March 23: Fidel Castro published an article defending the penitentiary system in Cuba, and referred to the dissidents sent to jail in 2003 in derogative terms. “March 18 marked the fifth anniversary of the arrest of more than 70 quislings, the capos of imperialism's fifth column in Cuba who, paid by the US government, violate the laws of the land and share the opinion that this dark corner of the world should be swept off the map”, he said. “Not one of the mercenaries was tortured or deprived of lawyers or trial, even if it was of a summary nature, provided by the law in cases of danger of aggression; they have the right to receive visits, access to family facilities as well as the other legal prerogatives of all prisoners; and if at any time their health seriously requires it, they are released”. Castro also referred to the term “Black Spring”, applied to the period of March-April 2003 when over 70 dissidents were sentenced to long-term periods in jail, as “racist”. “A Department of State spokesperson described the event as the “Black Spring”, a term with racist overtones. We could call it “White Spring.” Darkness does not exist in space, only in the mind”, Castro wrote. (AFP, EFE, 23/3/08)
March 18: Whether to lift European Union diplomatic sanctions or not on Cuba created a lively debate in Ljubljana, during the fifteen session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the African Caribbean Pacific Group and the EU. This brief debate was sparked by a question from Michael Gahler, from Germany, to Louis Michel, European Commissioner for development, asking him to draw up a balance sheet of his recent visit to Cuba (7-9 March) and to, “communicate his impressions on the future of this island in terms of democracy and human rights”. Michel said, “there is a sincere desire and real political will from the Cuban government to open a true partnership with the EU” but there is a blockage on the sanctions that are not understood because they have been suspended but not been gotten rid of. Michel appealed for these sanctions to be definitively lifted. Gahler sarcastically posed the question of what was a post Castro period and described the transition from Fidel to Raul Castro as a “monarchic succession”. He criticised Michel for not having met the democratic opposition. (Agence Europe, 20/3/08)
March 18: On the 5th anniversary of the largest crackdown against political opponents in Cuba, Amnesty International called on the new Cuban authorities to immediately release the 58 dissidents still being held in jails across the country. “Five years is five years too many. The only crime committed by these 58 is the peaceful exercise of their fundamental freedoms. Amnesty International considers them to be prisoners of conscience. They must be released immediately and unconditionally,” said Kerrie Howard, Deputy Director for Amnesty International’s Americas Program. (AI Press Release, 18/3/08)
March 18: The European Union must publicly condemn human rights abuses in Cuba and demand an immediate release of all Cuban political prisoners, former Czech president Vaclav Havel and French philosopher Andre Glucksmann say in their statement published by the Austrian daily Der Standard. The appeal entitled What Europe Owes the Dissidents of Castro's Regime was also signed by other members of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba. The signatories include former Slovenian president Milan Kucan, former Lithuanian president Vytautas Landsbergis, former Estonian prime minister Mart Laar, former Canadian prime minister Kim Campbell and former Polish finance minister Leszek Balcerowicz. (CTK, 18/3/08)
March 18: The president of the United States, George W. Bush, lent his support to the demand for the release of imprisoned Cuban opposition activists, reported the wife of one of the prisoners. Laura Pollán read before foreign reporters a message from the US President to the Ladies in White, wives of opposition activists arrested and sentenced in March 2003. “I admire your courage and determination in revealing these realities to the world in spite of the high risk involved,” writes Bush in the letter read by Pollán. “I hope that your testimony helps bring more attention to the Cuban regime’s lack of concern for human rights.” (La Jornada, 18/3/08)
March 18: On the fifth anniversary of the imprisonment of 75 Cuban human rights activists, a group of Cuban exiles in Puerto Rico asked that a plebiscite be held in Cuba so that the "people" can decide on the country’s future. With the slogan "No to succession, democracy now," the exiles departed from the Puerto Rican Parliament and walked down several streets in San Juan to commemorate the so-called "Black Spring" when the dissidents were detained, said Luis Alberto Ramírez, secretary of the Front for the Total Freedom of Cuba. (EFE, 18/3/08)
March 14: About two-dozen women marched in Havana to demand the release of their husbands and other political prisoners ahead of the fifth anniversary of a crackdown on dissent. Of the 75 government critics arrested March 18-19, 2003, and given long prison terms, 55 remain imprisoned. Sixteen were released early on medical parole and another four were freed into forced exile in Spain last month. Next week's anniversary "is very painful for us," said Laura Pollan of the Ladies in White, a support group for wives of political prisoners. Pollan's husband, Hector Maseda, was arrested and sentenced to 20 years. (AP, 14/3/08)
March 14: As Raul Castro was formally invested as Cuban head of state, a Reporters Without Borders' special correspondent was in Cuba examining the state of press freedom, five years after the "black spring" of March 2003. On the eve of the fifth anniversary of this unprecedented crackdown, which made Cuba the world's second largest prison for journalists, the worldwide press freedom organisation - banned from visiting Cuba - released the report of this visit. Five years after "black spring" in which 27 journalists were arrested and unfairly sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 27 years in prison, 19 of them are still in jail in very harsh conditions, the report says. The report also stresses the extreme difficulties for those who are not in prison to manage to work as journalists in a country in which the state has a monopoly on news, printing and broadcasting. It also reveals however that the independent Cuban press has done better than just survive the "black spring" which almost crushed it. A new generation born out of an emerging civil society, has taken over websites and the very few underground magazines, people like the blogger Yoani Sanchez. (Canadian Press, 14/3/08)
March 14: Cuban authorities arrested two independent journalists and detained four others in their home to prevent them from attending a videoconference journalism workshop run by Florida International University, an independent Cuban journalist reported. Journalist Jose Antonio Fornaris reported that Richard Rosello -- one of the two journalists arrested and held by state security agents for several hours -- was warned by the agents not to attend the workshop. The six journalists were all detained or arrested on March 10, when the conference took place in the offices of the US Interests Section in Havana. (Editors & Publishers, 14/3/08)
March 12: The United States administration in an annual report criticized the human rights situation in Venezuela and Cuba, but it highlighted both the progress made in Colombia and the efforts made in the Organization of American States (OAS) to promote human rights. The US Department of State said that in Cuba, "the regime continued to deny citizens basic rights and democratic freedoms, including the right to change their government, the right to a fair trial, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, and the right of association." (El Universal, 12/3/08)
March 12: A Miami-based group that supports dissidents in Cuba said politically motivated arrests are on the upswing in the communist nation. More than 350 political arrests occurred last year in Cuba, while 200 people were detained this January alone, according to the Cuban Democratic Directorate, which receives funding from the US government and private sources. In February, the same month that Fidel Castro officially ceded the presidency to his younger brother Raul, another 50 people were arrested, said the group, which based its numbers on incidents collected by the Cuba-based Council of Human Rights Rapporteurs, which was formed last May. Several calls to the Cuban government's interest section in Washington went unanswered. Most of the detentions were brief, and during that same period some higher profile prisoners were released. But Janisset Rivero, the directorate's executive director, said during a news conference she believes the rise in arrests signifies "little change is likely under Raul Castro." (AP, 12/3/08)
March 9: Representatives of the Cuban domestic opposition claimed disappointment regarding the visit to the island by the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, whom they criticized for returning to Brussels without meeting with them. The leader of Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), Oswaldo Payá, said that if Michel’s attitude "reflects the stand that the European Union (EU) is going to take from now on, then it will be abandoning an ethical position and ignoring the rights of the Cuban people." Oscar Espinosa Chepe, member of the group of 75 dissidents imprisoned in the spring 2003, lamented that Louis Michel’s visit turned out to be "disappointing." According to Martha Beatriz Roque, leader of the Assembly to Promote Civil society, opposition activists do not even know "what the purpose of the visit was." (EER, El Nuevo Herald, 10/3/08)
