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Opposition urge Zapatero
to get tough with Cuba
Expatica,
Spain, 7 March 2006.
MADRID - Spain's conservative opposition
introduced a motion in parliament calling
on the Socialist government to condemn the
upsurge in repression in Cuba.
The "proposition," which is not
draft legislation, urges Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero's government to demand that Cuban
authorities release political prisoners
and stop harassing the opposition.
The centre-right Popular Party, or PP,
said Cuba's Communist dictatorship violated
human rights, "including civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights".
The PP said the island imprisoned, in conditions
that were "subhuman, dozens of independent
journalists, peaceful dissidents, human
rights activists" and members of the
democratic opposition.
Cuban authorities also prevent citizens
from leaving the country, as was the case
with the Women in White - relatives of jailed
dissidents - who were prevented from travelling
to Strasbourg, France, in December to accept
the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament,
the PP said.
The PP added that Zapatero's government
changed policy toward Cuba, "both in
Spain and in the EU Council," and "the
change has not produced any results".
Nearly two years ago, Spain pushed for
a rapprochement with the Castro regime that
included lifting of some diplomatic sanctions
previously imposed by the European Union.
The PP also called on the Spanish government
to work toward winning permission from Cuba
for the Women in White to be allowed to
go to the European Parliament.
Last month, a Cuban human rights group
said the island's 47-year-old Communist
regime had begun a particularly violent
offensive against peaceful dissidents and
advocates of democracy.
The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and
National Reconciliation said acts of repression
have occurred in eight of Cuba's 14 provinces.
The commission, considered an illegal group
by the Cuban government, denounced physical
aggression carried out against dissidents
by organized pro-government mobs, as well
as searches of homes and seizures of books
and personal items.
In the spring of 2003, Cuban authorities
arrested and sentenced 75 dissidents to
prison terms averaging 20 years.
The prisoners - mostly democracy advocates
and independent journalists and librarians
- were convicted of "undermining the
revolution".
International human rights groups deemed
the subversion charges to be trumped up
by Fidel Castro's government.
Havana has released 14 of the imprisoned
dissidents and independent journalists for
health reasons.
The European Parliament said in resolution
last month that the European Union's political
dialogue with Cuba has not led to greater
freedom on the island or improved bilateral
relations.
European legislators condemned "the
worsening repression" in Cuba, as well
as the increase in the number of political
prisoners and the travel ban on the Women
in White.
During 2005, Cuba did not set any political
prisoners free, and the number of prisoners
has grown from 294 in 2004 to 333 at present,
according to the Cuban Commission for Human
Rights and National Reconciliation.
The mild diplomatic sanctions imposed by
the EU on Cuba in 2003 included restricting
official visits to the island and inviting
dissidents to embassy receptions. The decision
to keep inviting dissidents or not was left
to each member state.
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]
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