Protect Cuban Human Rights Advocate from Prison Abuse

Alert Issued: October 6, 2004

Imprisoned Cuban human rights advocate Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia was recently stripped and beaten by State Security and prison officials in the Youth Prison of Santa Clara, according to reliable reports received by Human Rights First. The youngest of the 75 Cuban human rights defenders imprisoned since March 2003, Mr. Ferrer is serving the longest sentence, 28 years in prison, for his nonviolent advocacy of basic rights. Mr. Ferrer, whose wife gave birth to their son shortly after his imprisonment, is being held in harsh conditions. He has recently started a hunger strike to protest his harsh treatment.

Luis Enrique Ferrer organized groups of people who were able to collect hundreds of signatures for the Varela Project, a peaceful civic initiative calling for a national referendum on basic rights. As a result of the work of organizers like Luis Enrique Ferrer and his older brother, independent journalist José Daniel Ferrer, the broad-based coalition of organizers presented, at great personal risk, more than 11,000 signatures to the National Assembly just days before former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited the island and mentioned the signature campaign in an uncensored telecast. Since then over 30,000 signatures are reported to have been collected in spite of the risk of official reprisals faced by organizers and signatories.

Please join us in calling on the Cuban authorities to release Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia and all other imprisoned human rights defenders and to protect them from abuse until their release has been ordered.

Background:

In March 2003, nearly 80 dissidents were arrested, tried, and sentenced to up to 28 years in prison in the most severe crackdown the island has seen in recent history. Many of the imprisoned dissidents were organizers of the Varela Project, a constitutionally-based civic initiative that collected signatures on a petition calling for a referendum on democratic reforms and respect for basic freedoms.

Human Rights First believes that these people have been wrongfully imprisoned, solely for openly exercising basic rights guaranteed to them in both international and Cuban law and has urged the Cuban Authorities to order their immediate release. To date, seven of the dissidents have been released following international pressure.

Born August 27, 1976, Luis Enrique Ferrer is a man of humble origins. As a fisherman, he had his first confrontation with the regime when officials confiscated the fish that he had caught to feed his family. He and his brother, José Daniel Ferrer, age 32, have played an active role in the young, but growing, human rights and democracy movement within the island.

According to other activists who have worked with Luis Enrique in Cuba, before being imprisoned, he was a pioneer in organizing seminars and workshops on human rights and civic education for Santiago de Cuba. José Daniel Ferrer, apart from collecting signatures for the Varela Project, is an independent journalist whose work often deals with human rights issues.

Sample Letter:

Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz
Presidente de los Consejos de Estados y de Ministros
La Habana, CUBA
Fax: 011-53-7-333-085

Dear President Castro,

I would like to bring to your attention the case of Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia, a human rights advocate who is being held in the Youth Prison of Santa Clara. Sentenced to twenty-eight years in jail on April 2003, it appears that Mr. Ferrer has been imprisoned solely for exercising and promoting basic rights. I am deeply concerned by recent reports of the substandard conditions of detention in which Luis Enrique Ferrer is being held. He was reportedly stripped and beaten by State Security and prison officials and is now on hunger strike.

In March 2003, nearly 80 Cuban dissidents were arrested, tried and sentenced to up to 28 years in prison for charges ranging from “disrespect” of the Revolution, committing treason, or giving information to the enemy. This crackdown on human rights defenders and independent journalists in Cuba is the most severe in recent years and has been condemned widely by human rights organizations, foreign governments and the United Nations.

I strongly urge you to order the release of Luis Enrique Ferrer, his brother Jose Daniel Ferrer and all other individuals who were arrested and convicted on the basis of their peaceful political activities and their efforts to promote and protect basic human rights in Cuba. According to the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which Cuba actively participated in drafting and passing, all persons have the right to effective access to participation in the government of their country and in the conduct of public affairs. The Declaration also provides that everyone has the right “freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The important work of Cuban human rights defenders should be recognized by the government and they should be supported rather than persecuted.

While he remains in detention, I urge you to ensure that Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia is not subjected to abuse and that his conditions of detention meet basic international standards. International human rights law requires that all persons held in detention are treated with humanity and dignity and that they are not subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Cuban government should ensure the application of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons Under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, which further elaborate the basic standards to be achieved in ensuring respect for the rights of detainees

Sincerely,

CC: Dr. Juan Escalona Reguera
Fiscal General de la República
Fiscalía General de la República
San Rafael 3
La Habana, CUBA
Fax: 011 53 7 669 485/333 164

Sr. Felipe Pérez Roque
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Calzada No. 360
Vedado, La Habana, CUBA
Fax: 011 53 7 333 085
E-mail: cubaminrex@minrex.gov.cu

Embassy of Switzerland
Cuban Interests Section
2630 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
Fax: 202-986-7283