Cuba, One Year
after the Crackdown
Human
Rights Watch,
March 18, 2004.
On the first anniversary of the crackdown
on peaceful dissent in Cuba
Exactly one year ago, on March 18, 2003,
the Cuban government launched a massive
crackdown on peaceful dissidents, independent
journalists, human rights defenders, and
independent labor unionists, librarians,
medical doctors, and teachers. Almost 90
democracy advocates were detained in a matter
of days, their houses thoroughly searched,
and many of their belongings confiscated.
Over the following three weeks, 75 of those
arrested were tried, convicted and sent
to prison with sentences ranging from 6
to 28 years. The government accused the
democracy advocates of attempting to subvert
state authority, of spying for the United
States and other governments, and of reporting
lies to the foreign press about the Cuban
economy. The trials fell far short of international
human rights standards. Judges and prosecutors
in Cuba are not independent, but operate
under direct government control. International
observers were barred from the proceedings.
Defense lawyers were not given an adequate
opportunity to prepare their client's defense.
They were granted access to court files
less than 24 hours before trial, and, in
most cases, they did not see their clients
until an hour before court proceedings began.
At the same time as the clampdown on democracy
advocates, the Cuban government also condemned
to death and executed three young black
Cubans who had attempted to leave the island
illegally by hijacking a small ferry. Detained
on April 4, the three men were summarily
executed seven days later, even though they
did not physically harm anyone during the
hijacking. Their relatives were informed
about the executions only after the fact,
when they received notification to retrieve
the young men's bodies.
Since the crackdown, all 75 prisoners
remain incarcerated and are reportedly being
held in substandard and inhumane conditions.
Most of them are held in prisons hundreds
of miles from their homes, making family
visits very difficult if not almost impossible.
Many of the imprisoned, such as economists
Oscar Espinosa Chepe and Marta Beatriz Roque,
are not receiving adequate medical treatment
for conditions that, in some cases, have
developed during incarceration and are life-threatening.
Others, like Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet,
have been held in solitary confinement for
months, denied family visits and access
to sunlight. In some cases, like that of
prisoner Blas Giraldo Reyes, the government
is harassing relatives of the incarcerated
so that they avoid contact with other dissidents,
threatening harsher punishments for their
loved ones in prison.
Héctor Palacios, Leonel Grave de
Peralta, Marcelo López Bañobre,
Roberto De Miranda, and Luis Enrique Ferrer
are other prisoners whose activities as
advocates of basic rights and freedoms,
and as supporters of the Varela Project,
place them within the ambit of the UN Declaration
on Human Rights Defenders. This Declaration,
adopted by the U.N. in 1998, upholds the
right of individuals and organizations to
promote and protect human rights. According
to the terms of the Declaration, all persons
have the right to effective access to participation
in the government of their country and in
the conduct of public affairs. The Declaration
also provides that everyone has the right
to the lawful exercise of his or her profession
and to participate in peaceful activities
against violations of human rights. The
Varela Project is a public initiative in
Cuba that collects signatories to a petition
calling for fundamental reforms. Cuban law
provides that if more than 10,000 voters
support a proposition it should be put to
a referendum. To date, more than 25,000
people have signed the Varela Project petition
calling for democracy and the respect of
basic freedoms.
We call upon the Cuban government to uphold
the rights of all Cubans who wish to promote
and defend human rights according to their
conscience.
Now, on the first anniversary of their
arrest, we vigorously condemn the continued
imprisonment in Cuba of the 75 human rights
defenders, independent journalists, democracy
advocates, independent librarians and other
activists. These Cuban citizens were imprisoned
solely for exercising their basic human
rights to free expression and assembly,
and for promoting greater respect for human
and civil rights in Cuba. We urge the Cuban
authorities to order their immediate and
unconditional release, and to ensure that
all prisoners are treated in accordance
with basic international standards and norms
until they are released.
We call on the members of the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, currently meeting
in Geneva, to unequivocally condemn the
continued imprisonment of human rights defenders
and democracy advocates in Cuba. We urge
the Cuban government to cooperate with the
human rights mechanisms of the United Nations,
and to permit the unconditional access to
Cuba of its representatives.
© Copyright 2004,
Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th
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