Spotlight on Cuba: Crackdown on Dissidents

Chronology of Events

March 31, 2003: Cuba has enough evidence to prosecute dozens of dissidents arrested on accusations of working with US diplomats to undermine the government, the head of the island's parliament said. " Cuba is going to do everything necessary to ensure that its enemies don't do as they like," National Assembly speaker Ricardo Alarcón said. Alarcón offered no details about the evidence gathered for the trials. The dissidents are in jail awaiting charges. They include independent journalists, directors of non-governmental libraries, members of opposition political parties and activists seeking laws to ensure civil rights such as freedom of speech. (Prensa Latina, 31/3/05)

March 28, 2003: The director of the Independent Libraries of Cuba, 22 of whose centres have been affected by the recent arrests of dissidents on the island, asked ex-US President and Nobel Prize recipient Jimmy Carter to intercede for their release. The petition was made by Gisela Delgado Sablón who requested his mediation "before the Cuban authorities and governments of the world so that the detainees be released," in the letter addressed to Mr. Carter. (AFP, 29/3/03)

March 26, 2003: The European Union condemned a crackdown against political dissidents in Cuba, joining calls from international human rights groups for their immediate release. "The European Union is deeply concerned at the arrests of dozens of independent journalists and opposition members by the Cuban authorities," a statement said. The statement was issued in Greece, which holds the current presidency of the EU. "The European Union condemns those arrests and demands that those persons, whom it considers prisoners of conscience, be released without delay," it said. "Violations of fundamental civil and political rights will be monitored very closely by the European Union and they will continue to influence the Union's relations with Cuba." (AP, 26/3/03)

March 26, 2003: Charges against the 75 arrested dissidents have not yet been laid by Cuban authorities nor have they been allowed access to legal counsel, Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz, president of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCHRNR), told the press. According to Sánchez Santacruz, some of their relatives have said that some dissidents are sharing cells with common criminals, many of which have been arrested during the government's crackdown on the drug traffic and related crimes. (AFP, 26/3/03)

March 25, 2003: Cuban authorities arrested Marcelo López, spokesperson for the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCHRNR), presided over by veteran activist Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz. From the beginning, the CCHRNR has kept a count of the arrests, handing the lists of names over to the international press. (AFP, 26/3/03)

March 24, 2003: Dissidents on the island expressed fear that the level of repression will continue to intensify. ''There were no arrests over the weekend, but we have to be prepared for more waves of repression,'' said human-rights activist Elizardo Sánchez, who was reached by phone. "Until this moment, all of the detainees are in police custody and out of communication.'' ''Despite the fact that this has been the most intense and threatening crackdown in recent years, nondissidents have approached the families of dissidents offering their help to keep things in their houses or warning them when they were under surveillance,'' Sánchez said. "This is an awakening of the Cuban people." (The Miami Herald, 25/3/03)

March 24, 2003: Oswaldo Payá vowed that his civic movement to bring reforms to Cuba would not be crushed. Mr. Payá, the organizer of the Varela Project, a petition drive signed by more than 11,000 people seeking a referendum on personal, political and economic rights, is among a handful of dissidents who remain free after a crackdown by the Cuban authorities. He said about 80 people comprised of independent librarians, journalists and many of his group's regional leaders were in jail on charges that could bring lengthy prison sentences. "They are trying to close the door on peaceful change," he said in a telephone interview from Havana. "In no way will the project be stopped," he said. "There had been a flowering in Cuba of a peaceful movement for rights and reconciliation, to defeat this culture of fear. Cuba's spring is the Varela Project, which has been sustained by thousands and which will grow." Cuban officials have compared their roundup of dissidents to the United States' mass arrests after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Mr. Payá said such accusations were part of the government's relentless defamation campaign against him. "That mocks people's intelligence," he said. "We are claiming our rights." (The New York Times, 24/3/03)

March 21, 2003: European diplomats in Havana planned to meet to draw up a statement on the arrests of Cuban dissidents. They said the detentions could hurt Cuba's chances of being admitted to the Cotonou Agreement, an economic assistance pact between the European Union and 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations, mostly former colonies. (BBC News, 22/3/03)

March 21, 2003: Canadian authorities expressed concern on the crackdown on Cuban dissidents. " Canada will be raising our concerns with the Cuban government regarding the crackdown on dissidents," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Nadia Scipio. (AFP, 22/3/03)

March 21, 2003: Miami-based Cuban exile groups denounced the wave of arrests of political opposition members on the Island. Orlando Gutiérrez, National Secretary of the Directorio Democrático Cubano (Cuban Democratic Directory), told the press that "international denunciation is required to put an end to the methods Fidel Castro has used for four decades to remain in power." Also, Tomás Rodríguez, of Agenda Cubana, called for intensified pressure against a government that is "scared by the level of organization of the opposition movement and its growing popularity with the Cuban population." More than twenty Cuban exile organizations, including the Fundación Nacional Cubano Americana (Cuban American National Foundation), the Cuban Liberty Council and the Spiritual Guides, an association of Cuban priests, have joined forces to obtain the release of those arrested. (EFE, 21/3/03)

March 21, 2003: The crackdown on the dissidents "could be used to close all the political spaces that the opposition has opened," said Manuel Cuesta Morúa, of the illegal opposition party Socialist Democratic Current. Almost half of those arrested had helped gather signatures for the Varela Project, said Ernesto Martini, a project coordinator. Oswaldo Paya, the leader of Varela Project, said the crackdown will only accelerate the end of the regime. "Cuba needs change urgently. Cubans want change urgently," he said. The sweep also netted dozens of independent journalists. About 20 small, independent lending libraries with books donated by foreign embassies and international non-governmental organizations were dismantled, said Ramon Colas, who founded the library movement several years ago and moved to Miami in 2001. "The government has wanted to stamp out the peaceful pro-democracy movement for years. It is worried about the space the dissidents have gained at home and abroad," veteran rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said. (AP, Reuters, The Miami Herald, 22/3/03)

March 20, 2003: The French Foreign Affairs Ministry's spokesperson released a statement by the French government concerning the arrests of dissidents in Cuba. "Apparently," says the communiqué, "this operation is targeting many independent journalists, opposition members, intellectuals, (who are being) arrested because of their personal opinions. France demands details from the Cuban authorities regarding this matter. That wave of arrests would be at odds with the freedoms and democratic pluralism, (and) principles that France and the European Union wish to promote in their relations with the rest of the countries." (Partido Socialdemócrata de Cuba, 22/3/03)

March 20, 2003: Cuban police arrested dissident economist Martha Beatriz Roque on the third day of a crackdown against opponents of Cuba's communist government. The Cuban Human Rights Commission said between 55 and 70 people had been arrested in their homes across the island since Fidel Castro's government began a roundup saying it was detaining Cubans with ties to US diplomats. Writer and independent journalist, Raúl Rivero, was also arrested, while police agents surrounded the homes of dissident leaders Héctor Palacios and Gisela Delgado. Opposition activists in Havana fear that those arrested will be tried under the much-criticized, but never-yet-applied "Law Against National Independence," which carries sentences of up to 10 years. (Reuters, El Nuevo Herald, AP, 21/3/03)

March 18, 2003: Cuba's communist government announced that it had rounded up several dozen opponents. An official statement accused the chief of Washington's diplomatic mission in Havana, James Cason, of trying "to foment the internal counterrevolution." The announcement said several dozen government opponents had been detained but did not elaborate or say if any charges were pending. Veteran human-rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said by telephone that he had confirmed the detentions of at least 10 dissidents and was checking on reports of another 20 or so picked up by state security agents. (The Globe and Mail, 19/3/03)

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