Remembering Cuba's
imprisoned dissidents
Posted on Thu, Mar. 18,
2004 in The
Miami Herald.
Our opinion: World community must demand
their freedom
Moral decency demands that the world be
reminded of Cuba's political prisoners --
particularly the 75 dissidents arrested
in an unprecedented crackdown that began
a year ago today. Activities planned in
more than 20 cities -- from Miami to Buenos
Aires to Prague -- aim, commendably, to
keep alive the memory of these unjustly
imprisoned Cubans. More to the point, human-rights
leaders in the international community need
to continuously pressure Cuba to release
them.
They are people like:
o Margarito Broche Espinosa, 46, an activist
for balseros' rights sentenced to 25 years
in prison for paying ''homage to boat people
who went missing or were returned [to Cuba]
following attempts to leave the country
secretly'' and so ''sabotage'' U.S.-Cuba
migration accords.
o Human-rights activist Dr. Marcelo Cano
Rodríguez, 39, who was sentenced
to 18 years. His offenses included, ''visiting
prisoners and their families'' as a Cuban
Commission for Human Rights and National
Reconciliation member and "ties to
. . . Doctors without Borders.''
o Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez,
47, a steering committee member for the
Varela Project in Sancti Spiritus who ran
an independent library. He got 25 years
for lending books and advocating democratic
changes in Cuba's constitution.
Amnesty International has declared the
75 dissidents ''prisoners of conscience''
-- people imprisoned for their political
or religious beliefs. Among those arrested
in the dragnet were numerous Varela Project
and Christian Liberation Movement activists
and independent journalists -- blatant attacks
on free speech and organized opposition.
Worse, the dissidents are subjected to inhuman
prison conditions -- suffocating ''punishment
cells,'' inadequate medical care and contaminated
food and water.
All free nations should condemn such treatment
and demand that the regime free prisoners.
Latin American and leftist leaders have
a special obligation to do so because Cuba's
abuses tarnish the region.
The U.N. Human Rights Commission should
repudiate the regime's violations, and particularly
the crackdown. The commission should dismiss
from its executive committee any country
like Cuba that denies access to the commission's
own monitor. Those who don't play by the
rules shouldn't have any say in influencing
them.
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