March 8: The European Union's top development aid official said he found a new "open-mindedness" in Cuba, but he and his hosts noted that EU diplomatic sanctions remain a hurdle to improved ties. EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel spoke on the second day of the first trip to Cuba by a senior European official since ailing communist stalwart Fidel Castro handed power to his brother Raul Castro last month. "In my opinion, the time and moment is right to have a dialogue with Cuba," Michel said in a joint news conference with Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. "I decided to come to Cuba in these important times because the normalization of relations between Cuba and the European Union is a very important question," the development and humanitarian aid commissioner said. "The first obstacle to normalization is the sanctions" that the EU imposed in 2003 and suspended two years later, Michel said, adding that they should be reviewed "to see if they can be eliminated." The sanctions were imposed after the Cuban regime arrested 75 dissidents in a crackdown. Michel said he would have to brief the European parliament and Council of Europe about his trip and try to convince them to remove the sanctions. Perez Roque said his conversation with Michel was "positive" but that "obstacles that need to be removed remain." "We are not yet immersed in a political dialogue," he said. "We considered the possibility of reaching an agreement for a political dialogue that includes all topics ... including the human rights issue," the foreign minister said. (EUBusiness, Reuters, 8/3/08)
March 6: The European Union's top development aid official arrived in Cuba to sound out the plans of its new President Raul Castro and relaunch ties that were largely frozen under his brother Fidel Castro. EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel is expected to meet over the next day or two with Raul Castro, who succeeded his ailing brother on February 24 as communist Cuba's first new leader in almost half a century. "This first transfer of power constitutes a new situation. Michel has expressed his willingness to engage in a constructive political dialogue with Raul Castro," John Clancy, a spokesman for the EU official, told the press in Brussels. "Michel is keen to listen and to learn about President Raul Castro's possible intentions to undertake some restructuring of the state administration and a number of economic reforms." Brussels froze relations with Havana in 2003 after Cuba jailed 75 dissidents in a political crackdown and executed three men who hijacked a ferry to flee to the United States. Fidel Castro then told the EU that Cuba did not need its aid. (Reuters, 6/3/08)
March 6: The Slovene presidency of the European Union (EU) is confident that significant changes will take place in Cuba. "We have seen some cosmetic changes, but no substantial transformation. We are still confident that they will come around," indicated the Foreign Minister of Slovenia, Dimitrij Rupel. In declarations following an EU - Canada ministerial meeting in which international issues were discussed, the Slovene chancellor stressed that the Union is "in favor of promoting democratic reform and human rights" on the island. As regards the political prisoners, he expects that issue "to be removed from the agenda as soon as possible," referring to their release from prison. (EER, 6/3/08)
March 6: Daymí Nazaret Pereyra García was sentenced to a year of home imprisonment by the municipal court of San Miguel Padrón, Havana, for allegedly committing the crime of disobedience. According to Pereyra García, she was victim of a trial that lacked the most fundamental procedural guarantees. (Cubanet, 6/3/08)
March 5: The European Union’s top development aid official started a four-day trip to Cuba in a bid to heal strained relations with Havana. Louis Michel's mission, which was planned before the official hand-over of power from Fidel Castro to his brother Raul, will be the first high-level visit of an EU official to the Caribbean island since 2005 and the first since Raul became president. Officials at EU headquarters say they are keen to hear out senior Cuban officials on whether changes, including economic and political reforms, are in the works now that Fidel has retired. Michel's spokesman, John Clancy, said the European Commission wanted to see “the resumption of an open and constructive political dialogue” with Cuban leaders, a move Havana remains hesitant to endorse after the EU slapped political sanctions against the island in 2003. The EU has since suspended those measures, but ties have remained icy. Clancy said Raul's appointment as president “constitutes a new situation” and Commissioner Michel has expressed his willingness to engage in a constructive political dialogue with President Raul Castro.
He added that Michel was “particularly interested to learn more, to listen, to hear about” Raul's intentions over possible political administrative and economic reforms that might happen. Clancy said the EU was eager to resume talks on a wide range of issues related to climate change, the environment and on closer cooperation with Cuba on humanitarian aid issues. Michel was scheduled to meet senior Cuban lawmakers and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. (AP, 5/3/08)
March 4: The Council of Human Rights Rapporteurs of Cuba denounced that in February alone the authorities arrested 82 dissidents and 12 new trials were initiated "for political reasons." According to a report from the organization, “12 people are currently facing trial for political reasons, eight of which remain behind bars, and there have been 82 verified arrests in February while dozens of dissidents have been summoned to police stations and threatened with jail." (EER, 5/3/08)
March 3: Verónica López denounced the subhuman conditions her daughter has to endure at the women's prison El Bellote, in Matanzas. Ms. López León said that her daughter Daisy Mercedes Talavera López, an activist with the Democratic Party known as November 30 “Frank País” is not allowed walks in the sun or access to medical care. Daisy Mercedes is accused of committing a felony and an act of disobedience, for putting up a sign that read, "Freedom without exile for all political prisoners.” (Cubanet, 7/3/08)
March 3: Cuba highlighted that the fact of being a founding member of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) proves that, in the end, reason defeats force, and principles impose over power and money. In his speech at the opening of the top-level segment of the Seventh HRC Session, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said that after 20 long years of "fighting devils" we end old coercive styles of the group. The island’s official noted that the United States, with several pretexts to legitimate its aggression against Cuba in the former Commission turned "into failed State in this matter, responsible for the most dangerous crimes and violations of human rights." " Perez Roque reiterated his country’s will to cooperate with the HRC, "with non-discriminatory and universal human rights mechanisms, with the strict respect to our sovereignty." The Cuban official adopted other reasons to support the UN organization, among them the abuses of outrages committed by Israel against the Palestinian people, the existence of 900 million hungry people and 800 million illiterate persons. (Prensa Latina, 3/3/08)
March 2: The Assembly to Promote Civil Society, an illegal Cuban opposition organization, denounced that 10 dissidents were "beaten" and nine arrested on March 1st, when they were distributing copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in downtown Havana. Marta Beatriz Roque, the head of the Assembly, told the press that four women and six men were passing out the copies of the rights document amid a "heavy police operation" when a plainclothes officer "jumped at Guillermo Fariñas, and "put a hold on him to immobilize him throwing the declarations to the ground." Roque said that the dissident group was made up of herself, Lourdes Esquivel, Idania Llanes, Iris Perez, Jorge Luis Garcia (known as "Antunez"), Felix Bonne, Lucas Galvez, Jose Diaz Silva, Carlos Cordero and Fariñas. Roque said that a woman was beaten at the scene but was not arrested. She added that she and Bonne were taken directly to their homes and seven others driven to a police station, where their copies of the rights document were seized, after which they were taken to their homes. "This is the ratification of the civil and political rights pact," she added, referring to the UN human rights treaties signed by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque in New York. "They did it (by) beating us," said Roque. (EFE, EER, 3/2/08)
March 1: Just a week into his job as Cuba's new president, Raul Castro discussed the island's prisoners with a visiting Vatican official and directed his government to sign two international human rights treaties that his older brother, Fidel, opposed. Some dissidents and human rights activists see reason for cautious optimism, but others don't expect improvements. "He wants to give the Cuban government a new image," said Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a state-trained economist who became an anti-communist dissident. "In the areas of human and social rights, the government surely needs one." But dissident Oswaldo Paya, who won the European Union's Andrei Sakharov prize for human rights in 2002, said the very succession from one Castro brother to another was a disappointment. "The driving force of society should be the sovereignty of the people, not the Communist Party," Paya wrote in a statement distributed to international media on the island. "The people of Cuba want changes that signify liberty, open expression of their civil, political, economic and social rights." Former political prisoner Eloy Gutierrez-Menoyo said the treaties had "tremendous importance" and could open the door to creating more than a single political party in Cuba. The president of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, Elizardo Sanchez, said once parliament ratifies the newly signed rights treaties, Cuba will be compelled to release 55 dissidents still behind bars after a 2003 crackdown that rounded up 75 people. Many of those freed since Raul took power were already close to completing lengthy prison terms. Sanchez acknowledged a new crop of prisoners has not been jailed since then, but said there has been an increase in short detentions and beatings of dissidents. "They have changed tactics, but the level of repression is the same," he said. (AP, 1/3/08)
