Government Marks Human Rights Day with Repression
December 11, 2008
"This latest crackdown is further evidence that, despite the
handoff of power from Fidel to Raul Castro, the Cuban government still
refuses to tolerate even the most basic assertion of human rights."
José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch
(Washington, DC, December 11, 2008) – The Cuban government should
immediately and unconditionally free the dissidents who have been
arbitrarily detained in recent days, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Cuban government arrested more than 30 people in the days leading up
to International Human Rights Day, according to press accounts and Cuban
human rights groups. Many were reportedly arrested as they tried to
travel to Havana to participate in marches and other activities planned
for December 10, the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
"This latest crackdown is further evidence that, despite the handoff of
power from Fidel to Raul Castro, the Cuban government still refuses to
tolerate even the most basic assertion of human rights," said José
Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.
Belinda Salas, president of the Latin American Federation of Rural Women
(FLAMUR) – a Cuban organization – said she was with three other
dissidents on December 9 when eight security officers assaulted them,
with no warning. Her husband, Lazaro Alonso, a former political
prisoner, was hit repeatedly in the groin and beaten in the face and
head until he was unconscious. Officers tore Salas's shirt from her body
and fractured her hand in the assault. Salas was not arrested, but her
husband and two others were detained by security forces.
Other dissidents were reportedly visited by state security agents and
given verbal warnings in advance of International Human Rights Day that
they would suffer beatings, imprisonment, or other punishments if they
took part in any of the planned activities. Some of the detainees have
since been released, though the current number of those arrested in the
last few days and where they are being held remain unknown.
The Cuban government continues to restrict nearly all avenues of
political dissent, strictly limiting freedom of expression, association,
assembly, movement, and the press. Cuba's laws and state-controlled
institutions provide the foundation for these violations of basic
rights, and criminal prosecutions, detentions, harassment, and
surveillance are commonly used to repress opposition. In addition to
dissidents arrested in the last several days, more than 200 people are
incarcerated in Cuba for political reasons.
Over the past several years, the government has cracked down on the
activities of rights activists and independent journalists marking
anniversaries of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"This has become a pattern: the government of Cuba commemorates the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights by violating its fundamental
principles," said Vivanco.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/11/cuba-free-dissidents-now
No comments:
Post a Comment