 |
| A Cuban dissidents arrested in Santa Clara for supporting dissident Guillermo Fariñas. |
Juan Carlos Chavez
jcchavez@elnuevoherald.com
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), said in its annual report the harassment of activists and advocates individual freedoms in Cuba, while condemning the wave of temporary arrests to silence political and social change.
"In 2010 and 2011 continued the low-profile harassment against human rights organizations, as well as obstacles to freedom of assembly and police repression of peaceful demonstrations that involve human rights defenders," the Observatory, based in Geneva.
The report of over 600 pages was presented Tuesday to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. Describes the situation of 70 countries and the efforts of activists or ordinary citizens "outraged" by injustice, arbitrariness or horror.
On the situation of prisoners and prisons in Cuba, the Observatory regretted that the Cuban government continues to allow the visit of international reporters and is treated as an attack on national sovereignty.
"This is particularly worrisome because of the difficult prison conditions in Cuba. The indifference with which the protests are treated or diseases of the prisoners was shown by the death on February 23, 2010, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a political dissident detained since March 20, 2003, "the report said.
The Observatory also referred to the extreme vigilance and politically motivated attacks against the Ladies in White, mothers and wives of political prisoners, among other groups of dissidents.
"The repression of freedom of assembly has even avoid meetings in private homes, arresting and threatening those who try to meet," he said.
Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General, said the current situation requires decisive action to protect the world of independent groups and human rights activists.
"Far from enjoying recognition for what they are key actors for change and security of a free society, advocates daily suffering repression regimes that are the more fierce the more we understand the strength and legitimacy of their claims," said Staberock. In this regard he said that revolutions in the Arab world "remember" the international community to the urgency of putting human rights on the political agenda.
The conclusions of the Observatory are consistent with a new wave of arrests in Havana and other parts of the island to prevent a series of protests earlier this week by the Civic Resistance Day Orlando Zapata and Pedro Luis Boitel.
Opposition members told The Miami Herald on temporary detentions of several dissidents in the capital, including Martha Fonseca Sara Ramirez and Rodolfo Cardoso. Both were stopped at the corner of G and 25 in the Havana area of El Vedado, when they went to Park Martin Luther King
Other transactions are recorded in Havana and Pinar del Río. In Placetas, the renowned opponent Jorge Luis Garcia Perez "Antunez" and four activists were arrested by agents of Cuban State Security when organizing a peaceful march.
Recently, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), documented 563 arrests in September on the island, "the highest in the last 30 years," he said. The arrests have been recognized in the peephole young dissidents and supporters of civil society groups independently. Surveillance is usually accompanied by insults, provocations and threats.
"In 2010 and 2011 continued the low-profile harassment against human rights organizations, as well as obstacles to freedom of assembly and police repression of peaceful demonstrations that involve human rights defenders," the Observatory, based in Geneva.
The report of over 600 pages was presented Tuesday to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. Describes the situation of 70 countries and the efforts of activists or ordinary citizens "outraged" by injustice, arbitrariness or horror.
On the situation of prisoners and prisons in Cuba, the Observatory regretted that the Cuban government continues to allow the visit of international reporters and is treated as an attack on national sovereignty.
"This is particularly worrisome because of the difficult prison conditions in Cuba. The indifference with which the protests are treated or diseases of the prisoners was shown by the death on February 23, 2010, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a political dissident detained since March 20, 2003, "the report said.
The Observatory also referred to the extreme vigilance and politically motivated attacks against the Ladies in White, mothers and wives of political prisoners, among other groups of dissidents.
"The repression of freedom of assembly has even avoid meetings in private homes, arresting and threatening those who try to meet," he said.
Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General, said the current situation requires decisive action to protect the world of independent groups and human rights activists.
"Far from enjoying recognition for what they are key actors for change and security of a free society, advocates daily suffering repression regimes that are the more fierce the more we understand the strength and legitimacy of their claims," said Staberock. In this regard he said that revolutions in the Arab world "remember" the international community to the urgency of putting human rights on the political agenda.
The conclusions of the Observatory are consistent with a new wave of arrests in Havana and other parts of the island to prevent a series of protests earlier this week by the Civic Resistance Day Orlando Zapata and Pedro Luis Boitel.
Opposition members told The Miami Herald on temporary detentions of several dissidents in the capital, including Martha Fonseca Sara Ramirez and Rodolfo Cardoso. Both were stopped at the corner of G and 25 in the Havana area of El Vedado, when they went to Park Martin Luther King
Other transactions are recorded in Havana and Pinar del Río. In Placetas, the renowned opponent Jorge Luis Garcia Perez "Antunez" and four activists were arrested by agents of Cuban State Security when organizing a peaceful march.
Recently, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), documented 563 arrests in September on the island, "the highest in the last 30 years," he said. The arrests have been recognized in the peephole young dissidents and supporters of civil society groups independently. Surveillance is usually accompanied by insults, provocations and threats.
Tweet
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment