January 27: The legislature of the European Union will approve a resolution stating that the EU's policy of dialogue with Cuba has done nothing to increase freedom on the island, and asks member nations to "take action as a consequence." The resolution has been promoted in the European Parliament by the conservative European People's Party (EPP), but its content has already been agreed with socialist and liberal parties. The working document relates the European Parliament's disappointment that "Cuban authorities have not given any significant indications that they will respect fundamental liberties, and particularly for freedom of expression and political association, which the European Union has demanded." The resolution charges Cuba with "an intensification of repression," an increase in the number of political prisoners, and "forbidding" the Ladies in White - relatives of jailed dissidents - to travel to Strasbourg, France, in December to accept the Sakharov Prize from the EuroParliament”. "(Parliament) states that these facts betray the hope of improving relations between the EU and Cuba, the principal reason for the changes introduced by the Council in January of 2005 to its previous policy, and asks the Council that it take action as a consequence," says the text that will be voted on in a full session set for February 2. (EFE, 27/1/06)
January 26: Political prisoners Randy Cabrera Mayor, Luis Cabrera Ballester, Frank Pérez Carlitos, Julio Inza Góngora, Adolfo García García and Alfredo Domínguez Batista joined a hunger strike at Holguin’s provincial prison, in the northeastern part of the island. The hunger strike was initiated by political prisoner Nelson Vázquez Lima who has been claiming to be transferred to a prison closer to his home town in the central province of Villa Clara. Vázquez Lima’s mother, who is disabled, hasn’t been able to visit him since he was imprisoned due to the long distance between Villa Clara and Holguin and prevailing difficulties in transportation. (Cubanet, 30/1/06)
January 26: According to Fidel Castro supporters protesting outside the home of political dissident Marta Beatriz Roque, president of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society (APSC), a US diplomat was prevented from entering the residence. "A diplomat from the USIS (US Interest Section) came and we did not allow him to enter. We blocked his way (…) but he was neither insulted nor assaulted," said Marta Maria Sánchez, who lives next door to Roque in the Santos Suárez neightborhood. Approximately 25 local neighbors took position across from the building where Roque's apartment is located to prevent any dissidents' access to the place. Félix Bonne, a leader of the APSC, was not allowed to enter either. (AFP, 26/1/06)
January 22: A violent “act of repudiation” took place at the family home of the Sigler Amaya family in Matanzas. The home, located in Pedro Betancourt, Matanzas, serves as the national headquarters for the peaceful dissident group Movimiento Independiente Opción Alternativa. Confidential reports indicated that Communist Party officials and State Security agents had, for days, been organizing the event in order to prevent a dissident meeting. January 22nd marks the sixth anniversary of a violent attack on the family home as they and several supporters held a fast in support of political prisoners. (Netfor Cuba, 23/1/06)
January 19: The Ladies in White, wives and relatives of political prisoners in Cuba, sent a letter congratulating Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her recent election as first woman president of Liberia. “We convey to you our warmest congratulations for your inauguration as President of Liberia, and first woman president in Africa”, the letter said. “You have brought great hope to the impoverished and long-suffering people of your country, who deserve a democratic environment enabling a sustained development for the well-being of all”, the letter added. The letter explains that The Ladies in White are the “wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts” of political prisoners, “who have been seeking their immediate and unconditional release” since their imprisonment, thus they are facing “repression and harassment by the government”. “You are an example of the possibilities for us, women, when we are determined to strive for a just cause”. (AFP, 19/1/06)
January 18: The independent journalist Oscar Mario González was moved to a San Miguel del Padrón prison referred to only by the designation number 1580, said his wife Mirta Wong. Oscar Mario has been held without charges since July 22, 2005. (Cubanet, 20/1/06)
January 18: Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2006 that Communist-ruled Cuba "remains a Latin American anomaly: an undemocratic government that represses nearly all forms of political dissent." New York-based HRW said that Fidel Castro, after 47 years in power, "shows no willingness to consider even minor reforms. As a result, Cubans are being systematically denied their basic rights to freedom of expression, association, meeting with their fellows, privacy and freedom of movement, HRW said. HRW devotes a chapter of its 2006 report to the Communist island in which it emphasizes that the country's legal and institutional structures are at the root of all the rights violations, adding that although Cuba's government framework is, in theory, one of separation of powers, "in practice the executive retains clear control over all levers of power." The report recalls that in early July 2005 the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation - a prominent dissident group - released a list of 306 persons being held in prison for political reasons. HRW also mentioned the US embargo on Cuba, stating that the unilateral measure "continues to impose indiscriminate hardship on the Cuban people and to block travel to the island." (EFE, 18/1/06)
January 16: In a letter remembering his struggle for the release of 75 dissidents incarcerated in Cuba in the spring of 2003, the Ladies in White sent their "warmest congratulations" to Chilean President Elect Michelle Bachelet. "Since March, 2003, we face the unjust imprisonment of 75 prisoners of conscience (…) They and our families are submitted to permanent repression and psychological torture. But, difficult as it may seem to attain a luminous future, we know that we women, with our perseverance and dignity, will be able to achieve it," they wrote. (CubaEncuentro, 16/1/06)
January 14: A blind Christian human-rights activist in Cuba has suffered severe harassment for several days, Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported. Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, who will complete a 4-year prison sentence on March 12, believes the harassment is a bid to make him leave the country after his release. Juan Carlos, who has spent the last two years of his sentence under house arrest, says the government stops him from going out and denies him basic necessities such as water and electricity. He also says that crowds gather round his house chanting pro-government slogans and playing loud music at all hours of the day. His wife Maritza has left Cuba to go into exile in the US because he feared for her emotional and physical welfare. Juan Carlos is determined to continue to campaign for human-rights improvements while remaining in Cuba, despite the threats. Juan Carlos was arrested in March 2002 after staging a protest in a hospital over the mistreatment of a journalist who had been beaten up by the Cuban police. Juan Carlos was badly beaten before he was arrested and needed four stitches for a blow on the head. He was imprisoned without trial for two years before being sentenced in April 2004 to four years of house arrest after a summary trial. He was convicted of "disrespect against the Head of State" along with other charges of "public disorder, disobedience, and resisting authority." (Encuentro en la Red, CWNews, 16,17/1/06).
January 11: Two members of an opposition trade union party imprisoned during the repressive wave against political dissent in March, 2003, were transferred to prisons relatively nearer to their place of residence. Alfredo Felipe Fuentes, a delegate of the Unitary Council of Cuban Workers (CUTC) in the province of Havana, was moved from Guajamal prison, in the central region of the country, to a penitentiary facility in Agüica, Matanzas, a location somewhat closer to Artemisa, Pinar del Río, where he resides. Iván Hernández Carrillo, a member of the National Independent Workers’ Federation of Cuba (CONIC), who was serving a prison sentence in the provincial jail of Holguín, was transferred to a penitentiary facility known as “El Pre,” in Santa Clara. (InfoLux Press, 1/1/06)
January 11: The number of Cubans jailed for political reasons increased to 333 last year and new repression is expected in 2006 as discontent with Cuba's Communist system grows, the island's main rights group said. The nongovernmental Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation said the number of political prisoners rose from 294 at the end of 2004, while 15 jailed dissidents were released on medical parole. The number of people in jail for their political views could be higher, but there was no way of knowing because Cuba does not allow the International Red Cross access to its "enormous" penal system of more than 200 prisons and internment camps, the group's annual report said. The commission accused Fidel Castro of encouraging "acts of repudiation" or hostile demonstrations outside the homes of dissidents to intimidate his critics. "We can expect a further worsening in the situation of civil, political and economic rights in Cuba this year, because popular discontent will continue to grow," said the head of the rights group, Elizardo Sanchez. (Reuters, 11/1/06)
January 4: According to a report issued by Reporters Without Borders, Cuba has become the ''world's second biggest prison for journalists'' with 24 in jail, the group wrote. Only China, with 115 times the population of Cuba, imprisons more, with 32. (AP, 4/1/06)
January 3: Reporters Without Borders condemned the use of threats by state security agents on 29 December against 21-year-old Liannis Meriño Aguilera, the editor of the independent Youth without Censorship news agency. “We again protest against the constant harassment of independent journalists by the Cuban authorities, which is often the prelude to arbitrary arrests and heavy prison sentences,” the press freedom organisation said. “We call on the authorities to let Meriño and her team of young journalists work freely.” Meriño was arrested at her home in Banes, in the eastern province of Holguín, by two state security agents, who took her to the local fire brigade centre and held her there for two hours. The agent in charge of combating the opposition in Holguín ordered her to stop working as an independent journalist. He also accused her of reporting false information, which is punishable by imprisonment. (RWB Press Release, 4/1/06)
January 1: The international relations secretary of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), Trinidad Jiménez, admitted in an interview with the press that not much progress has been achieved with Cuba in the last two years under the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Nevertheless, the socialist official asked herself: "Have we seen any progress in the last 25 years?" and replied "The same thing is happening now, there has not been much progress in the last two years either. It is not new or a surprise". "The Castro regime", she added, "has now lasted the years it has lasted and the democratization attempts which there have been have occurred over the years with minimal results. Therefore it is no surprise that we have not seen substantial changes now either." Jiménez recalled that initially the release of 13 of the 75 dissidents sentenced to prison in April 2003 was achieved, including "a person who had become a symbol" - the writer and journalist Raúl Rivero. The government is now waiting "for some other gestures to occur". Anyway, it is clear to the Spanish government that this will only be achieved "with smooth diplomatic relations and what it calls a critical dialogue". "We never thought that the fact that the Spanish government was maintaining a certain pressure in one direction or another could produce immediate effects, much less that it would make the regime change. Thinking that is simply naive", she said. (Europa Press, 2/1/06)
