CUBA NEWS
March 18, 2004

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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