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Cuba's new crackdown
Our Opinion: Tell Regime:
Political Prisoners Are Not Forgotten
Posted on Fri, Aug. 05,
2005 in The
Miami Herald.
Once again, Cuba is detaining dissidents
and charging them with crimes that don't
exist in any free country on Earth.
Some might tire of hearing the same old
news, as if jailing people for peacefully
criticizing an abusive government is normal.
We tire of the dictator who continues to
violate the human rights of Cubans and yet
is courted like a rock star in parts of
this region.
René Gómez Manzano, Oscar
Mario González and Julio César
López deserve better. The three prominent
Cuban dissidents were arrested before they
even had a chance to make it to a pro-democracy
protest. Now they are being prosecuted under
the same law used to punish 75 peaceful
dissidents with lengthy prison terms in
2003.
Media throughout the world took notice
of that crackdown, and calls to release
the political prisoners rained down on the
Cuban regime. Last year, the regime released
14 of those 75 prisoners, and the European
Union rewarded it by lifting sanctions it
had imposed because of the crackdown. The
regime, though, hasn't changed its stripes.
Now Messrs. Gómez, González
and López are among the 15 activists
detained in connection with two peaceful
protests in July. Their charges allege that
they were involved in causing a ''public
disorder.'' In reality, pro-government mobs
were the ones beating on the dissidents.
Mr. Gómez already has served three
years in prison for co-writing The Homeland
Belongs to Us All, a critique of Cuba's
one-party rule. Mr. González is a
respected independent journalist. Mr. López
is a pro-democracy militant with an independent
library. Their ideas are dangerous only
to a regime built on repression and lies.
Once again, the world needs to take note
and call for their release. Send a message
to the Cuban regime from the Human Rights
First website: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/index.html
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