--
"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the
first and only legitimate object of good government."
-Thomas Jefferson
El amor por la Vida Humana y su Felicidad ,NO su destruccion, es la
prioridad, lo primero y el unico objetivo de un buen gobierno.
Thomas Jefferson
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There are 5 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Castro Supporters Disrupt Protest by Jailed Dissidents' Wives
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
2. Castro supporters harass Cuban dissidents' wives
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
3. Amnesty International Designates Two Additional Prisoners of
Conscience in Cuba, Reiterates Call for Release of 71 in Detention
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
4. Female Castro supporters break up protest
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
5. Cuba govt justifies harassment of foes
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 23:40:28 +0100
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
Subject: Castro Supporters Disrupt Protest by Jailed Dissidents' Wives
Castro Supporters Disrupt Protest by Jailed Dissidents' Wives
By VOA News
21 March 2005
More than 150 supporters of Fidel Castro interrupted a silent protest Sunday
in Havana by wives of political prisoners arrested in the 2003 crackdown on
dissidents.
Known as the Ladies in White, the dissidents' wives left church Sunday
walking silently in single file and carrying flowers. They were stopped by
the Castro supporters, who denounced them as counter-revolutionaries.
The activist group has staged protests demanding the release of their
husbands and other opponents of Fidel Castro's government.
Their husbands were among 75 people arrested in 2003 on charges of working
with U.S. diplomats to undermine Cuba's government.
Washington and the activists have denied the charges.
Some information provided by AFP and AP.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-21-voa3.cfm
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 23:41:35 +0100
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
Subject: Castro supporters harass Cuban dissidents' wives
Castro supporters harass Cuban dissidents' wives
Mon March 21, 2005 7:05 AM GMT+05:30
By Marc Frank
HAVANA (Reuters) - Some 200 women supporters of Cuban President Fidel Castro
laid siege on Sunday to a march by 30 female relatives of imprisoned
dissidents in an attempt to intimidate them
The women, waving Cuban flags and chanting "Fidel, Fidel" and "down with the
worms" intercepted the wives and other relatives as they quietly marched,
dressed in white with flowers in hand, down 5th Ave., the main thoroughfare
in Havana's Miramar district.
Some 50 men, who appeared to be from the Communist party and security
forces, stood by across the street and later were seen telling the women
what to do.
The dissidents' female relatives have gathered every Sunday for two years at
the Santa Rita Church for Mass, then walked a few blocks outside along the
avenue without incident, staging brief rallies in a nearby park.
The Palm Sunday march marked exactly two years since the government ended a
round up of 75 pro-democracy activists, independent journalists and others.
The dissidents were sentenced to average 19-year terms a few weeks later for
working with the United States to subvert the government, a charge they
deny.
The wives and relatives protests, combined with international pressure, are
credited with obtaining the release of 14 of the dissidents for health
reasons.
The female relatives held their own against the jeering throng, concluding
their march and gathering in the park and then on the church steps to sing
hymns and recite religious passages as the crowd taunted them.
"We are going to continue here, every Sunday. We are not going to stop
marching because they threaten us ... we have the duty to keep seeking the
freedom of our husbands," said Gloria Leal, wife of dissident Nestor Aguiar.
The crowd then followed the women two blocks to a bus stop, continuing to
chant and sing patriotic songs until all the relatives had left.
On Saturday a mob attacked the home of dissident doctor, Darci Ferrer, after
he placed photos and posters of the imprisoned Castro opponents in front of
his house. Ferrer was slightly injured and his protest trashed.
"This could be the start of a new wave of political repression by the
government using all means at its disposal, including these brigades, which
typically are connected to security forces. I know, they attacked me four or
five times," said veteran human rights activist, Elizardo Sanchez, head of
the illegal but tolerated Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National
Reconciliation.
On Friday the relatives, known as the "ladies in white", marched on state
media offices demanding coverage for their cause and they have twice marched
on government buildings and once staged a sit in near Castro's offices,
actions unheard of in Cuba without inviting serious government reprisals.
A report issued by Amnesty International on Friday said some of the
imprisoned dissidents were being poorly treated and demanded their release,
along with more than 200 other prisoners of conscience.
The report by the world's biggest rights group coincides with the annual
meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, which will discuss
Cuba, one of the last Communist governments.
http://www.reuters.co.in/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp;:423e2921:e5bdacb17514b84
6?type=worldNews&localeKey=en_IN&storyID=7953991
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 23:42:53 +0100
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
Subject: Amnesty International Designates Two Additional Prisoners of
Conscience in Cuba, Reiterates Call for Release of 71 in Detention
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Amnesty International Designates Two Additional Prisoners of Conscience in
Cuba, Reiterates Call for Release of 71 in Detention
(New York) - Amnesty International (AI) designated two additional
individuals in Cuba prisoners of conscience (POCs), bringing the total to
71, and reiterated its call for the unconditional release of all currently
in detention. The announcement was made in sync with the release of a report
today, the second anniversary of the crackdown on human rights activists and
dissidents. The 35-page report, Cuba: Prisoners of Conscience: 71 Longing
for Freedom, names Raúl Arenciba Fajardo and Virgilio Marantes Guelmes as
POCs; outlines the case histories of 19 dissidents released in 2004 and
early 2005; and details the names, ages, sentences, dates of arrest, prison
locations and conditions in which the POCs are being held.
"While it is obvious that expressing a political opinion in Cuba is a
hazardous occupation, the continued detention of 71 prisoners of conscience
is unconscionable," stated Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of
Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "Amnesty International calls on the Cuban
government to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of
conscience, and to suspend Law 88 and similar legislation that facilitate
the imprisonment of Cuban citizens by unlawfully restricting the exercise of
their fundamental freedoms."
At this time Amnesty International is investigating seven additional cases
involving dissidents reportedly detained over the last three years to
determine if they too should be considered prisoners of conscience.
Raúl Arencibia Fajardo, 41, and Virgilio Marante Guelmes,age unknown, were
arrested December 6, 2002 in Havana, and each was sentenced to three years
imprisonment.Fajardo is a member of Fundación Lawton de Derechos Humanos,
Lawton Foundation for Human Rights and the Club de Amigos de los Derechos
Humanos, Human Rights' Friends Club. In addition, he is a delegate of the
unofficial political group Movimiento 24 de Febrero, February 24 Movement.
Fajardo was charged with "public disorder, disrespect and resistance."
Virgilio Marante Guelmes is also a delegate of February 24 Movement in
Güines, south Havana. On May 18, 2004, Guelmes was brought to trial and
sentenced to three years imprisonment on charges of "disobedience, public
disorder and resistance." He was transferred to Melena 2 prison, where he is
now held.
In the past year, Amnesty International received reports of at least four
cases of ill-treatment of prisoners of conscience by prison guards,
sometimes in reprisal for prisoners' complaints about their conditions of
detention to the outside world. On October 13, 2004, a group of guards
reportedly beat Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta while he was handcuffed at Kilo 8
Prison, Camagüey Province, where he is serving a 20-year sentence. Allegedly
the guards stomped on his neck causing him to pass out. He went on a hunger
strike in protest.
Amnesty International is not aware of any investigation into this or similar
incidents.
During 2004, at least nine prisoners reportedly were held continuously in
punishment cells for periods between two and four months. The cells are said
to be very small (2 x 1 m) with no natural light and lack sanitary
provisions, including drinking water. The prisoners are not allowed out to
receive visitors or exercise, and in some cases are not permitted to wear
any clothing or given any bedding or furniture. These conditions amount to
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
"Cuban authorities must ensure that an independent and impartial inquiry is
held into allegations of ill-treatment by prison guards and bring any
officials implicated in these allegations to justice," urged Eric Olson,
Advocacy Director for the Americas for AIUSA. "At the same time, the Cuban
government should stop using the U.S. embargo as a pretext to violate the
human rights of the Cuban people."
It is the position of Amnesty International that the unilateral US embargo
against Cuba contributes to the undermining of key political and civil
rights in the country. On these grounds, the organization calls for its
immediate lifting.
While Amnesty International welcomes the releases of a total of 19 prisoners
of conscience in 2004 and early 2005, the organization is concerned that 14
of them were only granted conditional release ("licencia extrapenal") and
can be re-detained. The organization urges their unconditional release.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=CC76CCD717DFB52685256FCB0053C2
49
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 23:43:40 +0100
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
Subject: Female Castro supporters break up protest
Posted on Sun, Mar. 20, 2005
Female Castro supporters break up protest
VANESSA ARRINGTON
Associated Press
HAVANA - With shouts of "Viva Fidel," female government supporters
interrupted a weekly silent protest by wives of political prisoners held
after Sunday church services.
The noisy standoff after Palm Sunday Mass at a Havana church appeared to be
peaceful, but tensions ran high, prompting curious neighbors to leave their
homes and cars to slow down for a better look.
It was the first such confrontation since the wives began the weekly protest
shortly after the government crackdown in the spring of 2003 that put 75
activists behind bars. Cuba accused the dissidents of working with the
United States to undermine Fidel Castro's government - a charge the
activists and Washington denied.
Over the last year, the dissidents' wives, known as the "Ladies in White,"
have become increasingly bold, staging candlelight vigils and public
protests - practically unheard of in communist Cuba.
Some credit their pressure with leading to last year's release of 14 of the
75 prisoners, but supporters of Castro's government say the dissidents
deserve to be behind bars and they feel little sympathy for the wives.
"We cannot let them damage the revolution," said 70-year-old Aida Diaz, who
said the counterprotest by about 150 women was organized by the Federation
of Cuban Women.
She said the march outside the church by about 30 prisoners' wives dressed
all in white and holding flowers "goes against the country."
The Cuban government launched the weeklong crackdown on March 18, 2003,
rounding up the dissidents and later sentencing them to long prison terms.
While the wives demanded the release of their husbands, the protesters from
the Federation of Cuban Woman called for the release of the "Five Heroes" -
five Cuban intelligence agents serving long terms in U.S. federal prisons.
Even before the Mass at the Santa Rita Roman Catholic Church in western
Havana, several dozen state security officers in civilian clothes, some of
them discreetly talking into walkie-talkies, were stationed outside the
church, indicating that this week's protest would be different.
After the prisoners' wives left the sanctuary and began walking down a
nearby avenue, the pro-Castro protesters marched aggressively toward them,
waving tiny paper red, white and blue flags commonly used at government
organized rallies.
The prisoners' wives looked stunned by the protesters, who chanted "Viva
Fidel" - "Long Live Fidel!" - and carried a full-sized Cuban flag and banner
of revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
The government supporters surrounded the "Ladies in White" as they tried to
continue walking. The wives cut their weekly ritual short, returning to the
church steps then, after briefly gathering in a nearby park, going to a bus
stop.
Alicia Rojas, the 34-year-old daughter of prisoner Jesus Manuel Rojas, said
she would not be deterred.
"I feel more strength and courage to defend my father who is a political
prisoner in this country," she said.
Bertha Soler Fernandez, whose husband is prisoner Angel Moya Acosta, agreed.
"The government feels powerless to respond to us so it sends us these people
to give a response," she said.
The government protesters followed the women to the bus stop, shouting and
shaking their fists as the bus drove away with the women on board.
"We are not going to permit them to take our streets," Mileides Chavez, the
general secretary of the Federation of Cuban Women for the municipality of
Playa, yelled into a megaphone as the group gathered in the park.
The confrontation came a day after scores of neighbors broke up a protest by
little-known dissident physician Dr. Darcy Ferrer, striking him with sticks
and ripping down posters of prisoners' photographs he had placed on the side
of his house.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/11187288.htm
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:02:11 +0100
From: "PL" <pl.nospam@pandora.be>
Subject: Cuba govt justifies harassment of foes
Cuba govt justifies harassment of foes
Mon Mar 21, 2005 9:36 PM GMT
By Anthony Boadle
HAVANA (Reuters) - The Cuban government has justified two incidents of
public harassment of its opponents, saying they were "mercenaries" on the
U.S. payroll who deserved to be repudiated.
On Saturday, dozens of people entered the home of a dissident doctor and
beat him with sticks for putting up posters outside his house calling for
the release of political prisoners.
On Sunday, 200 women backers of President Fidel Castro intercepted a
peaceful march by 30 wives of jailed dissidents in an attempt to intimidate
them and shout them off the streets with chants of "Fidel, Fidel" and "down
with the worms."
The incidents occurred as Communist Cuba faces scrutiny at the annual
meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva and days
before a visit to Havana by European Union Development and Humanitarian Aid
Commissioner Louis Michel. The visit is aimed at turning the page on a rift
over human rights that was patched up in January.
"If some annoying person provokes his neighbours he should know that they
will lose patience," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said at a
news conference.
"In Cuba the streets belong to the people. It is legitimate for them to
defend their streets and oppose those who work for the government of the
United States," he said.
The noisy counterdemonstration against the wives of jailed dissidents, who
dress in white and march in silence to demand their husbands' release, came
on the second anniversary of the rounding up of 75 pro-democracy activists
in March 2003.
Leading dissidents said the protest was staged by Communist Party officials
and protected by the police, who stopped traffic in the Miramar
neighbourhood of Havana to help the women cross a busy avenue.
"Everyone knows it is not the people, it is the government," said dissident
economist Martha Beatriz Roque, who was the only woman among the jailed
dissidents and was released in July.
"This is just another form of repression by the government," she said, after
a meeting of dissidents with European Union ambassadors.
Veteran rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said he had no doubt both incidents
were the handiwork of Cuba's secret police. "They haven't used such acts of
repudiation for some time. These are practices that were used by the
fascists in Europe," he said.
Perez Roque said a majority of Cuban people supported the Cuban government
and dissidents were a minority of "mercenaries" paid by the United States to
undermine Cuba's socialist system.
Washington had no authority to criticize Cuba in light of the abuses
committed by its troops in Iraqi jails and the U.S. naval base at
Guantanamo, where terror suspects are being held, he said.
Washington has lost moral ground and failed to find a co-sponsor for a
resolution critical of Cuba at the U.N. Commission this year, he said.
But European diplomats striving to engage Havana on human rights improvement
and freedom of expression were taken aback by the incidents.
"I was surprised they would demonstrate their thuggishness so openly again,"
said a European diplomat who requested anonymity.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005
-03-21T213636Z_01_CHA177610_RTRUKOC_0_RIGHTS-CUBA.xml
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