December 29: Prisoner of conscience Alfredo Dominguez Batista denounced that he and fellow political prisoner José Daniel Ferrer Garcia have been threatened by the authorities of the Provincial Prison of Las Tunas to be delivered to inmates "adept at abusing and harassing others." In an open letter to Fidel Castro, Dominguez said their lives were in danger and accused Lt. Col. Idalmer Campos Corrales, the prison’s warden, of attempting "to instill fear through the use of brute force." Dominguez and Ferrer are members of the group of 75 opposition activists jailed in the spring of 2003. They are serving 14- and 25-year prison terms, respectively (Cubaencuentro, 29/12/08).
December 21: Political prisoner Alexander Santos Hernández, the Cuban National Liberal Party (PLNC) coordinator for the eastern provinces, was recently released after serving more than two years in prison, reported the dissident organization. Santos Hernández was imprisoned on July 5, 2006, as he was preparing for a political event. According to the PLNC, he endured public humiliation and beatings, and was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment after a summary trial (Cubaencuentro, 21/12/08).
December 18: Raul Castro’s offer to release jailed political dissidents in Cuba in exchange for five Cubans convicted of spying in the United States was rejected by Cuban dissident groups in Havana. "It's vulgar blackmail because these men should never have been prisoners and that's why they can't be used as bargaining chips," said Laura Pollan, a leader of a group of prisoners' wives. In Cuba, there are 219 political prisoners behind bars, including 67 adopted as prisoners of conscience by rights group Amnesty, according to the illegal Cuban Commission of Human Rights and Reconciliation. Castro did not state a number of dissidents which could be involved in a possible exchange for the five Cubans. He spoke after a meeting with leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, during a first official trip overseas since formally replacing his ailing brother Fidel in February (AFP, 18/12/08).
December 18: Cuban President Raul Castro proposed a swap of prisoners with the United States as a goodwill "gesture" to pave the way for talks with incoming US President Barack Obama. His offer to release political dissidents in exchange for the release of five convicted Cuban spies in US prisons was the most specific proposal yet to ease ties with the United States since Obama, who takes office on January 20, was elected in November. "Let's do gesture for gesture," Castro answered angrily to reporters during a visit to Brasilia. "These prisoners you talk about -- they want us to let them go? They should tell us tomorrow. We'll send them with their families and everything. Give us back our five heroes. That is a gesture on both parts," he said, referring to the convicted Cuban spies (Reuters, 18/12/08).
December 11: Cuban authorities arrested more than 30 people in the days leading up to International Human Rights Day, a New York-based human rights watchdog said. Human Rights Watch cited press reports and Cuban human rights groups as saying many of those arrested were trying to travel to Havana for marches on December 10, the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "The Cuban government should immediately and unconditionally free the dissidents who have been arbitrarily detained in recent days," Human Rights Watch said in a statement. The statement said some of those arrested had since been released and it was not known how many remained in detention. Rights groups say Cuban authorities have in the past briefly held dissidents planning protests (Reuters, 11/12/08).
December 10: The US Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez released a statement on Human Rights Day highlighting that it is important to remember “the Cuban people, who live under a totalitarian dictatorship”. “It is important to remember the plight of the Cuban people, who live under a totalitarian dictatorship that has denied them human rights for almost half a century”, the statement says. “The Castro regime prevents its citizens from having an elected and democratic government, freedom of speech and fundamental human rights. "The Cuban government jails hundreds of political prisoners who continue to suffer under dismal conditions and are denied access to human rights organizations such as the International Red Cross”, it adds. “On this very day, Cuban authorities have detained and beaten dozens of Cuban citizens who were attempting to peacefully celebrate human rights day in Cuba”. Secretary Gutierrez co-chairs the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a US Cabinet-level commission formed to explore ways the United States can help hasten and ease a democratic transition in Cuba (US News Service, 10/12/08).
December 10: Opponents of Cuba’s communist regime said there are some 220 political prisoners on the island, and said dissidents were harassed when they tried to hold events celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The outlawed and fragmented opposition, which the government says acts on behalf of Washington, called for multiparty elections and the release of some 220 political prisoners. Human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez also denounced the brief arrest of 30 opposition activists across the country, which he said was aimed at preventing them from participating in commemorative activities. "This wave of repression during the Universal Day of Human Rights illustrates the situation," said Martha Beatriz Roque, who heads the opposition group Agenda for the Transition. Her group held an event at the home of Vladimiro Roca, one of the Agenda group leaders, but Roca said that only 20 of the 81 dissident guests made it due to heavy police presence. Only two of the 23 diplomats they invited - one British, the other from the Netherlands - showed up, he said. In another event some 30 members of the group Ladies in White - wives and other relatives of 75 dissidents jailed in 2003 - marched through the streets of Havana, handing out flowers and copies of the Human Rights declaration to bystanders (AFP, 10/12/08).
December 10: The Cuban Government defended its human rights record, insisting that there are full civil rights on the island, contrary to claims of political dissidents. The Cuban revolution, which triumphed in 1959, "returned decorum, a sense of dignity, equality and opportunity to our people," said Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. Perez Roque, speaking at the opening of a workshop to discuss the Human Rights declaration - which Cuba signed in February - said his government has made advances "in civil and political rights, and in social, economic and cultural rights. "We have built an imperfect society where we have not yet reached the society of justice and equality of which we dream. But we have made undeniable progress, " he said. Two hundred people participated in the Human Rights workshop, half of them foreigners. They included author Alice Walker and anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan from the US; Chilean rights judge Juan Guzman Tapia; and Spanish singer-songwriter Luis Eduardo Aute (AFP, 10/12/08).
December 10: Up to a dozen human rights activists have been detained in Cuba in police operations apparently intended to keep them from attending Human Rights Day events in Havana, according to exile groups in Miami. The events are being organized to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Protests are planned by various Cuban dissident groups, including the Ladies in White organization formed by wives and female relatives of 75 dissidents and independent journalists who were rounded up during a 2003 crackdown on political dissent. The Federation of Latin American Women, a group that lobbies for an end to Cuba's dual currency, said Cuban State Security agents beat their members and broke one woman's hand. ''They did not even ask for identification,'' FLAMUR President Belinda Salas said in a statement. "My husband Lazaro got such a beating that he was bleeding profusely through his mouth and head, plus he was struck hard on his testicles (…) They ripped my blouse, leaving me naked, and the beating left me with a fractured hand.'' The incident occurred when several state patrol cars arrived in Havana's Vedado neighborhood, FLAMUR said. The whereabouts of some who were picked up by police cruisers was unknown. The Democratic Directorate, a Miami exile group that works with dissidents in Cuba, said they knew of about a dozen people in cities across Cuba that had been arrested. ''Right now we have a list of people detained, and it's going to keep going up,'' said the Democratic Directorate's deputy national secretary, Janisset Rivero. "We are not sure of all the details of what's going on, because every time we get someone on the line, we get cut off. They are cutting off communications.'' She said dissident doctor Darsi Ferrer had organized some kind of march in Havana. When Rivero talked to him, he said: ''I've got a big police operation in front of my house,'' and the call ended. Arrests have taken place in Cienfuegos, Pinar del Río, Matanzas, Sancti Spiritus, Santa Clara, Placetas and Havana, she said. Among the detained is former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez, known as "Antúnez'' (The Miami Herald, 10/12/08).
December 9: Representatives of Cuban dissident groups denounced the arrests of at least 20 activists and said that they would not change their plans to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights scheduled for December 10. Marta Beatriz Roque, the head of the Agenda for the Transition, and Elizardo Sanchez, of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, told the press that among the opposition figures arrested are Jorge Luis Garcia "Antunez," Guillermo Fariñas, Iania Yanes Contreras and Lazaro Alonso. In a communique, the Agenda for the Transition said that Cuban authorities are trying to prevent the dissidents from holding a commemoration of Human Rights Day "behind closed doors" until they ask for official permission. "When there are still several hours until the activity, reports are coming to us from different parts of the island of dissidents arrested during their trips to the capital and deported to their places of origin, as well as extreme vigilance on the houses of several activists in the interior of the country," the note adds. The promoters of the act said that their followers "will not evade the official challenge" and will celebrate "this anniversary in the streets, if necessary." Roque denounced the arrests, most of them of coordinators of her organization, in at least four provinces in addition to Havana. Sanchez said that "there are threats and prohibitions" by the authorities imposed on the opposition figures to get them not to travel to Havana, which, he said, are "connected" with the planned activities on December 10. "This is an effort by the government to abort the planned activities, some by the dissident movement and others by diplomats who have invited dissidents" to meet with them, he said (EFE, 9/12/08).
December 5: Members of the national executive board of the National Independent Confederacy of Cuba (CONIC) delivered a set of demands at the Office of the Republic’s Attorney General. Among other things, they demand that the government and the National Union of Cuban Workers (CTC) abide by the letter of ILO Conventions No. 87 and 98, which guarantee the right of workers to organize and engage in collective bargaining. They also call for the unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience, independent union activists (Cubanet, 15/12/08).
December 4: Media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has awarded its top annual prize to Cuban journalist, Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso. Mr Gonzalez, who founded the island's first independent magazine, is serving a 20 year jail term in Havana.
Awards were also given to dissident North Korean broadcasters Radio Free NK and to two jailed Burmese bloggers. RSF said the annual awards are intended to raise awareness of the right to be kept informed and to inform others. The Paris-based group said it was giving Mr Gonzalez the Journalist of the Year award for his efforts in "helping an independent press to survive in Cuba". The journalist was arrested in 2003 with dozens of other journalists, in a crackdown known as "Black Spring". He was accused of being "in the pay of the United States" and "undermining Cuba's independence and territorial integrity," and was sent to jail, said RSF (BBC, 5/12/08).
