of this activist is attacked. Several members of the Resistance and Democracy Movement were beaten and arrested when they tried to come to the aid of Niovis Rivera Guerra and his family: Hermis Figueras Ros, Francisco Osoria Claro, and the Adventist Pastor Raul Martinez Caraballo.

Also in Eastern Cuba, on October 26, 2011, several cities suffered government repression, In Contramaestre, any activist or citizen who visits the home of human rights defender, Jorge Cervantes is under scrutiny by the political police. In Moa, Rapid Response Brigades threw eggs against the home of the coordinator of the UMPACU, Juan Carlos Vazquez Osoria and the Lady in White, Annis Sarrion Romero.

Two human rights defenders in Santa Clara (Central Cuba) who were on a hunger strike since September 28, 2011, demanding that the Cuban government put a stop to the violence against peaceful activists, were taken in critical state to the Provincial Hospital Arnaldo Milian Castro. Alcides Rivera Rodriguez was admitted to the hospital on Thursday, October 27, 2011, and diagnosed with bronchopneumonia. Rolando Ferrer Espinosa was admitted on the following day. Alcides has lost almost 60 lbs. while Ferrer Espinosa who is suffering a severe abdominal pain has lost over 30 lbs.of his body weight. Both continue in critical condition.

On October 24, 2011 several human rights activists were arrested in Havana when peaceful organizations such as the National Front of Civil Resistance and Desobedience and the Human Rights Party called on activists to gather at the Martin Luther King Park. Adjacent streets to this park were all surrounded by State Security agents. Among several activists arbitrarily detained and released were Sara Marta Fonseca and Rodolfo Ramirez Cardoso.

On Sunday, October 30, 2011, ten Ladies in White, in Eastern Cuba, were beaten and arbitrarily detained as they tried to attend mass in the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba. The following women were mistreated and suffered short term detention: Aymeé Garcés ( as well as her husband Julio Valcarcel) Leyva, Belkis Cantillo Ramírez, Vivian Peña Hernández, Liudmila Rodríguez Palomo, Adriana Núñez Pascual, María Elena Matos, Oria Casanova Moreno, Yuremi González Pavót, Tania Bandera González, Ana Celia Rodríguez Torres and a minor 14 years old, Marta Beatriz Ferrer Cantillo the daughter of Lady in White, Belkis Cantillo and the expolitical prisoner of conscience, Jose Daniel Ferrer.

At least three homes of activists who had gathered in the Eastern cities of Palma Soriano and Palmarito de Cauto to protest the violence against the Ladies in White on October 30 were surrounded by repressive forces. Under siege were the following human rights defenders of the National Front Orlando Zapata as well as members of the UMPACU ( Patriotic Union of Cuba): Prudencio Villalon, Roberto Quiñones, Pedro Manuel Guerrero, Julio Cesar Salazar, Ruben Torres, Dany Lopez, Rudy San Ramirez, Rolando Humberto Gonzalez, Maximiliano Sanchez, Abraham Cabrera, Amauri Abelenda and Manuel Martinez.

FURTHER INFORMATION IN CUBA: José Daniel Ferrer - + 53 53631267 / Belkis Cantillo - + 53 53790867 /

Niovis Rivera Guerra - +53 53361314 / Jorge Cervantes - +53 53791610

Coalition of Cuban-American Women – Laida A. Carro / Joseito76@aol.com / http://www.coalitionofcubanamericanwomen.blogspot.com/ / Facebook page: Coalition of Cuban-American Women / Twitter: @COCA1

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

LADIES IN WHITE BEATEN, DRAGGED AND STONED AFTER MASS ON JULY 17, 2011

In Santiago de Cuba, a city in the Eastern province of Cuba, women pro-democracy activists were savagely beaten and verbally attacked in the streets by Cuban State Security agents after they attended mass in the Basilica of “El Cobre”, a Catholic shrine dedicated to “Our Lady of Charity”, where they prayed for the freedom of all Cuban political prisoners and for the freedom of Cuba.  

Tania Montoya Vazquez, one of the 16 “Ladies in White" who suffered this attack describes the violence perpetrated against them:

"… it wasn’t enough for them to snatch the gladiolus from our hands, they began to beat us, they ripped all our clothes, I have scratches all over my body… so does Aimee and all the other women in the group. We all did a “sit In” and they almost killed us … they did not stop slapping us, we are all scratched, they pulled our hair, they dragged us,  and they threw rocks at us as we remained united, in silence on the ground, firm in our conviction that what we want is the freedom of our political prisoners and the freedom of Cuba."

...this was all organized and ordered by State Security whom we make responsible for what could have happened to each one of us and the physical condition we are all presently in…they didn’t care that they beat up Nersa Fernandez Fonseca, an older woman in her fifties. Several of us had to go to the hospital due to our ailing physical conditions.  I was hit on the head with a stone and have a bump, I’m all bruised. When they attacked us, they never took into consideration the fact that we were women  walking in silence.  Freedom for Cuba! Long live human rights! Freedom for our political prisoners!

(AUDIO in Spanish: http://www.martinoticias.com/noticias/Agreden-a-opositoras-en-Santiago-de-Cuba--125710308.html) 

The Coalition of Cuban-American Women denounces the present wave of repression taking place in Cuba and makes the Cuban regime responsible for the physical and mental well-being of Cuban women who were brutally attacked only for asking freedom and human rights through prayer and peaceful marches in the street of Cuba.  We make an urgent appeal to heads of states, leaders of political, civic, religious and professional organizations, the press, and all men and women of good will worldwide to demand that the Cuban regime put a stop to the violence against Cuban citizens for demanding fundamental human rights in their own country.

Information obtained from a Radio Marti radio interview, transcribed,edited and translated to English by the Coalition of Cuban-American Women /  Laida A.Carro (Joseito76@aol.com).

Lady in White Caridad Caballero Batista Narrates her Arrest After Human Rights Day

Posted by Pedazos de la Isla on December 15, 2011


Countless testimonies inundated independent Cuban news outlets during Human Rights Day, celebrated internationally on December 10th, as well as during the following days. There were vigilance operations, brutal beatings, arbitrary arrests, deportations, and other forms of violence against those who publicly demonstrated on the streets of the island in defense of human rights and against the tyranny from one point to another. In Havana, some of the brutal events consisted of a strong police operation against the Ladies in White who were congregated in the house of their recently fallen leader Laura Pollan. Caridad Caballero Batista, a member of the Ladies in White hailing from Cuba’s East, narrated the details of the violent repression the women faced, from her perspective.

Batista explained that the women were confined to the house on Neptuno Street for three days “without being able to step out because there were two large mob repudiation acts which lasted for hours“. According to the dissident, on Friday December 9th was when the first mob attack occurred at around 4:30 pm and lasted until 8:30 that night. This first display of government-orchestrated repudiation consisted of a mob made up by soldiers and State Security officials. Another act of hate and intolerance took place the following day (Dec. 10th, Human Rights Day) during the morning hours and lasting until 8:30 pm once again.

“During this whole time“, recounts the activist, “Neptuno Street was closed down and the officials were even asking neighbors for ID cards when they would step out of their homes“. Caridad adds that as yet another form of humiliation and aggression, the flow of water was cut for Laura Pollan’s house, the headquarters of the Ladies in White. “They cut the water from the 9th until the 10th, we spent an entire day without showering“.

It wasn’t until that Sunday that the women were able to make it out of the house and onto the street, marching down to Santa Rita Church located on Havana’s 5th Avenue. Upon arriving to the church, other Ladies joined the group and they all assisted mass together. After mass, the Ladies in White carried out another march in which they shouted slogans demanding freedom for all political prisoners and also prayed.

The Cuban Resistance activists decided to take their peaceful demonstration to the nearby park when a bus rapidly arrived, full of State Security officials who, along with numerous police officers, completely closed off 3rd Avenue. “Right then and there, the mobs attacked us“, explained Caridad Caballero.

“As a form of Resistance, we all sat on the street and they surrounded us. We screamed ‘freedom for all political prisoners’ and ‘long live human rights’. After a while of hurling insults at us, they started to physically attack us and drag us, shoving us all in a bus they had waiting for us. They were the same buses used to transport the military mobs for the repudiation act against us. It was very violent“.

Caballero Batista, who was just recently awarded the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes award by the Eastern Democratic Alliance, added that she and the other women suffered “punches, the pulling of hair, and scratches“.

After this initial physical aggression, Caridad was taken to a Unit known as Micro 5. “This unit was completely unknown to me“, she explains, “I was able to find out that it was previously used as a prison and was now a military zone“.

The tireless dissident added that “for each Lady in White from Havana the officials used a police vehicle with 4 policemen in order to simply take one out at a time, taking them to different detention centers. We Eastern citizens were the last to be taken out of the Unit at around 4:30 pm. On the bus back there were 3 of us from Matanzas, 1 from Camaguey, and 6 from Holguin“. During this time, a police guard sat between each woman, keeping them separate and under strict vigilance. Batista was deported back to her native town of Holguin.

“In our case, those of us from Holguin were simply left out in an unknown neighborhood, much before the bus terminal we needed to reach in order to board another bus to arrive closer to our homes. The women from Banes and Moa had had to board even more buses to get to their houses, and when they arrived, it was very late”.

Batista, who has not been able to accept her Carlos Cespedes Award because she was in the middle of a violent arrest, pointed out that “despite all of this, we are fine, and we feel strengthened and stronger than ever. None of these manipulations and techniques will make us step back on our path and desire to struggle for the freedom of our country and for fighting for the liberation of all political prisoners and so that human rights be respected“.

The pro-democracy activist also added that she felt it was interesting to point out that, “the Castro regime constantly broadcasts images of protesters in the United States who are victims of physical aggressions at the hands of police officers. But usually such actions only consist of one or two policemen, but here in Cuba they use 20 men to repress one woman or any other dissident. Those are the images which should be displayed on television, proving how they publicly harass us“.