Blog
Published on March 19, 2007
On the fourth anniversary of a major crackdown on human rights activists in Cuba that saw dozens sentenced to long prison terms for peaceful promotion of basic rights and freedoms, Human Rights First, a New York-based advocacy group, has renewed its call for the release of the 59 prisoners who remain in jail, several of whom are seriously ill.
In the last weeks of March 2003, the Cuban government sentenced 75 peaceful human rights defenders and independent journalists to prison terms of up to 28 years in grossly unfair summary trials. The activists were charged with “disrespect” toward the Revolution, “treason,” and “giving information to the enemy,” in the harshest backlash against peaceful dissent that the island had seen in years.
“This was jailing people for no other reason than their peaceful advocacy of human rights,” said Neil Hicks, Director of the Human Rights Defenders Program at Human Rights First. “There is no legal or moral justification for their continued incarceration.”
Since 2003, Human Rights First’s supporters have sent thousands of appeals to the Cuban authorities calling for the release of the prisoners. Sixteen have so far been released on medical parole.
Several of those still in jail suffer from poor health and their conditions have been exacerbated by an unhygienic environment, substandard care and inadequate medical treatment. (Some of the prisoners most at risk are profiled below.
The family members of the prisoners who are campaigning for the release of their relatives are subject to continual harassment and persecution. The Ladies in White are the wives and relatives of those imprisoned in the 2003 crackdown. They have persistently and peacefully advocated their release since then. In recognition of their courageous work, Human Rights First honored the Ladies in White with its annual human rights award in 2006.
On this anniversary of injustice, Human Rights First renews its call to the Cuban government and, in particular, to interim leader Raul Castro, to immediately and unconditionally release the 59 individuals who remain in prison since their arrest in the spring of 2003. Here are profiles of four of the prisoners:
