NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #30/NN_1992_30.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/9468

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From: Hilary Naylor <[e-mail]>
Subject: CUBA: free prisoners of conscience
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/* Written  6:35 pm  Dec 18, 1992 by [e-mail] in igc:ai.general */
/* ---------- "CUBA: free prisoners of conscience" ---------- */
Amnesty International
International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 8DJ
United Kingdom

DATE: 14 DECEMBER 1992

CUBA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS ON CUBAN AUTHORITIES TO FREE PRISONERS OF
CONSCIENCE

Amnesty International is concerned about the dramatic increase in the number
of prisoners of conscience held in Cuba over the past two years and is calling
on the Cuban authorities for their immediate and unconditional release.

      A new report* issued by Amnesty International gives details of prisoners
of conscience detained because of their peaceful activities in unofficial
political, human rights, trade union and religious groups - or simply for
voicing criticism of the government.  The charges brought against them usually
relate to their attempts to exercise their rights to freedom of association,
assembly and expression. Scores of others are believed to be in detention for
trying to leave the country without permission.

      There are believed to be between three and five hundred prisoners of
conscience or probable prisoners of conscience in Cuba, possibly more.
However, restrictions on human rights monitoring in the country, lack of
official information and the failure of the authorities to allow independent
international human rights monitoring bodies to conduct on site research mean
that exact figures are not available.

      Amnesty International has, however, noted that sentences of as much as
10 years' imprisonment have been imposed in recent months on prisoners of
conscience.  In May 1992 Yndamiro Restano D!az was sentenced to ten years'
imprisonment and his co-defendant Mar!a Elena Aparicio to seven years on a
charge of "rebellion"[rebeli"n].  Yndamiro Restano is the President of an
unofficial political opposition group called Movimiento de Armon!a (MAR),
Harmony Movement.  The authorities alleged that MAR was planning to change the
country's "political, economic and social structure" ["el rgimen pol!tico,
econ"mico y social"].

      The Vice-President of the unofficial Comit Cubano Pro Derechos Humanos
(CCPDH), Cuban Committee for Human Rights, Sebasti n Arcos Bergnes, was
sentenced to four years eight months' imprisonment in October 1992 on a charge
of "enemy propaganda"[propaganda enemiga].  He was accused of sending abroad
information relating to human rights abuses which the government alleged to be
false.

      Dozens of people are believed to be held for "enemy propaganda" or for
"disrespect" [desacato].  The latter charge is brought against people who are
accused of criticizing or insulting President Castro or other government
officials.  For example, Jos Luis Pujol Irizar, President of the unofficial
Proyecto Apertura de la Isla (PAIS), Opening of the Island Project, was
sentenced to three years' imprisonment in September 1992 for criticizing
President Castro in a letter to a Cuban exile leader.

      Although the most detailed information reaching Amnesty International
usually relates to people arrested in Havana, the number of reports of arrests
in other parts of the country has been increasing in recent months.  For
example, several political and human rights activists were reportedly detained
briefly in Camagey in October during a major operation carried out by the
Department of State Security, when up to two hundred people were thought to
have been arrested.  It is not clear what the purpose of the operation was or
how many people, if any, remain in detention but those who were released
reported that they were given warnings to cease their activities and also had
their photographs taken.

      Many of the most prominent leaders of unofficial political and human
rights groups are imprisoned and others frequently report that they are being
subjected to harassment. They allege that they are regularly picked up for
questioning about their activities by the security forces or members of
People's Rapid Response Detachments [Destacamentos Populares de Respuesta
R pida], commonly known as Rapid Response Brigades [Brigadas de Respuesta
R pida].  The latter were set up by the government, through Communist Party
organizations, in mid-1991 to counter signs of dissent. Participation in the
brigades is supposed to be voluntary but there are signs that this may not
always be the case.

      In late 1991 and early 1992 members of such brigades participated in a
number of incidents in which large numbers of pro-government supporters,
hundreds in some cases, besieged known dissidents in their homes. They shouted
insults and in some cases caused minor physical injuries to those under
attack.  In recent months they appear to have taken a lower profile.

      Nevertheless, reports are still being received of political and human
rights activists being attacked in the street by people believed to be members
of such brigades.  Amnesty International is also concerned at recent reports
that such brigades are operating inside the prisons and are harassing
prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners.

      In its report, Amnesty International has made a series of
recommendations to the Cuban Government, including that all prisoners of
conscience be immediately and unconditionally released and that the People's
Rapid Response Detachments be disbanded or strictly regulated by law.  The
organization has also recommended that local human rights monitors be
protected and appropriate international human rights monitoring bodies be
given access to political prisoners.

      To Amnesty International's knowledge, no independent international human
rights monitoring bodies have been permitted to visit Cuba over the past two
years. Amnesty International itself, which last visited the country in 1990,
received no response to a request for a visit which was sent to the
authorities in July 1992.
======================
* Cuba: Silencing the Voices of Dissent, AI Index: AMR 25/26/92. Available
from AIUSA, 322 Eighth Ave, New York, NY 10001.